Uberaba

Uberaba is a cattle town, and its emblem is the zebu bull. The club took that animal as one nickname, Zebu, and drew the other, Colorado, from its red and white shirts. It was formed on 15 July 1917.

It kept breaking ground for clubs from outside Belo Horizonte. Uberaba were the first interior side to play in the Campeonato Mineiro, in 1945, and the first to reach the Campeonato Brasileiro, in 1976. Their best national result came in 1982, when they took third place in Série B. That sits inside what supporters call the golden era of the 1980s, when the club won the Campeonato Mineiro do Interior three years running, from 1980 to 1982.

Players came through too. Djalma Santos made his professional debut here. Toinzinho, a local favourite, moved to Santos and took over the place Pelé had left.

The bad years had a specific cause. In 2009 debts and court disputes cost the club its historic ground, the Estádio Boulanger Pucci, and it now plays at the Uberabão. By 2023 the debts and judicial blocks had grown so heavy that Uberaba announced it would not compete. Twelve months later it was back in professional football, having finished as vice-champions of the Segunda Divisão.

The local rival is Nacional, from the same town. Their derby is the Clássico Ubernal, the name a blend of the two clubs.