In the 1960s, a generation of players known as carasucias (literally: dirty
faces) were the darling of Argentine fans because of their offensive,
careless playing and their bad-boy antics off the pitch. The 1968 team was
nicknamed los matadores as it won the championship without losing a single
game, this team was recognized as the best team in the world by many
journalists. In the years 1968-1974 San Lorenzo won a total of four league
titles, its best harvest ever. In 1972, the club became the first Argentine
team to win two league titles in one year.
Unfortunately, poor administrations led San Lorenzo to a huge economic
crisis, that even forced it to sell their well located stadium. The team was
relegated in 1981, only to return to the top division with great fanfare in
the 1982 season, which set all-time attendance records for the club. (side
note - there was a bit of military Junta corruption behind the land deals).
By that time, the club had no stadium and was plagued by debt and
irregularities. Controversial president Fernando Miele (1986-2001) delivered
both the new stadium and two league titles: the Clausura '95 (after 21 years
without winning a first division title) and the Clausura 2001 (in which the
team achieved 11 consecutive victories). San Lorenzo finished the Clausura
2001 with 47 points in a tournament of 19 matches, setting the record for
the highest points haul since the inception of the Apertura and Clausura
system in 1990.
Origins of the club
The roots of the institution can be found in a team formed by a group of
kids that used to play football in the corner of México and Treinta y Tres
Orientales streets of Buenos Aires. Due to the increasing traffic in the
city, playing football at the streets became a risky activity for the boys.
Lorenzo Massa, the catholic priest of the neighborhood's church, saw how a
tram almost knocked down one of the boys while they were playing in the
streets. As a way to prevent more accidents, he offered the boys to play in
the church's backyard, under the condition they had to go to mass on
Sundays.
Pope Francis is a big fan of the football team.
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