Copa Libertadores de América
Encyclopedia
The Copa Santander Libertadores de América (Santander Liberators of America Cup; ), known simply as the Copa Libertadores and originally known as the Copa Campeones de América (Champions of America Cup; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL
since 1960. It is the most prestigious club competition in South American football and one of the most watched events in the world, broadcast in 135 nations worldwide. The tournament is named in honor of the Libertadores
(Portuguese and Spanish for Liberators), the main leaders of the South American wars of independence.
The competition has had several different formats over its lifetime. Initially, only the champions of the South American leagues participated. In 1966, the runners-up of the South American leagues began to join; in 1998, Mexican teams were invited to compete. Today at least three clubs per country compete in the tournament, while Argentina
and Brazil
each have five clubs participating. Traditionally, a group stage has always been used but the amount of teams per group has varied several times.
The tournament consists of six stages. In the present format, it begins in early February with the first stage. The six surviving teams from the first stage join 26 teams in the second stage, in which there are eight groups consisting of four teams each. The eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the final four stages, better known as the knockout stages, which ends with the finals anywhere between June and August. The winner of the Copa Libertadores becomes eligible to play in two extra tournaments: the FIFA Club World Cup
and the Recopa Sudamericana
.
The reigning champion of the competition is Brazilian club Santos. Argentine club Independiente
is the most successful club in the cup history, having won the tournament seven times. Argentine clubs have accumulated the most amount of victories with 22 wins while Brazil has the largest number of different winning teams, with a total of eight clubs having won the title. The cup has been won by 22 different clubs and won consecutively by six clubs, most recently by Boca Juniors
in 2001.
The clashes for the Copa Río de La Plata
between the champions of Argentina and Uruguay kindled the idea of a continental competition in the 1930s. In 1948, the South American Championship of Champions , the most direct precursor to the Copa Libertadores, was played and organized by Chile
an club Colo-Colo
after years of planning and organization. Held in Santiago
, it brought together the champions of each nation's top national leagues. The tournament was won by Vasco da Gama of Brazil
.
However, it was not until 1958 when the basis and format of the competition was created, thanks to the efforts of Peñarol
's board leaders. On March 5, 1959, at the 24th South American Congress held in Buenos Aires
, the competition was approved by the International Affairs Committee. In 1966, it was named in honor of the heroes of South American liberation
, such as José Gervasio Artigas
, Bernardo O'Higgins
, José de San Martín
, Pedro I, and Simón Bolívar
, among others.
The first edition of the Copa Libertadores took place during in 1960. Seven teams participated: Bahia
of Brazil, Jorge Wilstermann
of Bolivia, Millonarios of Colombia, Olimpia of Paraguay, Peñarol
of Uruguay, San Lorenzo of Argentina and Universidad de Chile. The first Copa Libertadores match took place on April 19, 1960. It was won by Peñarol, who defeated Jorge Wilstermann 7–1. The first goal in Copa Libertadores history was scored by Carlos Borges
of Peñarol. The Uruguayans won the first ever edition defeating Olimpia in the finals and successfully defended the title in 1961. It proved to be historic justice for many (even today) due to Peñarol's great contributions to the creation of the tournament, but the Copa Libertadores did not receive international attention until its third edition, which was swept through the sublime football of a Santos team led by Pelé
, considered by some the best club team of all times. Os Santásticos
, also known as O Balé Branco (or white ballet), which dazzled the world during that time, won the title of 1962 defeating the defending champion Peñarol in the finals. A year later, O Rei and his compatriot Coutinho
demonstrated their skills again in the form of tricks, dribbles, backheels, and goals including two in the second leg of the final at La Bombonera
, to subdue Boca Juniors
2–1 and keep the trophy again.
Argentine football finally inscribed their name on the winner's list in 1964 when Independiente
became the champion after disposing of the powerful title holders Santos and Uruguayan side Nacional
in the finals. Independiente successfully defend the title in 1965; Peñarol would defeat River Plate
in a playoff to win their third title, and Racing
would go on to claim the spoils in 1967. The next biggest highlight of the competition, after Pele's Santos, did not happen until 1968 with the introduction of Estudiantes de La Plata
.
