VascodaGama,anunderratedteamandanunwantedchampion

The Vasco da Gama club emerged in 1898, initially focused on rowing. It was only starting in 1916 that the official practice of football took place. The team joined the Liga Metropolitana and was part of the third division, but started at the bottom, didn't win many games, and finished its participation in the 1916 championship in last place.

In the following years, Vasco mobilized, together with the Portuguese community in Rio de Janeiro, and began seeking new players to make up its squad. Unlike the other Rio clubs, which sought athletes from wealthy families, the cruzmaltino team paid attention to those with modest socioeconomic backgrounds, signing players from the lower divisions and from working-class teams.

Image description: This is an old photograph of a group of men in soccer uniforms. The image is in black and white, with the men arranged in two rows. In the front row are the main players, all standing, wearing black shirts and white shorts. In the back row, behind them, are other men, also standing, some wearing hats. The background shows a green area with trees and a distant structure. In the upper right corner, there is an inscription that reads "Imperia Vascaína."

This fact meant that the Vasco team was made up mostly of Black athletes. The white players came from the poorer layers of the population, almost all of them illiterate and working-class, which contrasted with clubs like Fluminense, América, Botafogo, and Flamengo, which had rich, white athletes in their ranks.

Image description: This is an old photograph of a group of people wearing soccer uniforms. The image is in black and white, with some lighter and some darker tones. The men are arranged in three rows: in the first row, they are sitting on the ground; in the second row, they are kneeling; and in the third row, they are standing. Everyone appears to be on a grass field. In the upper right corner of the image, there is the text "Memória Vascaína."

In 1923, Vasco moved up to the first division of the Carioca championship, after winning the Series B championship the year before. At first, the elite teams paid little attention to its participation, since they saw its players as inferior because of their social status and skin color. However, despite this disregard, the club went undefeated and became champion in 1923 — with 11 wins and 2 draws —, with Black, poor, and working-class players, a novelty for the championship, which until then had only been won by members of the city's wealthy classes.

Image description: The image is a black-and-white photograph of a football team from 1923. The players are arranged in two rows, with the taller ones in front and the shorter ones behind. They are all wearing traditional football uniforms, with red and white shirts, white shorts, and black socks. In the center, there is a trophy on a pedestal, surrounded by flowers. At the bottom of the image is written: "Vasco, 1923. Standing: Nicolino, Torterolli, Leitão, Ceci, Bolão, Negrito, Arlindo, Arthur, Mingote and Paschoal. On the ground: Nélson."