Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba

History

Godoy Cruz was born as an institution in 1921. It all started when a group of friends, gathered in the "Victoria Bar" (located opposite the departmental square at that time), decided to found a club, taking advantage of the boom at the time . Thus was born on June 1, 1921, the Club Sportivo Godoy Cruz with the novice presidency of Don Romero Garay.

The club was founded on 21 June 1921 under the name sportivo Godoy Cruz, and changed to its current name on 25 April 1930 after the fusion with Deportivo Bodega Antonio Tomba. In 1959, Godoy Cruz' stadium, the [Estadio Feliciano Gambarte], was constructed. The stadium is nicknamed La Bodega (Spanish for "wine cellar") and holds 21,000 people.

Godoy Cruz played in the regional league for several years before reaching the national level. The club won the Mendoza first division championship in 1944, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1968, and also in 1989 and 1990 that qualified to play in the defunct Torneo del Interior national-level tournament.

Winning the Torneo del Interior in 1994, Godoy Cruz reached the Primera B Nacional (Argentine second division) that year. After more than ten years in the second division, the club was finally promoted to the Primera División in 2006, after winning the 2005–06 season of the Primera B Nacional, defeating Nueva Chicago in the final.

Twenty-year-old Enzo Pérez scored the first goal by Godoy Cruz in the Argentine Primera, in a 1–1 draw with Belgrano on 9 September 2006.

At the end of the 2006–07 season, Godoy Cruz was relegated from the Primera after losing their promotion/relegation play-off with Huracán. Their stay in the second division was short, as they earned automatic promotion to the first division after finishing runners-up to San Martín de Tucumán during the 2007–08 season.

Godoy Cruz secured their best ever league position of 3rd place under Omar Asad's management during the 2010 Clausura. In that tournament, they also achieved the best-ever point total (37) for a team indirectly affiliated to the Argentine Football Association (meaning clubs under the administration of the Federal Council branch of AFA, which are teams outside Buenos Aires, Greater Buenos Aires, Rosario and Santa Fe). These results qualified them for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, their first appearance in this tournament.

South American Tournament Qualification

Godoy Cruz is the first club in Mendoza and the fifth regional to play CONMEBOL tournaments. When Godoy Cruz made their Copa Libertadores debut in February 2011 in a 2–1 win against 2008 champions LDU Quito they became the first indirectly affiliated side ever to represent Argentina in the Copa Libertadores. In that same group I dispute parties with Peñarol of Montevideo and Independente of Avellaneda. The "Tomba" was eliminated in the group stage.

In September of 2011 plays the Copa Sudamericana, arriving until 8 ° of end, after losing by penalties with Universitario of Perú.

In 2012 he plays his second Copa Libertadores, playing in the group stage against Peñarol, Universidad de Chile and Atlético Nacional The "Express" could not pass another instance more than this phase.

In 2014, Godoy Cruz would play the second Copa Sudamericana, being eliminated before Club Atlético River Plate (champion of the edition of the match) in parties of ida (0:1) and return (0:2).

In 2017, Tomba will play for the third time in its history of the Copa Libertadores, fruit of the good championship that secured in 2016, and thus achieving the classification of the name of the tournament.

Rivalries

Godoy Cruz's classic rival is Andes Talleres Sport Club, a neighborhood classic that has not been played since 1993, thanks to the "Tomba" promotions and the "Azulgrana" soccer debacle.

In addition, Godoy Cruz has provincial classics such as San Martín de Mendoza, Independiente Rivadavia, Huracán Las Heras and Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza.

He also has a rivalry with San Martin de San Juan, with whom he plays the Cuyo Classic.

Nickname

Godoy Cruz is nicknamed Tomba and Bodeguero, in reference to the wine selling activity of the Deportivo Bodega Antonio Tomba, one of the merging clubs of 1921. Since the stadium is located near a railway, the club is also called El Expreso ("The Express").

Current squad

Current squad of Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba as of October 16, 2016 (edit)
Sources: Argentine Soccer

Manager: Lucas Bernardi

Friendly matches

Godoy Cruz played friendly matches against patriotic clubs and other countries. A memorable friendly played in 1964, against Santos Football Club, with soccer star Pele ended in favor of the Brazilian team by a score of 3-2. In 1969, against Universidad de Chile, the "Expreso" claimed a 3-0 victory. Another match in 1990, against Sevilla in which the team from Mendoza claimed victory by a score of 2-1. In 2007, a visiting Godoy Cruz squad were defeated 5-nil by Nacional de Montevideo. Godoy Cruz also played several friendly matches against national teams, such as Argentina in 1969, Chile in 1970, and Poland in 1977.

A source of historical pride for the team's supporters are two friendly matches won against Argentine giants: in 1965, they defeated Boca Juniors 4–0, and in 1997 they defeated River Plate by the same margin.

Godoy Cruz won the summer 2009 edition of the friendly pentagonal cup known as the "Copa Ciudad de Tandil", after defeating both Chacarita Juniors and Quilmes in penalty shootouts.

Stadium

The official Stadium Club is the Estadio Feliciano Gambarte opened in 1959. In 2004, the team played his last professional match, pitting Tiro Federal, matching ending 0–0. Since that time, the team plays its home games at the provincial Estadio Malvinas Argentinas. Since 2014, the fans campaigned to return to play in the Stadium Club.

National

Regional