In 1998, América achieved its greatest glory, becoming champions of Campeonato do Nordeste, defeating Vitória-BAin the final match on July 4, 3-1, with goals from Biro-Biro, Paulinho Kobayashi and Carioca. América's team at that time consisted of the following players: Gabriel; Gilson, Paulo Roberto (André), Lima and Rogerinho; Montanha, Carioca, Biro-Biro and Moura; Paulinho Kobayashi and Leonardo (Vanderlei). In October, 2003 the city counsellor Hermano Morais published in the , the Law n° 5.493, recognizing América Futebol Clube, as an instrument of the City's Public Utility. In 2005, the club was promoted to the Campeonato Brasileiro Second Division, after finishing in second in the third division. América had the best forward of the competition, Paulinho Marília, who scored 10 goals. On November 25, 2006, América once again managed to qualify for the Brazilian Championship First Division, after a 2-2 tie with champions Atlético Mineiro, at Mineirão, with a record crowd of 74,694 (largest crowd of the year in Brazil), fighting back after conceding two early goals. At the end of the game, América crossed the stadium applauded by Atlético's fans. The club finished in fourth in the Campeonato Brasileiro Second Division. In the following year, América was relegated after a disastrous performance in the Série A, obtaining only 17 points out of 114 possible points, and finishing the championship 24 points behind the second-to-last placed team, Paraná. After two seasons struggling against relegation in the Série B, América eventually was relegated to the Série C in 2010, but gained promotion to the Série B again in 2011. In 2014, they achieved a big comeback against Fluminense a 5-2 victory in Rio de Janeiro after losing 3-0 in Natal in the Copa do Brasil competition, reaching the quarterfinals. In 2022 he was champion of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D Stadium The team played in a 10,900 capacity stadium named Barrettão in the town of Ceará-Mirim while the Dunas stadium was built for the 2014 World Cup. The Machadao stadium was demolished in 2011. América's home stadium was the Estádio Dr. João Cláudio Vasconcelos Machado (Machadão) stadium, which had a maximum capacity of 42,000 fans. Derby On June 10, 2006, América beat, by 3-1, its greatest rival, ABC Futebol Clube, in the first derby match played at ABC's own stadium. The derby is known as O Grande Clássico (The Great Derby). Symbols The first color used by América-RN was blue. They started