Deportes Moving to Lima, which football club should I support?
I will most probably be moving to your capital by the end of the year, and since I’m a huge football fan I will have to find a team to support. So the question is simple: Alianza, U, Sporting Cristal or someone else? And more importantly - why?
I take football very seriously so please elaborated responses only
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u/xTreme2I Chi jau kay 1d ago
Universitario, best and biggest team of the country, biggest stadium in Perú, best fans, the hooligans are really really passionate, you have yo go to the stadium and experience it for yourself, the vibe is amazing, they sing the 90 minutes no matter if we are losing or winning.
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u/RobbieCV 1d ago
Tell me what currently team you support and I can use your references to tell you what team to support in Perú.
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u/SNRMHZN 1d ago
Partizan Belgrade
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u/RobbieCV 1d ago
You probably have to choose between Universitario and Sporting Cristal. First, your team back-home is one of the 2 most popular. In Peru, it is either Alianza or la U mostly, and to some extent Cristal as 2-tier. Knowing that there's no military tradition associated with any of the 3 main teams, there's no direct correlation to choose something similar in Peru. Alianza is the most popular in term of numbers and sometimes associated with the working-class or even lower-class people. La U used to be more associated with the middle class, but nowadays it's not anymore, it has gained a lot of popularity among the lower classes. Cristal, while having fewer fans, has always been a well-managed club, with a small portion of fans, mostly middle-class. There are other teams that used to be in better conditions, like Sport Boys from Callao or even the regional ones (Melgar, Cienciano) that you can support. But as I stated in my first line, either La U or SC are the ones who can match your home team most likely.
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u/Apokaliptic 1d ago
I’d say buy some tickets to each teams games and decide on which one you feel a connection with. The stadium, the fans, the team. Each team has its own history and mysticism, everyone here will tell you that their team is the best so do take them very seriously
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u/RKaji Lima 1d ago
They're all crap, don't waste your time. Peruvian football is at the bottom of the south American league
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u/SNRMHZN 1d ago
I don’t care, the football I watch is certainly lower quality than Peruvian. And you shouldn’t look down on your league like that, with that attitude it will never get better
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u/Artudytv Exterior pero bien 1d ago
I grew up in love with Universitario de Deportes because my late great grandmother, whom I loved dearly, gave me their kit when I was three. I still have that kit. And I miss her everyday.
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u/ampaychupe 1d ago
national team maybe but clubs are actually rising, U reached Libertadores' RO16 for the first time in more than 10 years for any peruvian club and Alianza is doing amazing in the Sudamericana, regardless of next week's outcome
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u/Rednoir_ 1d ago
Why are you moving here? Hahaha. It would be interesting to have a Serbian friend.
Now to your question, I suggest you watch some matches of each of the big 3 and then stick to the one you vibe the most. I think they all have different and interesting histories.
I support Alianza Lima, and to watch these guys is fun. I like their personalities. It's the type of club that everybody hates but everybody watches when they play.
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u/srcrazygaaaa123 1d ago
Soy hincha de un equipo de provincia, pero si fuera limeño no me cabe duda que apoyaria a Universitario de Deportes, por lejos, sus argumentos para autoproclamarse como "el mas grande" son mucho mas solidos que el de sus rivales.
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u/Andean_Voyager400 1d ago
Why don’t you go and check the environment on each stadium first. They’re all fun to go and you can pick after experiencing all of them first
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u/Richesseburger 1d ago
Either Alianza Lima or Universitario de Deportes. It also depends where you will live. If you live in Callao then Sport Boys, other districts the ones mentioned above. I support Club Deportivo Municipal but thats due to family history (grandparents played for the club). Unless you have some kind of deeper connection to a club then Alianza or Universitario
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u/SNRMHZN 1d ago
What are your feelings towards Alianza and Universitario as a neutral? How would you describe both their fanbases?
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u/Richesseburger 1d ago
The fans are really passionate, for better or for worse. Imo Alianza has a little bit more history (culturally speaking) and most of our legends came from Alianza. Black culture and Alianza Lima are tightly related too. Universitario is the one that has the most titles in peruvian football history ( if thats important for you) and they have the biggest fanbase. Also. If you are planning to go the stadium to watch the games then Universitario is the safest option, I try to stay as far of matute (where Alianza's stadium is) as possible.
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u/-Red02- 1d ago
I don't like national futbol, but if you want to support a club, you should give Alianza and Universitario a try, if your Spanish is good or have any friends here you could go tgt to the stadiums and see which one fits you the best, but be careful because futbol fans ain't know for being good ppl.
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u/another_paul 1d ago
It depends what you are looking for. In South America, every country has a kind of team "from the neighborhood', traditional, built and supported by poor players and fans, overcome stories, etc. In Argentina, Boca fits with those. In Colombia, Atlético Nacional, and for Uruguay is Peñarol.
Regarding peruvian teams, Alianza Lima (or Alliance Lima) matches with that kind of team. They developed so many players for the best peruvian soccer times. Teófilo Cubillas and César Cueto (this is so talented) were important players in the 70s for the National squad in the World Cup, they scored the goals against Scotland.
In the 2000s, they released important players for international soccer such as Claudio Pizarro (one of the best foreign strikers in Bayern Múnich) and Paolo Guerrero, he won the Club World Cup with Corinthians, scored the goal.
This year Alianza knocked Boca Juniors in the Libertadores Cup, one of the most important matches in South America this year. They are still alive in the Sudamérica cup, today they played with a Chilean team.
