Siderurgica

Paulo Florêncio was the first player from any Minas Gerais club to be called up to the Brazilian national team. That was in 1942, and the club he played for was a works side from Sabará, formed twelve years earlier by employees of the Belgo-Mineira steel plant. Siderúrgica, known as Tartaruga after a turtle mascot created in 1943, the Estádio Eli Seabra Filho, nicknamed Praia do Ó, holds 1,000 people.

In 1937 Siderúrgica won the state championship, the Campeonato Mineiro, in a decisive match against Villa Nova, who missed a penalty. In 1964 they won it again, beating América 3–1 away, with the goalkeeper Djair, the forward Noventa and the striker Silvestre in the side. As state champions they entered the 1965 Taça Brasil, reached the quarter-final stage and finished 7th overall, losing to Grêmio. The same year they won the Torneio Início Mineiro, for the fourth time.

Two years later Belgo-Mineira withdrew its support and the club stopped playing professionally. Several attempts to return followed, and the last professional matches came in the Segunda Divisão in 2016. Today Siderúrgica runs youth and women's teams. The local rivalry with Retiro Sport Club, the Clássico da Sabará, is still part of its story, as is the older one with Villa Nova.

The club has set its sights on the Terceira Divisão in 2026. It has not played in a senior professional league since 2016, and it has not won a state title since 1964.