Ricardo Gallardo

Lore & Background

According to the club's official history, River Plate was founded on 25 May 1901, close to the La Boca neighborhood. They were formed from the merger of two clubs, 'Santa Rosa' and 'La Rosales', with Leopoldo Bard elected as the first president. The name River Plate was chosen because of an incident during the construction of Buenos Aires Port: one of the members had seen how the workers of Dique nº 3 left their duties for a while to play a football match. The boxes they were working with just said 'The River Plate' and that inscription was taken to name the new club. River Plate affiliated to the Argentine Football Association in 1905, debuting in the third division against Facultad de Medicina. On 13 December 1908, the team was promoted to first division after beating Racing Club 2–1, though the match was declared null due to supporters jumping onto the field, so a new match had to be played. River again won, this time 7–0, to achieve promotion. In 1914 River won its first domestic championship, the Copa de Competencia Jockey Club and its first international title, the Copa de Competencia Chevallier Boutell. The nickname Los Millonarios came after the acquisition of winger Carlos Peucelle in 1931 for $10,000 and Bernabé Ferreyra for $35,000 in 1932.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the Azteca hummed with a low, electric buzz. Gallardo stood at the top of his box, hands on his hips, scanning the Barcelona front line like a man reading a letter he already knew the contents of. The crowd roared — 70,000 voices, blue and white, a living wall of sound. He turned to his full-back, said something short, almost a grunt, and pointed his chin toward the channel. Then he turned back to the goal, squared his shoulders, and waited. The ball came. It always came. He met it the way he met everything: head up, body low, no drama. The roar that followed was not for a goal. It was for the silence he had carved out of the noise. In the tunnel afterward, someone clapped him on the back. He nodded, wiped the sweat from his brow, and walked past the photographers without stopping. The trophy would come later. The defense was already done.

Reader's Guide

River Plate is best known for its professional association football department, which has won Argentina's Primera División championship a record 38 times, most recently in 2023. River Plate have also won 16 national cups, making River Argentina's most successful team in domestic competitions with 54 titles in total. At international level, River have won 18 titles, including four Copa Libertadores, one Intercontinental Cup, one Supercopa Sudamericana, one Copa Sudamericana, three Recopa Sudamericanas, one Copa Interamericana, one Suruga Bank Championship, a record five Copa Aldaos, and one Tie Cup. River Plate's reserve team won the U-20 Copa Libertadores in 2012. After winning the 2014 Copa Sudamericana, 2015 Recopa Sudamericana and the 2015 Copa Libertadores, River Plate became the first team to simultaneously hold CONMEBOL's three current major international competitions. River Plate are ranked first in the all-time Argentine Primera División table, having gained the most points, having played the most matches, and having the highest win percentage. River are also ranked first in the historical table of the Copa Libertadores, being the South American team with most games won and the most points gained. The club were placed ninth in the FIFA Club of the Century poll in 2000. In a survey published by the Argentine Football Association in 2016, 6 out of 11 players of the all-time greatest Argentina national team had played for River Plate.

Did You Know?

• River Plate's home stadium, the Monumental, is the largest in South America.
• River had the highest average home attendance of any association football club in the world in 2023 with 84,567.
• The nickname Los Millonarios originated from expensive player transfers in the 1930s, including Carlos Peucelle for $10,000 and Bernabé Ferreyra for $35,000.
• River Plate's forwards between 1941 and 1946 were nicknamed La Máquina due to their synchronization and movements on the field.