Estudiantes de La Plata, a modest neighborhood club and a denominated minor team in Argentina, had a style that prioritized athletic preparation and achieving results at all costs. Led by coach Osvaldo Zubeldía
and a team built around figures such as Carlos Bilardo
, Oscar Malbernat
and Juan Ramón Verón
, went on to become the first ever tricampeon of the competition. The pincharratas won their first title in 1968 by defeating Palmeiras
. They successfully defended the title in 1969 and 1970 against Nacional and Peñarol, respectively. Although Peñarol was the first club to win three titles, Estudiantes had done this feat consecutively.
tournament after overcoming an Estudiantes squad depleted of key players that helped lift it to its recent glory. With two titles already in its showcase, Independiente created a winning mystique which was prolongated by Francisco Sa
, José Omar Pastoriza, Ricardo Bochini
and Daniel Bertoni
: pillars of the titles of 1972, 1973, 1974
, and 1975. Their tetracampeonato has been a feat only achieved this once. Independiente's home stadium, La Doble Visera
, became one of the most dreaded venues for visiting teams to play at. The first of these titles came in the 1972 edition when Independiente faced off against Universitario de Deportes
of Peru in the finals. Universitario became the first team from the Pacific coast to reach the finals after eliminating Uruguayan giants Peñarol
and defending champion Nacional at the semifinal stage. The first leg in Lima
ended on a 0-0 tie, while the second leg in Avellaneda
finished 2-1 favoring the home team. Independiente successfully defended the title a year later against Colo-Colo after winning the playoff match 2-1. Los Diablos Rojos kept the trophy again in 1974 after defeating São Paulo 1-0 in a hard-fought playoff. In 1975, Unión Española
also failed to dethroned the champion in the finals after losing the playoff 2-0.
The reign of Los Diablos Rojos finally ended in 1976
when they were defeated by fellow Argentine club River Plate in the second phase in a dramatic playoff for a place in the finals for their second time in history. However, in the finals River Plate themselves would be beaten by Cruzeiro
of Brazil as the title returned to a Brazilian club after 13 years.
After having the trophy elude them in 1963 at the hands of Pelé's Santos, Boca Juniors finally managed to appear on the continental football map. Towards the end of the decade, the Xeneizes reached the finals on three consecutive years. The first was in 1977 in which Boca Juniors earned their first victory against defending champion Cruzeiro. After both teams won their home legs 1–0, a playoff at a neutral venue was chosen to break the tie. The playoff match finished in a tense 0–0 tie and was defined in a penalty shootout. Boca Juniors won the trophy again in 1978 after thumping Deportivo Cali
of Colombia 4–0 in the second leg of the finals. In the following year, it looked as if Boca Juniors would also achieve a triple championship, only to have Olimpia end that dream after a highly volatile, second leg match in Buenos Aires. Just like in 1963, Boca Juniors had to watch as the visiting team lifted the Copa Libertadores in their home ground and Olimpia became the first (and so far only) team from Paraguay to do so.
. Despite Brazil's strong status as a football power in South America, 1981 marked only the fourth title for Brazilian clubs. Flamengo
, led by stars such as Zico
, Júnior, Carpegiani
, Adílio
, Cláudio Adão
and Tita, sparkled as the Mengão's golden generation
reached the pinnacle of their careers by beating Cobreloa
of Chile. After 16 years of near-continuous failures, Peñarol
would go on to win the cup, for their fourth time, in 1982 after beating the 1981 finalists in consecutive series. First, the Manyas disposed of defending champion Flamengo 1–0 in the last match of the second phase at Flamengo's home ground, the famed Estádio do Maracanã
. Then in the final, they repeated the dosis on Cobreloa winning a decisive second leg match 1–0 in Santiago. Grêmio
of Porto Alegre
made history by defeating Peñarol to become the champion in 1983. In 1984, Independiente won their seventh cup, a record that stands today, after defeating title holders Grêmio which included an incredible 1–0 win in the first away leg highlighting Jorge Burruchaga
and a veteran Ricardo Bochini
.
Another team rose from the Pacific as Cobreloa did. Colombia
n club América de Cali
reached three consecutive finals in 1985, 1986
and 1987 but like Cobreloa they could not manage to win a single one. In 1985, Argentinos Juniors
, a small club from the neighborhood of La Paternal in Buenos Aires
, astonished South America as they eliminated title holders Independiente in La Doble Visera 2–1 during the last decisive match of the second round, for a place in the final. Argentinos Juniors went on to win an unprecedented title by beating America de Cali in the play-off match via a penalty shootout. After the frustrations of 1966 and 1976, River Plate reached a third final in 1986 and were crowned Cup champion for the first time ever after winning both legs of the final series against America de Cali, 2-1 at the Estadio Pascual Guerrero and 1-0 at Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti
. Peñarol won the Cup again in 1987 after beating America de Cali 2–1 in the decisive playoff; it proved to be their last hurrah in the international scene as Uruguayan football, in general, suffered a great decline at the end of the 1980s. The Manyas fierce rivals, Nacional, also won one last cup in 1988 before falling from the continental limelight.
