Cruzeiro Quiz
Cruzeiro quiz with answers: the 1942 name change, the 1976 Libertadores decider, the 100-point 2003 treble, relegation in 2019 and the Série B return.
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easy
By what nickname, taken from the Belo Horizonte district it stands in, is the Mineirão widely known?
WhyInaugurated on 5 September 1965 in the Pampulha district, it has been the Gigante da Pampulha ever since. -
easy
Cruzeiro was founded in Belo Horizonte in 1921 by members of the city's Italian community. Under what name did the club spend its first two decades?
WhyFounded on 2 January 1921 as Palestra Itália, the club kept that name until wartime legislation forced a change in 1942. -
medium
Cruzeiro completed the 2003 treble by winning the Copa do Brasil final, taking the second leg 3-1 at the Mineirão. Who were the beaten finalists?
WhyFlamengo lost the tie in Belo Horizonte in June 2003, handing Cruzeiro a fourth Copa do Brasil. The two would meet in the final again in 2017. -
medium
Ricardo Goulart, voted the 2014 Bola de Ouro as the Brasileirão's best player, left Cruzeiro in January 2015 for a then-record fee paid by a Chinese club. Which one?
WhyGuangzhou Evergrande paid around €15 million on 13 January 2015, the largest fee a Chinese club had spent at that point. Goulart later took Chinese citizenship but never played for the national team. -
hard
Who was the manager in charge of Cruzeiro for the 1976 Copa Libertadores triumph?
WhyZezé Moreira's side won 11 of their 13 matches in the competition, the only defeat coming in the final series against River Plate. -
medium
Winning the 1976 Copa Libertadores took Cruzeiro into the Intercontinental Cup, where they lost to which European champion?
WhyBayern won 2-0 in Munich through Gerd Müller and Kapellmann, and the return in Belo Horizonte finished goalless. -
medium
Tostão joined Cruzeiro in 1963 after making his professional debut as a 15-year-old for which other Minas Gerais club?
WhyHe broke through at América Mineiro in 1962 before moving to Cruzeiro, where he had been a youth player. -
hard
In 1972, two years after winning the World Cup, Tostão left Cruzeiro for which Rio de Janeiro club in a record Brazilian transfer?
WhyVasco da Gama paid the largest fee yet seen between Brazilian clubs in April 1972; his eye trouble resurfaced and he retired the following February. -
medium
Cruzeiro reached the Copa Libertadores final again in 1977 and lost the first shoot-out ever used to decide the competition. To which club?
WhyAfter a goalless playoff, Boca Juniors won 5-4 on penalties for their first Libertadores title. -
medium
The name Cruzeiro, adopted in October 1942, was a tribute to what?
WhyCruzeiro do Sul — the Southern Cross — was picked as a national symbol, and its stars went onto the crest and the first blue shirt. -
hard
With the two legs of the 1976 Copa Libertadores final split, the title went to a 3-2 playoff win on neutral ground. In which city was it played?
WhyThe decider was staged at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago on 30 July 1976, where Joãozinho scored the winner. -
medium
Cruzeiro was not the only Palestra Itália forced to rebrand in 1942 — which São Paulo club, also founded by Italian immigrants, took the name it still carries that same year?
WhySão Paulo's Palestra Itália became Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras in September 1942, weeks before the Belo Horizonte club settled on Cruzeiro. -
medium
Centre-back Dedé became the most expensive signing in Cruzeiro's history when he arrived in 2013. Which club did they buy him from?
WhyVasco da Gama sold Dedé to Cruzeiro in April 2013 in what was then the costliest deal for a defender in Brazilian football. He anchored both title-winning sides. -
hard
Ramires joined Cruzeiro from Joinville for the 2008 season and left in 2009 for his first club in Europe. Which one?
WhyBenfica agreed a €7.5 million deal in May 2009, though he stayed with Cruzeiro until their Libertadores final in July, and won the Primeira Liga in his only season in Lisbon. Chelsea came a year later, from Benfica rather than from Cruzeiro. -
medium
Which Cruzeiro player won the 1970 World Cup with Brazil and was still at the club when it lifted the 1976 Copa Libertadores?
