Associação Portuguesa de Desportos

Portuguesa are a sports club from Sao Paulo, founded in 1920. The club was formed when five Portuguese clubs in Sao Paulo decided to combine forces and form a single, more potent, force. The team was named after their country and also use the Portuguese green and red colours as part of their kit. The club was originally known as Associacao Portuguesa de Esportes but in 1940, the name was changed to Associação Portuguesa de Desportos, their current name. The team bought the Canindé stadium from the city’s government and now calls it its home. The stadium was originally built in 1956 with a capacity of 27,000 but after certain safety regulations, by FIFA, were imposed, the stadium capacity was reduced to 17,000. Portuguesa are considered one of the “Big-Five” contenders from Sao Paulo and are a regular part of the top tier of Brazilian football.

Titles

Portuguesa are a large team however, their list of title wins does not really represent the fact. They have won the Sao Paulo state championships only twice, once in 1935-36 and then in 1973. They won the Rio-Sao Paulo tournament in 1952 and then again in 1955. Their best performance at the top-flight was a runner-up place that they achieved in 1996.