It was not until 1989 before a Pacific team finally broke the dominance of the established, Atlantic powers. Atlético Nacional
of Medellín
won the final series becoming the first team from Colombia
to win the tournament. In a tournament filled with controversial refereeing and circumstances, Atletico Nacional faced off against Olimpia losing the first leg in Asunción
2–0. Because Estadio Atanasio Girardot
, their home stadium, did not have the minimum capacity CONMEBOL required to host a final, the second leg was played in Bogota's El Campín
with the match ending 2–0 in favor of Atletico Nacional. Having tied the series, Atletico Nacional become that year's champion after winning a penalty shootout which needed to go into four rounds of sudden death. Goalkeeper René Higuita
cemented his legendary status with an outstanding performance as he stopped four of the nine Paraguayan kicks and scored one himself. The 1989 edition also had another significant first: it was the first ever time that no club from Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil managed to reach the final. That trend would continue on until 1992.
returned to the club's bench in 1988. Around the legendary goalkeeper Ever Hugo Almeida
, Gabriel González
, Adriano Samaniego
, and star Raul Vicente Amarilla
, a rejuvenated decano boasted an extremely formidable side that promised a return to the glory days of the late 1970s. After coming up short in 1989 against Atlético Nacional, Olimpia reached the 1990 Copa Libertadores finals after defeating the defending champion in a climactic semifinal series decided on penalties. In the finals, Olimpia defeated Barcelona
of Ecuador 3–1 in aggregate in a relatively comfortable victory to win their second title. Olimpia will reach the 1991 Copa Libertadores finals afterwards, once again, defeating Atlético Nacional in the semifinals and face Colo-Colo
. Led by Yugoslavia
n coach Mirko Jozić
, the Chilean squad beat the defending champion 3–0, sparking an unforgettable party in the country that celebrated the conquest in the streets as well as ending Olimpia's second golden era.
In 1992
, São Paulo rose from being a mere great in Brazil to become an international powerhouse. The monumentally-recognized manager Telê Santana
turned to the Paulistas's youth and instilled his style of quick, cheerful, and decisive football. Led by stars such as Zetti
, Müller, Raí
, Cafu
, Palhinha, São Paulo beat Newell's Old Boys
of Argentina to begin a dynasty. In 1993
São Paulo successfully defended the title by thumping Universidad Católica
of Chile in the finals. The Brazilian side became the first club since Boca Juniors in 1978 to win 2 consecutive Copa Libertadores. Like Boca Juniors, however, they would reach another final in 1994 only to have the penalty shoot-out, the instrument of their first victory, come back to haunt them as they lost the title to Vélez Sársfield
of Argentina. Vélez Sársfield's consegration in the Copa Libertadores was considered an institutional victory and it was Carlos Bianchi
, a former Vélez player, that built a squad capable of playing on an equal footing on any terrain against any team.
With a highly-compact tactical lineup and the goals of the formidable duo Jardel
and Paulo Nunes
, Grêmio won the coveted trophy again in 1995 after beating an Atlético Nacional led, once again, by the iconic figure of René Higuita. Jardel became the top scorer in this edition with the high mark of 12 goals. The team coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari
had some fundamental pillars as defender (and captain) Adilson and the skilful midfielder Arilson
. In the 1996 edition, emerging figures such as Hernán Crespo
, Marcelo Salas
, Esteban Valencia, Sebastián Abreu
, Edmundo
, Enzo Francescoli
and Leonardo Rodríguez
helped River Plate secure its second title after defeating América de Cali in a rematch of the 1986 final.
The Copa Libertadores stayed on Brazilian soil for the remaining of the 1990s as Cruzeiro, Vasco da Gama and Palmeiras won the spoils. The cup of 1997 clashed Cruzeiro and the Peruvian team Sporting Cristal
. It was defined in the second leg of the final when Cruzeiro broke the deadlock with just under 15 minutes left in a match attended by over 106,000 spectators in the Mineirão
. Vasco da Gama defeated Barcelona SC with ease to enter in the gallery of champions in 1998. The decade ended on a high note when Palmeiras and Deportivo Cali, both runners-up in the competition before, bid to become winners for the first time and the trophy, in 1999, was decided in a dramatic back-and-forth match that went into penalties. Luiz Felipe Scolari managed to lead yet another club to victory as the Verdão won 4–3 in São Paulo.
This decade proved to be a major turning point in the history of the competition as the Copa Libertadores went through a great deal of growth and change. Having been long overshadowed by Argentina's clubs, the Brazilians begin overshadowing their neighbors as they saw its clubs reach the final on eight of this decade's ten finals (and winning six). From 1998 onwards, the Copa Libertadores was sponsored by Toyota
and became known as the Copa Toyota Libertadores. That same year, Mexican clubs, although affiliated to CONCACAF
, started taking part in the competition thanks to quotas obtained from the Pre-Libertadores which pitted Mexican and Venezuelan clubs for two slots in the group stage. The tournament was expanded to 36 teams and economic incentives were introduced by an agreement between CONMEBOL and Toyota Motor Corporation. All the teams that advance to the second stage of the tournament received $25,000 for their participation.