WhyPiazza joined Cruzeiro in 1964 and stayed to the end of his playing days, captaining the 1976 continental winners six years after playing in Brazil's 1970 World Cup final. -
medium
Vitor Roque made his senior debut for Cruzeiro at 16 in 2021. Which club triggered his R$24 million release clause in April 2022, before selling him on to Barcelona?
WhyAthletico Paranaense activated the clause in 2022, and Barcelona announced his signing from them the following year. Cruzeiro never got to sell him to Europe themselves. -
hard
For a single match in October 1942, before Cruzeiro was settled on, the club carried a name honouring the site where Brazil's independence was proclaimed. Which name?
WhyOn 2 October 1942 the board approved the name Ypiranga; it lasted one game before the switch to Cruzeiro Esporte Clube on 7 October. -
medium
The Mineirão, opened in 1965, carries the official name of which Minas Gerais figure?
WhyIts full name is Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto, after the state governor in office when it was built. -
medium
The 2003 Brasileirão was the first decided as a straight double round-robin, 24 clubs playing 46 matches each. How many points did champions Cruzeiro finish on?
WhyCruzeiro reached 100 points from 31 wins, 7 draws and 8 defeats, finishing 13 clear of runners-up Santos. No side has hit three figures in the points-per-round era since. -
hard
Alex scored 23 league goals as the playmaker of Cruzeiro's 2003 treble side. Which club bought him in 2004, where he spent eight years and became a totem?
WhyFenerbahçe paid around €5 million in 2004 and Alex became arguably the greatest foreign player in the club's history. He was contracted to Parma before Cruzeiro, not after, and never played a competitive match for them. -
medium
Cruzeiro won back-to-back Brasileirão titles in 2013 and 2014 with Éverton Ribeiro and Ricardo Goulart running the team. Who was the manager for both?
WhyMarcelo Oliveira took charge in 2013 and delivered two championships in two seasons. Mano Menezes arrived later and won the Copa do Brasil in 2017 and 2018 instead. -
medium
Cruzeiro won the 2022 Série B with 78 points to end three seasons in the second tier. Which manager led that promotion campaign?
WhyUruguayan Paulo Pezzolano took charge for 2022 and won the title at a canter. Luxemburgo and Adílson Batista had both managed the club during the earlier Série B years. -
hard
Thiago Neves, who scored in the first leg of the 2018 Copa do Brasil final, joined Cruzeiro in January 2017 from which club?
WhyHe came from Al Jazira in the United Arab Emirates, after a contractual dispute that needed FIFA clearance. He had played for Fluminense, Flamengo and Al-Hilal earlier in his career. -
medium
Cruzeiro lost the 2009 Copa Libertadores final over two legs — goalless away, then beaten 2-1 at the Mineirão. Who lifted the trophy?
WhyEstudiantes de La Plata won 2-1 on aggregate for their first Libertadores in 39 years. River Plate would knock Cruzeiro out on penalties a decade later, in 2019. -
medium
Nelinho, the Cruzeiro right-back famous for his ferocious shooting, scored a stunning long-range goal for Brazil in a third-place play-off against Italy at which World Cup?
WhyAt the 1978 finals in Argentina, Brazil beat Italy 2-1 in the third-place match with goals from Nelinho and Dirceu. -
hard
Four managers took charge of Cruzeiro during the ruinous 2019 season. Who was in the dugout for the final-day defeat that confirmed relegation?
WhyAdílson Batista was appointed in late November 2019, inheriting a side already close to the drop. Mano Menezes, Rogério Ceni and Abel Braga had all come and gone earlier that year. -
medium
Cruzeiro won their first national title, the 1966 Taça Brasil, by winning both legs of the final against which reigning champions, then still built around Pelé?
WhyThe first leg at the Mineirão on 30 November 1966 finished 6-2, with Cruzeiro 5-0 up at half-time; they won the return in São Paulo too. -
medium
When the club became Cruzeiro in 1942 it also changed its shirt, adopting light blue and white. Which colour, worn since 1921, was dropped?
