SC Internacional

Sport Club Internacional, often shortened to Internacional, Inter de Porto Alegre, or just Inter, is a football club based in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil. The team competes in Série A, the top tier of Brazilian football, and also in Campeonato Gaúcho Série A, the highest level of the Rio Grande do Sul state league. Their home ground is Estádio Beira-Rio, which hosted matches during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and holds 50,128 spectators. Founded in 1909 by the Poppe brothers, the club was established with the explicit aim of being a democratic organization free from prejudice.

Its colours are red and white, and its supporters are called Colorados. Internacional ranks among the most successful clubs in Brazil and the Americas, holding the third-highest number of international titles among Brazilian sides, with seven trophies. Their historic rival is Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, against whom they play the Grenal, one of the world’s most famous derbies. The club is part of a large membership-based sports organization with over 140,000 associates.

The most successful year in Inter’s history was 2006, when they won the Copa Libertadores and the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time, defeating European champions Barcelona in the latter and reigning Club World Cup holders São Paulo in the former. Inter won the continental title again in 2010. Other major honours include the Brazilian league titles of 1975, 1976, and 1979—the last of which remains the only undefeated league campaign in Brazilian history—as well as the Recopa Sudamericana in 2007 and 2011, the Copa do Brasil in 1992, and the Copa Sudamericana in 2008.

The club’s founding is directly attributed to three brothers: Henrique Poppe Leão, José Eduardo Poppe, and Luiz Madeira Poppe. They arrived in Porto Alegre from São Paulo around 1908, a time when football was rapidly gaining popularity across Brazil. The younger brothers, José and Luiz, wanted to play the sport they had learned in São Paulo, so their older brother Henrique organized the creation of a new club. The origins of Sport Club Internacional are tied to a mix of nationalities.

Unlike other Porto Alegre teams of the era, which mainly served descendants of Germans, Inter was open to people from various ethnic backgrounds. The speeches at founding meetings consistently emphasized a key principle for the Poppe family and those present: Internacional was created for Brazilians and foreigners alike, a direct response to the discriminatory policies of the city’s other two major clubs, Grêmio and Fuss-Ball. The club’s colours were inspired by Porto Alegre’s street carnival.

At the time, two large carnival groups existed: the green Esmeraldinos and the red Venezianos. After a vote, red was chosen. The team’s first pitch was in the Ilhota area, a humble neighbourhood rich in cultural influence. The field on Rua Arlindo, now known as Sport Club Internacional Square, hosted early training sessions and later became the venue for Canela Preta League matches and the birthplace of the talent Tesourinha.

Frequent flooding forced the club to move, and in 1910 it relocated to Campo da Várzea, now Parque da Redenção. The stay in the Bom Fim neighbourhood was brief; by 1912, Inter had leased Chácara dos Eucaliptos, an alley off Rua da Azenha, which became its first exclusive playing ground. There, the club began its first run of victories, winning the City Championship in 1913 and 1917.

The 1920s marked a turning point. After early growth, Inter faced significant challenges. On the pitch, few titles came. Off it, financial difficulties threatened the club’s existence, and there was even a risk of closure.

Decisions had to be made that would change the club’s path. Inter bounced back, winning its first state title in 1927, starting construction on its first home stadium, Estádio dos Eucaliptos, and growing more popular by fully opening its doors to athletes from other leagues, including Black players from the Canela Preta league. Inaugurated in 1931 in the Menino Deus neighbourhood, the Eucaliptos Stadium became the stage for many triumphs and the rise of Inter as the biggest club in southern Brazil.

Increasingly known as the “Clube do Povo” (People’s Club), Inter identified more and more with the working classes of Gaúcho society, both in the stands and on the field. Talented players like Sylvio Pirillo, from Ilhota, and Tupan, from the Canela Preta league, emerged during this era. Inter began assembling the famous “Rolo Compressor” team, signalling its impending dominance of Gaúcho football.

The 1940s were a golden decade for Internacional. This period saw the rise of enduring idols and consistent dominance in the Gre-Nal derby. The Eucaliptos stadium regularly drew large crowds. Vicente Rao, who founded the team’s first ultra group, and Charuto, a frequently drunk supporter described by Luis Fernando Verissimo as “a Colorado in pure state,” became symbolic fans still remembered today.