The Ballet Azul (''Blue Ballet'') is a term coined in Colombia in the 1950s to describe the Millonarios football team, during its successful period from 1949–1964, because the blue color of their uniform, the large number of titles who had won the team, and the quality of its game. The term was first used by the sportscaster Carlos Arturo Rueda. Later in the 1960s, in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

and Costa Rica, was used the same term to refer to

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

during its successful period from 1959–1969, Emelec, and C.S. Cartaginés respectively.

Millonarios, the first ''Ballet Azul''

The term was born in the era known as ''El Dorado'' in Colombia, when the football league broke away from FIFA because the Colombian football league turned professional in 1948. The Colombian league reached its golden era during the period, and the best footballers in Latin America came to play in Colombia. In this period the best team was Millonarios, with players like

Adolfo Pedernera Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera (15 November 1918 – 12 May 1995) was an Argentine football player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro" ("The Teacher"), he was widely considered to be one of the best world football players in the 1940s and one of the g ...

, a star with the legendary River Plate team of the 1940s better known as

La Máquina ''La Máquina'' ( Spanish for "the Machine") is a nickname given to the River Plate football team from 1941 to 1947, commonly referred by the media as the best Argentine team of its era and one of the best teams worldwide.

;

Alfredo Di Stefano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: * Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda F ...

, who would later star for the legendary

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

team of the 1950s; and Néstor Rossi. The team won the Colombian League championship in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...

, 1953,

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

In addition, the best players were part of the ''Ballet Azul'' in the era of ''el Dorado'' of the Colombian football (1949–1954): *

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: * Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda ...

* Néstor Raul Rossi * Julio Cozzi * Raúl Pini * Francisco Zuluaga *

Julio César Ramírez Julio is the Spanish equivalent of the month July and may refer to: * Julio (given name) * Julio (surname) * Júlio de Castilhos, a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * ''Julio'' (album), a 1983 compilation a ...

Ismael Soria Ismael may refer to: People * Ismael Balkhi, a political activist from Afghanistan * Ismael Blanco (born 1983), an Argentine professional footballer * Ismael Prego "Wismichu", a Spanish youtuber * Ismael Villegas, a Puerto Rican Major League Bas ...

Reinaldo Mourín Reinaldo is a Spanish and Portuguese language given name for males (the English form is Reynold). It may refer to: Football *Reinaldo Merlo (born 1950), Argentine former footballer and manager *Reinaldo Gomes (born 1954), Portuguese football strike ...

Antonio Báez Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...

Hugo Reyes Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

Carlos Aldabe Carlos Roberto Aldabe (January 1, 1919 – October 16, 1998) was an Argentine Association Football player and coach. He is mostly known for leading the then prominently staffed Colombian club CD Los Millonarios as player-manager to their first ch ...

(Manager) * Gabriel Ochoa Uribe * Ramon Villaverde

Universidad de Chile, the Chilean ''Ballet Azul''

The team won the Chilean league championship in 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1969, Tournament Metropolitan in 1968, 1969 and the Cup Francisco Candelori in 1969. In addition, many of the players were part of the

Chile national team Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

that managed to win a bronze medal at the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place b ...

. Following the success, the club was invited to a European tour where they beat teams like

Internazionale F.C. Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

, champion of Italy and Europe. Among the most outstanding team members of the Chilean ''Ballet Azul'' were: * Leonel Sánchez *

Rubén Marcos Héctor Rubén Marcos Peralta (6 December 1942, at Osorno, Chile – 14 August 2006, at Osorno), known as Rubén Marcos, was a Chilean football player who played as a midfielder. Usually a central midfielder, he was well known for his versatility ...

Luis Eyzaguirre Luis Armando Eyzaguirre Silva (born 22 June 1939), also known as Fifo, is a former Chilean football player. He played right back in the Universidad de Chile football team known as the ''Ballet Azul'', with which he won five national champions ...

* Sergio Navarro * Jaime Ramírez * Ernesto Alvarez * Carlos Campos *

Braulio Musso Braulio Enrique Musso Reyes (born March 8, 1930) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a left winger for Universidad de Chile from 1951 to 1968, and was a member of the Chile national football team at the FIFA World Cup Chile 1962, but d ...

* Carlos Contreras * Manuel Astorga * Alberto Quintano *

Luis Álamos Luis "El Zorro" Álamos Luque (25 December 1923 – 26 June 1983) was a football manager from Chile. Career He had a carrer as a forward with Universidad de Chile with Luis Tirado as coach, but Alejandro Scopelli turned him into a midfielder. ...

(Manager 1956-1966) *

Ulises Ramos Fabián Ulises Ramos Espínola (4 November 1919 – 13 August 2002) was a Chilean footballer and manager. Club career Ramos was born in Tocopilla in 1919 to a middle-class family. Ten years later, he alongside his family moved to the capital ...

(Manager 1969)

External links

History of Ballet Azul

References

{{reflist Football in Chile Football in Colombia Football in Ecuador Football in Costa Rica Association football culture Association football terminology Millonarios F.C. Club Universidad de Chile