WhyThe 1921 Palestra Itália kit was a green shirt with white shorts, echoing Italy; distancing the club from that meant losing the green. -
hard
Giorgian de Arrascaeta signed for Cruzeiro in January 2015 and won the Copa do Brasil twice there. Which club did they sign the Uruguayan from?
WhyCruzeiro paid about €4 million to Defensor Sporting of Montevideo. Four years later they sold him to Flamengo for roughly four times that. -
medium
In 2018 Cruzeiro became the first club to successfully defend the Copa do Brasil, winning the final 3-1 on aggregate. Who did they beat?
WhyCorinthians lost 1-0 in Belo Horizonte and 2-1 at home, with Thiago Neves, Robinho and De Arrascaeta scoring across the two legs. It was Cruzeiro's sixth Copa do Brasil. -
medium
Goalkeeper Fábio left Cruzeiro in January 2022 after 976 appearances for the club. Which side did he join?
WhyFluminense signed him at 41 and he went on to win the Copa Libertadores there. He later passed Peter Shilton's record for career appearances. -
medium
Cruzeiro won their first Copa Libertadores in 1976, beating which Argentine club in the final?
WhyCruzeiro won the first leg 4-1 at the Mineirão, lost 2-1 at the Monumental, and then took the decider against Ángel Labruna's River Plate. -
medium
After scoring 41 goals in 43 games for Cruzeiro in 2005, the 21-year-old Fred was sold to which French club for a reported €15 million?
WhyLyon, the reigning Ligue 1 champions, signed Fred in the summer of 2005. It remains one of the biggest fees Cruzeiro have ever banked. -
easy
What forced the club to abandon the Palestra Itália name in 1942?
WhyGetúlio Vargas issued decree-laws in 1942 prohibiting denominations referring to enemy nations, and Italy was one of the Axis powers. -
easy
A 2-0 home defeat on the final day of the 2019 season sent Cruzeiro down for the first time in their history, with fans tearing up seats at the Mineirão. Who beat them that day?
WhyPalmeiras won 2-0 on 8 December 2019 and the match was abandoned near the end. Cruzeiro finished 17th, three points adrift of Ceará. -
easy
Cruzeiro's 2003 tríplice coroa — the Campeonato Mineiro, the Copa do Brasil and the Brasileirão in one year — was won under which manager?
WhyVanderlei Luxemburgo built the 2003 side around Alex, Aristizábal and Deivid. The other three all managed Cruzeiro in later years — Marcelo Oliveira from 2013, Mano Menezes from 2016, Abel Braga during the 2019 collapse.
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About Cruzeiro
Cruzeiro were founded in Belo Horizonte on 2 January 1921 by members of the city's Italian community, and for their first two decades they played as Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália in a green shirt with white shorts. In 1942, after Brazil entered the war, Getúlio Vargas issued decree-laws banning denominations that referred to enemy nations — and Italy was one of the Axis powers. São Paulo's Palestra Itália became Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras that September; in Belo Horizonte the board first approved the name Ypiranga, after the site where Brazil's independence was proclaimed, on 2 October. It lasted a single match. On 7 October the club became Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, a tribute to the Southern Cross, and the green gave way to light blue and white with the constellation's stars on the crest.
The Mineirão opened in the Pampulha district on 5 September 1965 — officially the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto, after the state governor in office when it was built, but known ever since as the Gigante da Pampulha. It was there, on 30 November 1966, that Cruzeiro tore into the reigning champions Santos in the first leg of the Taça Brasil final, leading 5-0 at half-time and winning 6-2 before taking the return in São Paulo as well. That side had Tostão, who had broken through at América Mineiro as a 15-year-old before joining Cruzeiro in 1963, and Wilson Piazza, who arrived in 1964 and stayed to the end of his playing days.
