Criciuma

Criciuma Esporte Clube, also known simply as Criciuma, is a Brazilian football club from Criciuma, Santa Catarina. It plays in the Campeonato Catarinense, the state of Santa Catarina's premier state league, as well as the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie C, the third tier of the Brazilian football league system.

Criciuma is the most successful team from Santa Catarina, having won the 1991 Copa do Brasil, the 2002 Campeonato Brasileiro Serie B, and the 2006 Campeonato Brasileiro Serie C.

History

Criciuma Esporte Clube was founded on May 13, 1947, as Comerciario Esporte Clube; however the club folded due to a financial crisis in the 1960s. The club refounded in 1976 by some of the original Comerciario Esporte Clube members. In 1978 the club was renamed as Criciuma Esporte Clube, and its current colors black, yellow and white were adopted in 1984. The present colors of Criciuma Esporte Clube are the reason the club is called Tigre (meaning Tiger).

The club's greatest feat was winning the 1991 Copa do Brasil under coach Felipe Scolari, later World Cup winner with Brazil, which qualified Criciuma to the following year's Copa Libertadores.

In the following years the club was not very successful, and was relegated to the Serie B. In 2005, Criciuma, after a very poor campaign, was relegated to the Brazilian Serie C. In 2006, Criciuma won the Serie C, as was promoted back to the Serie B.

After a period of crisis in the club, in 2012 the club regained forces and after being in the first four places the entire championship returned to the Serie A.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Крисиума (russian)