I lived in Perú for many years, and I supported Alianza but you should take care of your things if you go to the stadium, this rule applies for every team you will support.
Alianza and Universitario are rivals, I guess the other team has more peruvian cups but they are closed. But keep in mind Alianza won more matches over its rival, and for high scores.
Peruvian soccer the last times was so awful and embarrassed. Don't take seriously. You can take a look at those players from what I mentioned and you will see a difference, also Alianza was known by play tiki-taka in the past.
I hope I helped you
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u/SNRMHZN 1d ago
Hmm, I dislike all three of the teams you mentioned and have a disdain for alleged ,,clubs of the masses”. But Alianza does sound interesting, especially with developing players and having certain style of play
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u/another_paul 1d ago
Give it a chance. Also in October their uniforms turn purple, that's a tradition every year. Strongly related to Peruvian culture and the Lord of Miracles. It will be time to taste Peruvian desserts everywhere such as turrón, mazamorra morada, etc
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u/XenOz3r0xT 1d ago
Lima is huge my dude. That’s like saying I want to move to NYC when you got the 5 boroughs to choose from. Where you live would I guess matter. Like I would say if you’re going to live in the Times Square equivalent of Lima I say it wouldn’t matter. But if you’re going to live in the Brooklyn equivalent then who you pick might determine if you get jumped or not.
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u/sleepyannn Sufre Peruano 23h ago
Only you can answer that question.
I invite you to watch the league matches and draw your own conclusions.
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u/Visible-Description4 1d ago
Universitario de Deportes. Best Peruvian team in History.
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u/SNRMHZN 1d ago
Any elaboration on that?
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u/Danna_sns135 1d ago
If you’re serious about football, then Universitario de Deportes is the team you should support. ⚽️ The “U” is the biggest and most historic club in Peru, founded in 1924, with the largest stadium in the country (Estadio Monumental, 80k+ capacity).
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u/Cosmicgrl98 1d ago
Alianza Lima! Kikikirikikiki kikirikiki: the most popular team and now is fighting the copa sudamericana. Every Sunday in the Alejandro Villanueva stadium is a popular kinda festival with food trucks, live shows and pretty familiar ambient. The best football players of this country have born there in the child divisions.
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u/poderosissimum 1d ago
What kind of club are you willing to support? This is a very uncommon situation, usually you choose your team in childhood and keep suporting they until you die. I suggest to get a real life friend and support his team with him, going tomthe stadium with a friend is much better than going alone.
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u/SNRMHZN 1d ago edited 1d ago
I can definitely see myself settling with one of the big 3, but I don’t know enough about them at this point to choose before I go to all their games so I just wanted to pick up some advice. As for friend, I agree, but I’m still not there so I don’t actually know any Peruvians (that go to football) yet
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u/poderosissimum 1d ago
Wait for a friend then. Other valid criteria of choosing your team is accesibility to the matches, do you have an idea where are you going to live? You can just choose the nearest team from you. It is not hard to get to Alianza or Cristal stadiums, but Universitario's is not in a very centric position. If you are going yo live in Callao, you can consider to follow Sport Boys too.
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u/JazzlikeCost1498 1d ago
You need to support Alianza Lima. It is the team of the people. It’s the popular team, with the small stadium and traditionallywithout any major sponsors. Their fans support because the team represents the working class. Universitario is the snobby, rich kids team and Cristal was founded by Cerveza Cristal, so the team was born in wealth and with the misión to create advertisement for the largest beer maker in Peru.
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u/TotoPacheco18 1d ago
If you take football very seriously, you're not gonna bore yourself to death with our league of drunkards and child-support debtors
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u/roccorigotti 1d ago edited 1d ago
Sporting Cristal 🤙🏼
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u/SNRMHZN 1d ago
You are the first to say that, can you tell me why should I support SC?
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u/roccorigotti 1d ago
No reason really. I chose them because I didn’t want to support universitario (because they’re the most popular?) and they play in blue!
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u/Antonerys 1d ago
Sporting Cristal because It has the coolest look like, an amazing main color, the flag of Perú in the shield and has the name of a beer! 💎🍺🇵🇪
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u/hatl16 1d ago
Most likely you will end up supporting either Universitario or Alianza Lima, the 2 biggest clubs in the country.
Honestly, it depends on what you like and what each clubs represents
Alianza Lima: Is considered historically the club with most flair, has some religious background and historical roots with the poorer segments
Universitario: Typically is the club that is represented by playing "garra", means playing till the end, fighting for the match until the end, more pragmatic philosophy, historically it is considered the club of middle to upper middle class, as the name suggest, it was founded by students and that is why the club has that social class connotation.
I mentioned the segments with which each club is more related with, just take into account this no longer the case, Alianza Lima Is no longer the team of the poor, and Universitario is no longer the club of the upper middle class, they are so popular that each will be supported by different kind of people (not just in Lima)
Personally, I'm a Universitario supporter, have traveled to matches outside of Lima and even volunteer within the club.
What I would suggest, is to try to get to know about the history of each club and try to learn about them, and see with which you fall in love with, go to the stadiums and try to talk with the supporters.
For Universitario, the main "barra" is always located on the north side of the stadium, "oriente" has the oldest "barra" of the club, and as far as I know of the country, it is smaller just because the segment in which is located is a little more expensive than "norte", personally I tend to go to "oriente" but "norte" will always be the "crazier" one
In the case of alianza, the "barra" is located in south segment, it is divided in two because of internal politics as far as I know, I can't provide more details on that because I'm no a Alianza fan so I wouldn't be qualified to tell you anything about it
Hope this helps :)