Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atletico Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Parana, founded on March 26, 1924. The team won the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, Brazil's top football division, in 2001, the Copa Sudamericana in 2018 and the Copa do Brasil in 2019.
History
The club was founded in 1924 through the merger of International Football Club and America Futebol Clube, two traditional clubs in Curitiba.
The club's first match, a friendly one, was played on April 6, when Athletico Paranaense beat Universal FC 4–2.
Athletico Paranaense has participated in the Copa Libertadores, in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2014, 2017 and 2019. In 2005, Athletico Paranaense was the runner-up of the competition being defeated in the finals by Sao Paulo.
A survey taken in 2005 by Parana Pesquisas Institute showed that Athletico Paranaense has the largest number of supporters in Curitiba.
In 2006 and 2018 Club Athletico Paranaense had a good performance in the Copa Sudamericana, reaching the semifinals after defeating high-profile teams like Argentina's River Plate and Uruguay's Nacional. They finally won the competition in 2018 defeating Colombia's Junior in the final.
In 2007, the team partnered with the American MLS club FC Dallas. In 2010 they also announced a partnership with Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands.
On 15 February 2015 the club signed Indian winger Romeo Fernandes on loan from Dempo S.C. and through this contract he became the first and only Indian footballer to play in a South American top-tier league.Zico, then FC Goa coach played a key role behind this contract.
This page also has a version in other languages : Атлетико Паранаэнсе (russian)