Tostão left for Vasco da Gama in April 1972 in the largest fee yet seen between Brazilian clubs, but Piazza was still there — and captain — when Cruzeiro won the 1976 Copa Libertadores under Zezé Moreira, a campaign of 11 wins in 13 matches. They beat River Plate 4-1 at the Mineirão, lost 2-1 at the Monumental, and settled it 3-2 in a playoff at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago on 30 July, Joãozinho scoring the winner. The Intercontinental Cup that followed ended in defeat to Bayern Munich, and a year later Cruzeiro lost the 1977 final to Boca Juniors on the competition's first penalty shoot-out. Nelinho, the right-back with the ferocious shot, took his long-range goal against Italy in Brazil's 2-1 third-place win at the 1978 World Cup.
The modern era runs from Vanderlei Luxemburgo's 2003 tríplice coroa — Mineiro, Copa do Brasil and a Brasileirão won on 100 points, 13 clear of Santos, with Alex scoring 23 league goals before his move to Fenerbahçe — through Fred's 41 goals in 43 games and the sale to Lyon, Marcelo Oliveira's back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014, and the Copa do Brasil retained against Corinthians in 2018. Then came the fall: a 2-0 home defeat to Palmeiras on 8 December 2019 sent the club down for the first time, with Adílson Batista in the dugout after three managers before him. Paulo Pezzolano's side won Série B in 2022 on 78 points. Work through the questions below and see how much of it you can place.
Cruzeiro quiz answers, explained
Every question from the quiz above. Play it first; each answer stays folded until you open it.
By what nickname, taken from the Belo Horizonte district it stands in, is the Mineirão widely known?
Show answer
Gigante da Pampulha. Inaugurated on 5 September 1965 in the Pampulha district, it has been the Gigante da Pampulha ever since.
Cruzeiro was founded in Belo Horizonte in 1921 by members of the city's Italian community. Under what name did the club spend its first two decades?
Show answer
Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália. Founded on 2 January 1921 as Palestra Itália, the club kept that name until wartime legislation forced a change in 1942.
Cruzeiro completed the 2003 treble by winning the Copa do Brasil final, taking the second leg 3-1 at the Mineirão. Who were the beaten finalists?
Show answer
Flamengo. Flamengo lost the tie in Belo Horizonte in June 2003, handing Cruzeiro a fourth Copa do Brasil. The two would meet in the final again in 2017.
Ricardo Goulart, voted the 2014 Bola de Ouro as the Brasileirão's best player, left Cruzeiro in January 2015 for a then-record fee paid by a Chinese club. Which one?
Show answer
Guangzhou Evergrande. Guangzhou Evergrande paid around €15 million on 13 January 2015, the largest fee a Chinese club had spent at that point. Goulart later took Chinese citizenship but never played for the national team.
Who was the manager in charge of Cruzeiro for the 1976 Copa Libertadores triumph?
Show answer
Zezé Moreira. Zezé Moreira's side won 11 of their 13 matches in the competition, the only defeat coming in the final series against River Plate.
Winning the 1976 Copa Libertadores took Cruzeiro into the Intercontinental Cup, where they lost to which European champion?
Show answer
Bayern Munich. Bayern won 2-0 in Munich through Gerd Müller and Kapellmann, and the return in Belo Horizonte finished goalless.
Tostão joined Cruzeiro in 1963 after making his professional debut as a 15-year-old for which other Minas Gerais club?
Show answer
América Mineiro. He broke through at América Mineiro in 1962 before moving to Cruzeiro, where he had been a youth player.
In 1972, two years after winning the World Cup, Tostão left Cruzeiro for which Rio de Janeiro club in a record Brazilian transfer?
Show answer
Vasco da Gama. Vasco da Gama paid the largest fee yet seen between Brazilian clubs in April 1972; his eye trouble resurfaced and he retired the following February.
Cruzeiro reached the Copa Libertadores final again in 1977 and lost the first shoot-out ever used to decide the competition. To which club?
Show answer
Boca Juniors. After a goalless playoff, Boca Juniors won 5-4 on penalties for their first Libertadores title.
The name Cruzeiro, adopted in October 1942, was a tribute to what?
Show answer
The Southern Cross constellation. Cruzeiro do Sul — the Southern Cross — was picked as a national symbol, and its stars went onto the crest and the first blue shirt.
With the two legs of the 1976 Copa Libertadores final split, the title went to a 3-2 playoff win on neutral ground. In which city was it played?