, the Virrey, along with outstanding players like Mauricio Serna
, Jorge Bermúdez
, Óscar Córdoba
, Juan Roman Riquelme
, Martín Palermo
, among others, revitalized the club to establish it among the world's best. The Xeneizes started this legacy by defeating defending champion Palmeiras in the final series. Boca Juniors won the 2001 edition after, once again, defeating Palmeiras in the semifinals and Cruz Azul in the final series to successfully defend the trophy. Cruz Azul became the first ever Mexican club to reach the final after great performances against River Plate and an inspired Rosario Central
. Like their predecessors from the late 1970s however, Boca Juniors depleted of some of its figures would fall short of winning three titles in a row. As with Juan Carlos Lorenzo's men, the Bosteros became frustrated as they were eliminated by Olimpia, this time during the quarterfinals. Led by World Cup winner
-turned manager Nery Pumpido
, Olimpia would overcome Grêmio (after some controversy) and surprise finalists São Caetano
. Despite this triumph, Olimpia did not create the winning mystique of its past golden generations and went out of the 2003 edition, in the round of 16, after being routed by Grêmio 6–2, avenging their controversial loss from the year before.
The 2003 tournament became an exceptional show as many teams such as América de Cali, River Plate, Grêmio, Cobreloa, Racing, among others, brought their best sides in generations and unexpected teams such as Independiente Medellín
and Paysandu
became revelations in what was, arguably, the best Copa Libertadores in history. The biggest news of the competition was previous champion Santos. Qualifying to the tournament as Brazilian champion, coached by Emerson Leão
and containing marvelous figures such as Renato
, Alex
, Léo
, Ricardo Oliveira
, Diego
, Robinho
, and Elano, the Santásticos became a symbol of entertaining and cheerful football that resembled Pelé's generation of the 1960s. Boca Juniors once again found talent in their ranks to fill the gap left by the very successful group of 2000–2001 (with upcoming stars Rolando Schiavi
, Roberto Abbondanzieri
and Carlos Tévez
). Boca Juniors and Santos would eventually meet in a rematch of the 1963 final; Boca avenged the 1963 defeat, at the hands O Rei and co., by defeating Santos in both legs of the finals. Carlos Bianchi won the Cup a fourth time and became the most successful manager in the competition's history and Boca Juniors hailed themselves pentacampeones. Boca Juniors reached their fourth final in five tournaments in 2004 but they were beaten by surprise-outfit Once Caldas
, ending Boca's dream generation. Once Caldas, using a very conservative and defensive style of football, became the second ever Colombian side to win the competition after eliminating powerhouses such as Santos and São Paulo.
Ruing their semifinal exit in 2004, São Paulo made an outstanding comeback in 2005 to contest the final with Atlético Paranaense
. This became the first ever Copa Libertadores finals to feature two teams from the same football association; The Tricolor won their third crown after thrashing Atlético Paranaense in the final leg, making them South American champion. The 2006 tournament was also an all-Brazilian final and featured the defending champion São Paulo against Internacional. Led by team captain Fernandão
, the Colorados beat São Paulo 2–1 at Estádio do Morumbi
and held the defending champions at a 2–2 draw at home in Porto Alegre
as Internacional won their first ever title. Internacional's arch-rivals, Grêmio, surprised many as they reached the final in 2007 with a relative young squad. However, it was not to be as Boca Juniors, reinforced by aging but still-capable players, came away with the trophy to win their sixth title in history at the hands of Juan Román Riquelme
.
In 2008 the tournament stopped being sponsored by Toyota. Grupo Santander
, one of the largest banks in the world, became the sponsor of the Copa Libertadores, thus, the name change to Copa Santander Libertadores. In that season, LDU Quito became the first team from Ecuador to win the Copa Libertadores after defeating Fluminense
3–1 on penalties, with Jose Francisco Cevallos being a key player blocking three penalties in the final shootout in what is considered the best ever final series in the history of the competition. It is also the final with the most goals in the history of the tournament. The biggest resurgence of the decade happened in the 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores and it was won by a former power that has reinvented itself. Estudiantes de La Plata, led by Juan Sebastián Verón
, won their fourth title 39 long years after the successful generation of the 1960s (led by Juan Sebastián's father, Juan Ramón). The pincharatas brilliantly managed to emulate their predecessors by defeating Cruzeiro 2–1 on the return leg in Belo Horizonte
.
tournaments or by finishing among the top teams in their championship. The countries that use this format are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela. Peru and Ecuador have developed new formats for qualification to the Copa Libertadores involving several stages. Brazil is the only South American league to use a European league format instead of the Apertura and Clausura format. However, one berth for the Copa Libertadores can be won by winning the Copa do Brasil
. Peru, Uruguay and Mexico used a second tournament to determine who qualifies to the Libertadores (the "Liguilla Pre-Libertadores" since 1992 to 1997, the "Liguilla Pre-Libertadores de América" since 1974 to 2009, and the InterLiga
from 2004 to 2010, respectively). Chile still uses a competition to determine a Copa Libertadores participant, the "Liguilla para Copa Libertadores". Argentina used an analogous method only once in 1992. Starting in 2011, the winner of the Copa Sudamericana will qualify directly to the following Copa Libertadores.
