THE VITALS:

Team: Atletico Mineiro

Brand: Lupo Sport

Era: 2013 (Used for the 2013 Campeonato Mineiro season, the 2013 Serie A season and both legs of the 2013 Copa Libertadores Final)

Name/Number: Ronaldinho #10

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This classic shirt comes to you in excellent condition as it closes in on its 10^th birthday! In spite of the numerous applications, the only outstanding blemish is the bit of wear found on the left sided MRV sponsor decal.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Pit to Pit Measurement: 20 inches

Shirt Length: 26.5 inches 

Made by Brazilian manufacturer Lupo Sport; the dimensions of this shirt lend themselves to a relaxed size small fitting shirt, however, please be mindful of the shirt length.

DESCRIPTION:

In Lupo Sport’s only year as Atletico Mineiro’s kit supplier, they would design a shirt that will long live in the club’s memory as a Ronaldinho inspired ‘Alvinegro’ won both the Campeonato Mineiro and the Copa Libertadores in 2013! Although white appears to be dominating colour, there is actual even keel between both the black and white colours synonymous with the Belo Horizonte based outfit. There would also be an inclusion of gold accents for the first time since 2006 and it was fitting given the team’s successes in 2013. This shirt would also be synonymous with a fantastic Pan-Brazilian squad that featured the likes of: Victor, Josue, Luan, Richarlyson, Alecsandro, Guilherme, Bernard, Diego Tardelli, Jo, Rever, Leonardo Silva, Marcos Rocha, and 2002 FIFA World Cup winners – Gilberto Silva and Ronaldinho!

THE SEASON:

2012 represented a fine year on the pitch for Atletico Mineiro with the masterstroke signing of Ronaldinho; they won the Campeonato Mineiro back from fierce rivals – Cruzeiro and then came within 5 points of winning a first ever Serie A title! The reward for their fine campaign was a first Copa Libertadores appearance for 13 years!

Ahead of the new campaign, Cuca’s side was bolstered by the arrivals of: Luan, Alecsandro, Diego Tardelli, Josue and 2002 FIFA World Cup winner – Gilberto Silva!

Although the defence of the Campeonato Mineiro started with a 2-1 defeat away to Cruzeiro, they quick reasserted their dominance by winning their next 8 games to ensure progress to the play-off’s where after seeing off Tobmbense 7-1 on aggregate, they would overcome Cruzeiro 4-2 on aggregate in the final to retain the Campeonato Mineiro!

The national championship kicked off on 26^th May 2013 and far from the fine form they exhibited in the Campeonato Mineiro; the Serie A campaign was a disaster as they won just 5 of their first 19 games of the season. Not even an unbeaten run of 10 games could spare their blushes as 6 of those affairs ended in a draw. Admitedly, their form in the second half of the season yielded 10 wins from their 19 games, however, the damage had already been done, and far from their heroics in 2012, Atletico Mineiro would finish in 8^th place as rivals Cruzeiro won the Serie A title.

The Copa Libertadores however seemed to be the focus of the club’s attention after their 13 year hiatus from South America’s elite club competition. Drawn in Group 3 of the competition second phase alongside – Arsenal, The Strongest and Sao Paolo; Mineiro were sensational winning each of their opening 5 games, before going down 2-0 away to Sao Paolo on the final match-day. The defeat mattered not however, as they finished top by a resounding 8 points!

In the Round of 16, they made no mistake of dispatching Sao Paolo; defeating their domestic rivals 6-2 on aggregate! Special guest Mexican entrants – Tijuana presented a stern challenge in early May, however, Cuca’s side would eventually triumph 3-3 on away goals as Argentine giants – Newell’s Old Boys lay in wait in the semi-final. Overcoming a 2-0 deficit from the 1^st Leg, the ‘Alvinegro’ would overturn the deficit, before winning 3-2 on penalties thanks to Ronaldinho’s winning spot kick. Olimpia of Paraguay would be their opponents in the 2 legged finale, and just like the semi-final; Aletico would fall 2-0 in the 1^st Leg, only to recover the deficit at home and then prevail again on penalties to win their first ever Copa Libertadores title!

Entering the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup as South American champions; they would travel to Morocco to be defeated in the semi-final by Moroccan outfit – Raja Casablanca. They would however secure a 3^rd place berth when they defeated China’s Guangzhou Evergrande 3-2 in a thrilling play-off match in front of over 37,000 fans in Marrakesh!

The notable players that season were:

Luan, Alecsandro, Guilherme, Ronaldinho, Diego Tardelli, Jo, Josue, Richarlyson, Gilberto Silva, Lucas Candido, Bernard, Leandro Donizete, Pierre, Marcos Rocha, Leonardo Silva, Rever, Junior Cesar, Rafael Marques, Victor