Show answer
Santiago. The decider was staged at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago on 30 July 1976, where Joãozinho scored the winner.
Cruzeiro was not the only Palestra Itália forced to rebrand in 1942 — which São Paulo club, also founded by Italian immigrants, took the name it still carries that same year?
Show answer
Palmeiras. São Paulo's Palestra Itália became Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras in September 1942, weeks before the Belo Horizonte club settled on Cruzeiro.
Centre-back Dedé became the most expensive signing in Cruzeiro's history when he arrived in 2013. Which club did they buy him from?
Show answer
Vasco da Gama. Vasco da Gama sold Dedé to Cruzeiro in April 2013 in what was then the costliest deal for a defender in Brazilian football. He anchored both title-winning sides.
Ramires joined Cruzeiro from Joinville for the 2008 season and left in 2009 for his first club in Europe. Which one?
Show answer
Benfica. Benfica agreed a €7.5 million deal in May 2009, though he stayed with Cruzeiro until their Libertadores final in July, and won the Primeira Liga in his only season in Lisbon. Chelsea came a year later, from Benfica rather than from Cruzeiro.
Which Cruzeiro player won the 1970 World Cup with Brazil and was still at the club when it lifted the 1976 Copa Libertadores?
Show answer
Wilson Piazza. Piazza joined Cruzeiro in 1964 and stayed to the end of his playing days, captaining the 1976 continental winners six years after playing in Brazil's 1970 World Cup final.
Vitor Roque made his senior debut for Cruzeiro at 16 in 2021. Which club triggered his R$24 million release clause in April 2022, before selling him on to Barcelona?
Show answer
Athletico Paranaense. Athletico Paranaense activated the clause in 2022, and Barcelona announced his signing from them the following year. Cruzeiro never got to sell him to Europe themselves.
For a single match in October 1942, before Cruzeiro was settled on, the club carried a name honouring the site where Brazil's independence was proclaimed. Which name?
Show answer
Ypiranga. On 2 October 1942 the board approved the name Ypiranga; it lasted one game before the switch to Cruzeiro Esporte Clube on 7 October.
The Mineirão, opened in 1965, carries the official name of which Minas Gerais figure?
Show answer
Governador Magalhães Pinto. Its full name is Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto, after the state governor in office when it was built.
The 2003 Brasileirão was the first decided as a straight double round-robin, 24 clubs playing 46 matches each. How many points did champions Cruzeiro finish on?
Show answer
100 points. Cruzeiro reached 100 points from 31 wins, 7 draws and 8 defeats, finishing 13 clear of runners-up Santos. No side has hit three figures in the points-per-round era since.
Alex scored 23 league goals as the playmaker of Cruzeiro's 2003 treble side. Which club bought him in 2004, where he spent eight years and became a totem?
Show answer
Fenerbahçe. Fenerbahçe paid around €5 million in 2004 and Alex became arguably the greatest foreign player in the club's history. He was contracted to Parma before Cruzeiro, not after, and never played a competitive match for them.
Cruzeiro won back-to-back Brasileirão titles in 2013 and 2014 with Éverton Ribeiro and Ricardo Goulart running the team. Who was the manager for both?
Show answer
Marcelo Oliveira. Marcelo Oliveira took charge in 2013 and delivered two championships in two seasons. Mano Menezes arrived later and won the Copa do Brasil in 2017 and 2018 instead.
Cruzeiro won the 2022 Série B with 78 points to end three seasons in the second tier. Which manager led that promotion campaign?
Show answer
Paulo Pezzolano. Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano took charge for 2022 and won the title at a canter. Luxemburgo and Adílson Batista had both managed the club during the earlier Série B years.
Thiago Neves, who scored in the first leg of the 2018 Copa do Brasil final, joined Cruzeiro in January 2017 from which club?
Show answer
Al Jazira. He came from Al Jazira in the United Arab Emirates, after a contractual dispute that needed FIFA clearance. He had played for Fluminense, Flamengo and Al-Hilal earlier in his career.
Cruzeiro lost the 2009 Copa Libertadores final over two legs — goalless away, then beaten 2-1 at the Mineirão. Who lifted the trophy?