The competitors of the 2011 edition will be distributed as follows:
Unlike the nation containing the defending champion, the country of the Copa Sudamericana champion does not gain an extra berth to the tournament.
to decide a tie that was level on aggregate. From 1960 to 1987, two-legged ties were decided on points (teams would be awarded 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss), without taking goal difference into consideration. If both teams were level on points after two legs, a third match would be played at a neutral site. Goal difference would only come into play if the third match was drawn. If the third match did not produce an immediate winner a penalty shootout
was used to determine a winner.
From 1988 onwards, two-legged ties were decided on points, followed by goal difference, with an immediate penalty shootout if the tie was level on aggregate after full time of the second leg. Starting with the 2005 event, CONMEBOL began to use the away goals rule. In 2008, the finals became an exception to the away goals rule and employed extra time.
The first stage pits a number of clubs, currently 12, in series of two-legged knockout ties. The six survivors join 26 clubs in the second stage, in which they are divided into eight groups of four. The teams in each group play in a double round-robin format, with each team playing home and away games against each team in their group. The top two teams from each group are then drawn into the knockout stage, which consists of two-legged knockout ties. From that point, the competition proceeds with two-legged knockout ties to quarterfinals, semifinals, and the finals. Between 1960 and 1987 the previous winners did not enter the competition until the semifinal stage, making it much easier to retain the cup.
Between 1960 and 2004, the winner of the tournament participated for the now-defunct Intercontinental Cup
. Since then, the winner plays in the FIFA
-organized Club World Cup
. The winning team also qualifies to play in the Recopa Sudamericana, a two-legged final series against the winners of the Copa Sudamericana
.
designer Alberto de Gasperi, an immigrant of Peru, in Camusso Jewelry of Lima
(owned by Gasperi) at the behest of CONMEBOL. The top of the laurel is made of sterling silver
, with the exception of the football player at the top (it is made of bronze
with a silver
coating). The pedestal
, which contains badges from every winner of the competition, is made of hardwood plywood. The badges provides the year of the edition, the full name of the winning club, the city that the club comes from and the nation. To the left of that information is the club logo. The current trophy is the third in the history of the competition; in 1970, Estudiantes's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the original trophy permanently. Independiente won the second trophy in 1974 after winning the competition for the third consecutive time.
phrase
used in the context of winning or attempting to win the Copa Libertadores. Thus, when a team gets eliminated from the competition, it is said that the team has awakened from the liberator dream. The project normally starts after the club win one's national league (which qualify their winner to compete in the following year's Copa Libertadores), and the clubs usually spend large sums of money to win the Copa Libertadores.
In 1998 for example, Vasco da Gama spent $10 million to win the competition, and in 1998, Palmeiras
, managed by Luiz Felipe Scolari
, brought Júnior Baiano
among other players, and successfully won the 1999 Copa Libertadores. The tournament is highly regarded among its participants. In 2010, players from Chivas de Guadalajara
stated that they would rather play the Copa Libertadores final rather than appear on a friendly against Spain
, the reigning FIFA World Cup holders who are playing with their best side, and dispute their own national league. Players from Santos FC have stated, after their triumph in the 2010 Copa do Brasil
, that they would rather stay in the club and participate in the 2011 Copa Libertadores
, despite having multi-million dollar contracts lining up for them from clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League
, such as Chelsea
of England
and Lyon
of France
. Oscar Cordoba has stated that the Copa Libertadores was the most important trophy he attained (above the Argentine league, Intercontinental Cup, etc.)
of Paraguay became the first team outside of those nations to win the Copa Libertadores when they triumphed in 1979.
The first club from a country with a Pacific coast to reach a final was Universitario of Lima
, Peru
, who lost in 1972 against Independiente of Argentina. The following year, Independiente defeated Colo-Colo
of Chile, another Pacific team, creating the myth that the trophy would never go to the west, giving birth to the saying, "La Copa se mira y no se toca" . Atletico Nacional
of Medellin
, Colombia, won the Copa Libertadores in 1989, becoming the first nation with a Pacific coastline to win the tournament.
Other clubs from nations with Pacific coastlines to have won the competition are Colo-Colo in 1991, Once Caldas
of Colombia in 2004, and LDU Quito of Ecuador in 2008.
