Atletico Paranaense

Foundation

Club Athletico Paranaense traces its roots to the 1912 founding of the International Football Club and the 1914 founding of the América Futebol Clube, two traditional Curitiba clubs. The clubs merged in 26 March 1924 100 years ago to form CAP. The club's first match, a friendly one, was played on 6 April, when Athletico Paranaense beat Universal FC 4–2. The following year, Athletico Paranaense won its first title, the Campeonato Paranaense. In 1929 it won its second state title, before adding a third and the club's first back to back championship.

1980s and 1990s: ups and downs

In the 1983 Serie A, Athletico had a great season, finishing fourth in the league. However, the club struggled in the 1986 and 1988 seasons, which eventually culminated in the club's relegation to the Série B for the first time in history in 1989. In the 1990 season they made the second division finals, losing to Sport Recife due to Sport having a better season record, after a draw on aggregate. Despite the loss, they still earned promotion to the 1991 Série A, where they struggled but ultimately earned their permanence in the top flight for the following season.

The 1992 season was slightly better, with the club finishing fifteenth in the Serie A. However, the following season was worse, with the club suffering another relegation, their second in four years. In the 1994 Série B, the club was eliminated in the third stage and was not promoted. In the 1995 Série B, Athletico won their first major title in history, the second division title, and was promoted to the 1996 Serie A. Back in the top flight, Furacão had a good campaign, finishing fourth in the regular season and qualifying to the quarter finals.

In 1999, the club inaugurated their new stadium, Arena da Baixada, which was built on the same ground as their old stadium. Also that year, Athletico won a Pre-Libertadores tournament, which was only played in 1999, due to CONMEBOL expanding the tournament from 24 to 32 teams, so Brazil's fifth place had to be defined. Athletico beat powerhouses Internacional, Sao Paulo, and then Cruzeiro in the finals to earn their first Libertadores participation in history.

2000–2006: First league title and Continental campaigns

In the 2000 Copa Libertadores, the club began their campaign in excellent form, topping their group undefeated, with their only draw coming against Nacional; they also won their first match on 16 February 2000, a 3–0 victory in Peru against Alianza Lima. Expectations were high for the knockout rounds, with Athletico being the #2 seed in the competition behind Colombian champions América de Cali; however, Furacão was eliminated by fellow Brazilians Atletico Mineiro in the knockout stage, losing on penalties after a 2–2 draw on aggregate.

In 2001, Athletico won their first Série A title, beating São Caetano 5–2 on aggregate in the finals. As champions, they gained automatic qualification to the 2002 Copa Libertadores. Expectations were high for the club as champions, and the team was looking to build off of its Libertadores campaign in 2000 where it reached the knockout stages; however, things were worse in the 2002 edition, and the team finished last in their group with only one win, including a heavy 5–0 defeat to America de Cali.

In 2004, Athletico finished second in the Série A, battling it out with champions Santos until the last matchday. This position qualified the club for the 2005 Copa Libertadores. Their 2005 Libertadores campaign was very different from the first two; the club qualified for the knockout stages as second in its group, behind Colombian champions Independiente Medellín, who Athletico had lost to 4–0 in Curitiba. In the round of 16, Athletico disposed of Paraguayan club Cerro Porteño on away goals, qualifying to the last eight of the competition for the first time in club history. In the quarter-finals, they were faced with Serie A and 2003 Libertadores champions Santos. Athletico won the first leg at home 3–2, then won 2–0 in São Paulo to progress to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals they were faced with Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara, who had eliminated powerhouse Boca Juniors 4–0 on aggregate. Chivas was no match for Athletico, with the Brazilian club winning 3–0 at home, then tying 2–2 on Mexican soil to progress to the final with a 5–2 aggregate score. The finals were played against powerhouse São Paulo, who had numerous international trophies already. The first leg at Arena da Baixada ended in a 1-1 draw. However, the second leg was a completely different story, with Sao Paulo thrashing Athletico 4–0 and denying Athletico their first Copa Libertadores title.

In the 2005 Serie A, Athletico was able to maintain enough squad depth to have a good performance in the league, finishing sixth and qualifying for their first Copa Sudamericana. Their campaign began with a 4-1 aggregate victory against fellow Paranaense club Paraná. In the following round, they eliminated powerhouse River Plate 3-2 on aggregate, then eliminated Uruguayan club Nacional, 6-2 on aggregate, with a 4-1 victory in the second leg, to reach the semi-finals. The semi-finals, played against Mexican club Pachuca, began with a shock 1-0 victory by the Mexican club on Brazilian soil. The second leg began with Athletico up 1-0 at halftime with a goal by Colombian midfielder David Ferreira to tie the aggregate score; however, Pachuca scored four goals in the second half to win the game 4-1 and eliminate the Brazilians from their first Copa Sudamericana.

2007–2012: Decline and relegation

This elimination had a considerable effect on the club's near future; Athletico finished out of the top 10 spots in the league from 2006 to 2009, which included a 6-2 loss on aggregate to Vasco da Gama in the first round of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana, a first round elimination at the hands of Corinthians Alagoano in the 2008 Copa do Brasil, and elimination from the 2008 Copa Sudamericana by Guadalajara. In 2007, the team partnered with Major League Soccer club Dallas.