Show answer
Estudiantes. Estudiantes de La Plata won 2-1 on aggregate for their first Libertadores in 39 years. River Plate would knock Cruzeiro out on penalties a decade later, in 2019.
Nelinho, the Cruzeiro right-back famous for his ferocious shooting, scored a stunning long-range goal for Brazil in a third-place play-off against Italy at which World Cup?
Show answer
1978. At the 1978 finals in Argentina, Brazil beat Italy 2-1 in the third-place match with goals from Nelinho and Dirceu.
Four managers took charge of Cruzeiro during the ruinous 2019 season. Who was in the dugout for the final-day defeat that confirmed relegation?
Show answer
Adílson Batista. Adílson Batista was appointed in late November 2019, inheriting a side already close to the drop. Mano Menezes, Rogério Ceni and Abel Braga had all come and gone earlier that year.
Cruzeiro won their first national title, the 1966 Taça Brasil, by winning both legs of the final against which reigning champions, then still built around Pelé?
Show answer
Santos. The first leg at the Mineirão on 30 November 1966 finished 6-2, with Cruzeiro 5-0 up at half-time; they won the return in São Paulo too.
When the club became Cruzeiro in 1942 it also changed its shirt, adopting light blue and white. Which colour, worn since 1921, was dropped?
Show answer
Green. The 1921 Palestra Itália kit was a green shirt with white shorts, echoing Italy; distancing the club from that meant losing the green.
Giorgian de Arrascaeta signed for Cruzeiro in January 2015 and won the Copa do Brasil twice there. Which club did they sign the Uruguayan from?
Show answer
Defensor Sporting. Cruzeiro paid about €4 million to Defensor Sporting of Montevideo. Four years later they sold him to Flamengo for roughly four times that.
In 2018 Cruzeiro became the first club to successfully defend the Copa do Brasil, winning the final 3-1 on aggregate. Who did they beat?
Show answer
Corinthians. Corinthians lost 1-0 in Belo Horizonte and 2-1 at home, with Thiago Neves, Robinho and De Arrascaeta scoring across the two legs. It was Cruzeiro's sixth Copa do Brasil.
Goalkeeper Fábio left Cruzeiro in January 2022 after 976 appearances for the club. Which side did he join?
Show answer
Fluminense. Fluminense signed him at 41 and he went on to win the Copa Libertadores there. He later passed Peter Shilton's record for career appearances.
Cruzeiro won their first Copa Libertadores in 1976, beating which Argentine club in the final?
Show answer
River Plate. Cruzeiro won the first leg 4-1 at the Mineirão, lost 2-1 at the Monumental, and then took the decider against Ángel Labruna's River Plate.
After scoring 41 goals in 43 games for Cruzeiro in 2005, the 21-year-old Fred was sold to which French club for a reported €15 million?
Show answer
Lyon. Lyon, the reigning Ligue 1 champions, signed Fred in the summer of 2005. It remains one of the biggest fees Cruzeiro have ever banked.
What forced the club to abandon the Palestra Itália name in 1942?
Show answer
A decree banning names tied to Axis nations after Brazil entered the war. Getúlio Vargas issued decree-laws in 1942 prohibiting denominations referring to enemy nations, and Italy was one of the Axis powers.
A 2-0 home defeat on the final day of the 2019 season sent Cruzeiro down for the first time in their history, with fans tearing up seats at the Mineirão. Who beat them that day?
Show answer
Palmeiras. Palmeiras won 2-0 on 8 December 2019 and the match was abandoned near the end. Cruzeiro finished 17th, three points adrift of Ceará.
Cruzeiro's 2003 tríplice coroa — the Campeonato Mineiro, the Copa do Brasil and the Brasileirão in one year — was won under which manager?
Show answer
Vanderlei Luxemburgo. Vanderlei Luxemburgo built the 2003 side around Alex, Aristizábal and Deivid. The other three all managed Cruzeiro in later years — Marcelo Oliveira from 2013, Mano Menezes from 2016, Abel Braga during the 2019 collapse.
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