, one of the largest banks in the world. The deal running for a period of 5 years began with the 2008 edition. As the main sponsor of the tournament, the competition will carry the name of the bank. Thus, the competition is known officially as the '"Copa Santander Libertadores'". The first major sponsor was Toyota Motor Corporation
who signed a 10 year contract with CONMEBOL in 1998.
However, the competition has had many secondary sponsors that invest in the tournament as well. Many of these sponsors are nationally based but have expanded to other nations. Nike
supplies the official match ball, as they do for all other CONMEBOL competitions. Konami
's Pro Evolution Soccer
is also a secondary sponsor as the official Copa Libertadores video game. This is the first time
that the competition is being featured on a video game. Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the Copa Libertadores.
The tournament's current secondary sponsors are:
Fox Sports (Fox Sports en Latinoamérica
and Fox Deportes are the brands advertised.) Heineken International (Cristal
, Kaiser, Schneider
, and Tecate is the brand advertised.) Konami
(Pro Evolution Soccer
is the brand advertised.) Makita
McDonald's
Nike
Samsung
Toyota
Visa
of the Copa Libertadores, having won it with Santos twice. In 1999, he was voted as the Football Player of the Century by the IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics. In the same year French weekly magazine France-Football consulted their former "Ballon D'Or" winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Pelé came in first position. In 1999 the International Olympic Committee
named Pelé the "Athlete of the Century". In his career he scored 760 official goals, 541 in league championships, making him the top scorer of all time. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games. In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football. He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil). During his career, he became known as "The King" (O Rei).
's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral". The famous choral finale is Beethoven's musical representation of Universal Brotherhood. The piece is a non-literal adaptation of An die Freude (English: Ode to Joy) by Friedrich Schiller
, who Beethoven admired. The anthem's chorus is played before the beginning and the end of television broadcasts of the matches in the Copa Libertadores. The piece is also played during the draw of teams at the beginning of each edition. It is also played during the awarding ceremony.
,. It is one of the many balls produced by the American sports equipment maker for CONMEBOL, replacing the Mercurial Veloci Hi-Vis in 2009. The ball, approved by FIFA and weighting approximately 422 g
, has a spherical shape that allows the ball to fly faster, farther, and more accurately. According to Nike, the ball's geometric precision distributes pressure evenly across panels and around the ball. The compressed polyethylene
layer stores energy from impact and releases it at launch, and the 6-wing carbon-latex air chamber improves acceleration.
Another feature of the ball is its rubber layer; it was designed to allow a better response while retaining the impact energy
and releases it in the coup. Its support material of cross-linked nitrogen
-expanded foam
improves its retention and durability of its shape. Polyester
support fabric enhances structure and stability. The asymmetrical high-contrast
graphic around the ball creates an optimal flicker as the ball rotates for a more powerful visual signal, allowing the player to more easily identify and track the ball.
, for example, reaches more than 25 million households in the American
continent alone. The 2009 edition saw over 1 billion television spectators in total tune in for the competition. Torneos y Competencias
is a secondary sponsor that sponsors the television broadcasts of the Copa Libertadores.
The winner also receives $2 million from Banco Santander as a bonus.
The top goalscorer of the tournament receives the Alberto Spencer Trophy and $30,000. The best player of the tournament receives the Premio Santander and $30,000. The Fair Play Trophy, sponsored by Samsung, and $50,000 will be awareded for the first time in 2011 to the team with the best discipline in each edition.
is the only player to have won six Copa Libertadores winners' medals. The overall top goalscorer in Copa Libertadores history is the Ecuadorian Alberto Spencer
, scorer of 54 goals. Fernando Morena
is second with 39 goals. Daniel Onega
holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Copa Libertadores. All of his 17 goals were scored in the 1966 tournament. Paraguayan (Uruguayan-born) goalkeeper Ever Hugo Almeida
is the player with most appearances in the competition, 113 matches (winning two finals), all of them in Club Olimpia. Luis Cubilla
, Nery Pumpido
and José Omar Pastoriza are the only people to date to win the Copa Libertadores as both player and head coach. Cubilla won in 1960, 1961 and 1971 as a player and in 1979 and 1990 as head coach. Pumpido won in 1986 as a player and in 2002 as head coach. Pastoriza won in 1972 as a player and in 1984 as head coach.
Carlos Bianchi
is the only head coach to ever win four Copa Libertadores. All Copa Libertadores winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory except for Luis Cubilla, Mirko Jozić
, Nery Pumpido and Edgardo Bauza
. Jozić has the distinction and honor of being the only non-South American coach to win the tournament.
As of the end of the 2010 tournament, Nacional
have played the most games and scored the most goals, playing 319 games and scoring 481 goals.
