Club Atlético Cerro, usually known simply as Cerro, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1922, the club plays its home games at Estadio Luis Tróccoli.

Cerro
Full nameClub Atlético Cerro
Nickname(s)Villeros
Albicelestes
Cerrense
FoundedDecember 1, 1922; 102 years ago (1922-12-01)
GroundEstadio Luis Tróccoli,
Montevideo, Uruguay
Capacity25,000
ChairmanAlfredo Jaureguiverry
ManagerIgnacio Pallas
LeaguePrimera División
2024Primera División, 13th of 16

Uruguay's second most important derby is played between Cerro and Rampla Juniors, called "Clásico de la Villa". It is only behind the Uruguayan Clásico between Peñarol and Nacional.[citation needed]

History

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The club was founded on 1 December 1922. The Uruguayan Segunda División was founded in 1942, and Cerro was one of its founders. It spent five years there, and was promoted to the Primera División in 1947, where it stayed for 50 consecutive years until 1997, when the club was deducted points due to an incident with Nacional fans.[1]

Cerro came close to winning the league title in 1960. It finished runner-up to Peñarol, and lost in a heated final to them 3–1.[2][3] Cerro was considered as Uruguay's third biggest club in the 1960s, because they finished third in the league four consecutive years between 1965 and 1968.

In 1963, Cerro had an international tour through Europe. Their first match was played on 23 May in Romania, a 2–0 loss against Progresul București. Their next match was a 2–0 win against Ştiinţa Timişoara. On 9 June Cerro beat Chornomorets Odesa 2–0; Chernomorets had beat Inter Milan and Flamengo, so this was seen as a very unexpected result. On 14 July Cerro began their tour in South Africa with a match against a local Durban side, winning 2–1. Three days later they beat Cape Town FC 4–0, and on 20 July they drew the South African national team 2–2. Their tour ended with a 3–0 win against the Rhodesia national team.[4]

By defeating Defensor Sporting in a league play-off in December 1994, Cerro qualified for the 1995 Copa Libertadores, their first time participating in the competition. The Estadio Luis Tróccoli was renovated to meet the regulations, including the construction of four lighting poles. Cerro had one victory in the campaign, defeating Argentine club Independiente 1–0 at home, and finished last in the group stage.

Cerro was relegated after finishing second to last in the 2005–06 Uruguayan Primera División, but won the 2006–07 second division and made an immediate return.

After winning the 2009 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores, Cerro qualified for their second Copa Libertadores in their history: the 2010 Copa Libertadores. At home they played in the Estadio Centenario and the Estadio Atilio Paiva Olivera. The club finished third in their group, with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses.

Cerro participated in the 2017 Copa Libertadores, where they were eliminated in the second qualifying stage by Chilean club Unión Española.

The following year, the club participated in the 2018 Copa Sudamericana, its first ever Copa Sudamericana appearance. Cerro began the tournament by beating Peruvian club Sport Rosario 0–2 on aggregate in the first stage. It was eliminated in the second stage by Brazilian club Bahia 3–1 on aggregate (2–0 and 1–1).

Cerro participated in the Copa Sudamericana again for the 2019 edition, being eliminated by Montevideo Wanderers in the second stage.

Imported to USA

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Cerro was one of the clubs imported to the United Soccer Association, a former professional soccer league featuring teams from the United States and Canada; the club played as the New York Skyliners. The league survived only one season (1967). All the teams in the league were imported from Europe and South America.[4]

Titles

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Professional

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Friendly / Amateur

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  • Segunda División Amateur (2): 1940, 1941
  • Tercera Extra de FUF (1): 1923
  • División Intermedia de FUF (1): 1924
  • Copa Montevideo (1): (1985)

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

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1995: First Round
2010: Second Round
2017: Qualifying stages
2018: Second Stage
2019: Second Stage

Current squad

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As of 3 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   URU Kevin Larrea
2 MF   URU Gabriel Umpiérrez
3 DF   URU Emilio Crespo
4 DF   URU Emiliano Álvarez
5 MF   URU Alejo Macelli
6 FW   URU Rodrigo Marín
7 FW   URU Bruno Scorza
8 MF   URU Nahuel Petillo
9 FW   URU Nicolás González
10 FW   URU Santiago Ramírez
11 FW   URU Lucas Rodríguez
12 GK   URU Jonathan Cubero
13 DF   URU Pablo Lacoste
14 FW   URU Maxi Pérez
16 DF   URU Mathías Abero
17 FW   URU Danilo Cóccaro
18 FW   COL Yan Mosquera
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF   URU Germán Triunfo
20 MF   URU Martín Rabuñal
21 MF   URU Yonathan Gorgoroso
24 FW   COL Jhosuan Berríos
26 DF   URU Andrés Romero
99 MF   URU Nicolás Wunsch (on loan from Defensor Sporting)
GK   URU Franco Rodríguez
DF   PAR Claudio Araujo
DF   ARG Leonardo Incorvaia
DF   ARG Agustín Peralta Bauer (on loan from San Lorenzo de Almagro)
MF   PAR Thobías Arévalo
MF   URU Maicol Rodríguez
FW   URU Diego Aguilera
FW   URU Emiliano Melo
FW   URU Mateo Ovelar
FW   URU Gastón Rodríguez
FW   ARG Horacio Tijanovich

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   URU Simón Bentancur (at Nacional B until 31 December 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   URU Maximiliano Rao (at Oriental until 31 December 2024)

Managerial history

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References

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  1. ^ "LUTO EN EL FÚTBOL URUGUAYO". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 1 April 1996. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Cerro, el primero de los chicos en llegar a la final". LARED21 (in Spanish). 2008-05-21. Archived from the original on 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  3. ^ "A 60 años de una final histórica para el fútbol uruguayo". El Pais Uruguay (in Spanish). 20 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-12-20. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  4. ^ a b "Uruguay: Giras internacionales". www.el-area.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
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