Joinville U20

On the pitch, one last time, América Futebol Clube and Caxias Futebol Clube met in a match Joinville still calls the Clássico do Adeus, the Farewell Classic. Neither side had a future beyond that afternoon: out of that ending Joinville Esporte Clube was formed on 29 January 1976. Osni Fontan scored the new club's first goal that year, a detail supporters still attach to the founding.

What followed had little precedent in Santa Catarina football. JEC won the state championship in its debut year and then took eight in a row, from 1978 to 1985, a run that gave the club its nickname, Nasceu Campeão — the Born Champion. Twelve state titles in total trace back to that period, though none of the later wins, in 2000 and 2001, matched the weight of the run itself.

Nardela carried much of that decade, winning seven state titles between 1980 and 1990, while Lima's 140 goals remain the highest total in the club's history. JEC later sent Ramires through its academy before Chelsea and the Brazilian national team came calling, and Gabriel Sara, born in Joinville, followed a similar path to Galatasaray. National success came later and in different forms: the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C in 2011 and Série B in 2014.

None of that history carries the same edge as the Clássico do Interior. Against Criciúma, old rivalries with Caxias and Juventus feel local by comparison — Criciúma is the one Joinville measures itself against.