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation , commonly known as CONMEBOL , is the continental governing body of association football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations...
since 1960. It is the most prestigious club competition in South American football and one of the most watched events in the world, broadcast in 135 nations worldwide. The tournament is named in honor of the Libertadores
Libertadores
Libertadores refers to the principal leaders of the Latin American wars of independence from Spain. They are named that way in contrast with the Conquistadors, who were so far the only Spanish peoples recorded in the South American history...
(Portuguese and Spanish for Liberators), the main leaders of the South American wars of independence.
The competition has had several different formats over its lifetime. Initially, only the champions of the South American leagues participated. In 1966, the runners-up of the South American leagues began to join; in 1998, Mexican teams were invited to compete. Today at least three clubs per country compete in the tournament, while Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
each have five clubs participating. Traditionally, a group stage has always been used but the amount of teams per group has varied several times.
The tournament consists of six stages. In the present format, it begins in early February with the first stage. The six surviving teams from the first stage join 26 teams in the second stage, in which there are eight groups consisting of four teams each. The eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the final four stages, better known as the knockout stages, which ends with the finals anywhere between June and August. The winner of the Copa Libertadores becomes eligible to play in two extra tournaments: the FIFA Club World Cup
FIFA Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup is a football competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations.The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in January 2000...
and the Recopa Sudamericana
Recopa Sudamericana
The Recopa Sudamericana is an annual football match-up between the reigning champions of the previous year's Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, South America's premier club competitions....
.
The reigning champion of the competition is Brazilian club Santos. Argentine club Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente is an Argentine athletic, sports and social club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División....
is the most successful club in the cup history, having won the tournament seven times. Argentine clubs have accumulated the most amount of victories with 22 wins while Brazil has the largest number of different winning teams, with a total of eight clubs having won the title. The cup has been won by 22 different clubs and won consecutively by six clubs, most recently by Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
in 2001.
History
Copa Aldao
The Copa Ricardo Aldao , but popularily called the Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was a football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the national champions of Argentina and Uruguay. The cup is one of the many inter-South American club competitions that...
between the champions of Argentina and Uruguay kindled the idea of a continental competition in the 1930s. In 1948, the South American Championship of Champions , the most direct precursor to the Copa Libertadores, was played and organized by Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an club Colo-Colo
Colo-Colo
Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo is a Chilean football club based in the commune of Macul, Santiago. It competes in the Primera División, the top-flight football league in the country, from which they have never been relegated. Their home ground is the Estadio Monumental David Arellano.Colo-Colo...
after years of planning and organization. Held in Santiago
Santiago
Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...
, it brought together the champions of each nation's top national leagues. The tournament was won by Vasco da Gama of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
However, it was not until 1958 when the basis and format of the competition was created, thanks to the efforts of Peñarol
C.A. Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol also known as Carboneros, Aurinegros and familiarly as Manya, is an Uruguayan sports club based in the Peñarol barrio, Montevideo, best known for its professional football team. The team plays their home matches in Estadio Centenario, the largest stadium in the country, but...
's board leaders. On March 5, 1959, at the 24th South American Congress held in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, the competition was approved by the International Affairs Committee. In 1966, it was named in honor of the heroes of South American liberation
Libertadores
Libertadores refers to the principal leaders of the Latin American wars of independence from Spain. They are named that way in contrast with the Conquistadors, who were so far the only Spanish peoples recorded in the South American history...
, such as José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas is a national hero of Uruguay, sometimes called "the father of Uruguayan nationhood".-Early life:Artigas was born in Montevideo on June 19, 1764...
, Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...
, José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
, Pedro I, and Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
, among others.
Beginnings: 1960–1969
Esporte Clube Bahia
Esporte Clube Bahia , known familiarly as Bahiaço, is a Brazilian professional football club, based in Salvador, Bahia. They play in the Campeonato Baiano, Bahia's state league, and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Brazil's national league. Bahia was a founding member of the Clube dos 13 group...
of Brazil, Jorge Wilstermann
Club Jorge Wilstermann
Club Jorge Wilstermann is a Bolivian football club from the city of Cochabamba. It is named after Bolivian aviator Jorge Wilstermann.- History :...
of Bolivia, Millonarios of Colombia, Olimpia of Paraguay, Peñarol
C.A. Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol also known as Carboneros, Aurinegros and familiarly as Manya, is an Uruguayan sports club based in the Peñarol barrio, Montevideo, best known for its professional football team. The team plays their home matches in Estadio Centenario, the largest stadium in the country, but...
of Uruguay, San Lorenzo of Argentina and Universidad de Chile. The first Copa Libertadores match took place on April 19, 1960. It was won by Peñarol, who defeated Jorge Wilstermann 7–1. The first goal in Copa Libertadores history was scored by Carlos Borges
Carlos Borges
Carlos Ariel Borges is a former Uruguayan footballer, best known for scoring the first goal ever in a Copa Libertadores.He earned 35 caps and scored 10 goals for the Uruguay national football team from 1954 to 1959...
of Peñarol. The Uruguayans won the first ever edition defeating Olimpia in the finals and successfully defended the title in 1961. It proved to be historic justice for many (even today) due to Peñarol's great contributions to the creation of the tournament, but the Copa Libertadores did not receive international attention until its third edition, which was swept through the sublime football of a Santos team led by Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
, considered by some the best club team of all times. Os Santásticos
Os Santásticos
Os Santásticos is the nickname for the group of Santos Futebol Clube players coached by Lula and Antoninho that won a total of 22 titles between 1959 to 1974, including two Copa Libertadores. Often considered one of the strongest teams ever assembled in any sport, it defeated its opponents by an...
, also known as O Balé Branco (or white ballet), which dazzled the world during that time, won the title of 1962 defeating the defending champion Peñarol in the finals. A year later, O Rei and his compatriot Coutinho
Coutinho
Antônio Wilson Vieira Honório , nicknamed Coutinho, is a Brazilian former football player. He played as a forward for Santos Futebol Clube, being a teammate and attacking partner of Pelé, and became a member of the Brazilian national team.Born in Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, Coutinho was...
demonstrated their skills again in the form of tricks, dribbles, backheels, and goals including two in the second leg of the final at La Bombonera
Estadio Alberto J. Armando
The Estadio Alberto J. Armando is a stadium located in the La Boca district of Buenos Aires. Widely known as La Bombonera due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands round the rest of the stadium...
, to subdue Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
2–1 and keep the trophy again.
Club Atlético Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente is an Argentine athletic, sports and social club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División....
became the champion after disposing of the powerful title holders Santos and Uruguayan side Nacional
Club Nacional de Football
Club Nacional de Football is a Uruguayan sports club based in Montevideo. It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Uruguayan Primera División....
in the finals. Independiente successfully defend the title in 1965; Peñarol would defeat River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....
in a playoff to win their third title, and Racing
Racing Club de Avellaneda
Racing Club is an Argentine professional football club from Avellaneda, a suburb of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered one of the "big five" clubs of Argentine football...
would go on to claim the spoils in 1967. The next biggest highlight of the competition, after Pele's Santos, did not happen until 1968 with the introduction of Estudiantes de La Plata
Estudiantes de La Plata
Club Estudiantes de La Plata , simply referred to as Estudiantes, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its history....
.
Estudiantes de La Plata, a modest neighborhood club and a denominated minor team in Argentina, had a style that prioritized athletic preparation and achieving results at all costs. Led by coach Osvaldo Zubeldía
Osvaldo Zubeldía
Osvaldo Juan Zubeldía, was a football player and an influential Argentine coach.-Playing career:...
and a team built around figures such as Carlos Bilardo
Carlos Bilardo
Carlos Salvador Bilardo is an Argentine former football player and coach, who is currently the General Manager of the Argentina national football team....
, Oscar Malbernat
Oscar Malbernat
Oscar Miguel Malbernat is a retired Argentine footballer, who was the captain of Estudiantes de La Plata between 1967 and 1972, when the team won a local championship in 1967, three consecutive Copa Libertadores titles and one Intercontinental Cup , where he marked Manchester United's George...
and Juan Ramón Verón
Juan Ramón Verón
Juan Ramón Verón is an Argentine football coach and former professional player.-Estudiantes:Nicknamed La Bruja , Juan Ramón Verón was a midfielder and striker renowned for his technical ability. He played for Estudiantes de La Plata, who were a dominant force in Argentine football during the late...
, went on to become the first ever tricampeon of the competition. The pincharratas won their first title in 1968 by defeating Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras is a Brazilian football club from São Paulo. The club was founded on August 26, 1914, as Palestra Italia but changed to the current name on September 14, 1942...
. They successfully defended the title in 1969 and 1970 against Nacional and Peñarol, respectively. Although Peñarol was the first club to win three titles, Estudiantes had done this feat consecutively.
Argentine decade: 1970–1979
The 1970s were dominated by Argentine clubs, with the exception of three editions. In a rematch of the 1969 finals, Nacional emerged as the champions of the 19711971 Copa Libertadores
The Copa Libertadores 1971 was the 12th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. Nacional won the competition....
tournament after overcoming an Estudiantes squad depleted of key players that helped lift it to its recent glory. With two titles already in its showcase, Independiente created a winning mystique which was prolongated by Francisco Sa
Francisco Sá
Francisco Pedro Manuel Sá is a retired Argentine football defender.Sá holds the record for the most Copa Libertadores titles, he won six; 4 consecutive titles with Club Atlético Independiente between 1972 and 1975, and a further 2 with Boca Juniors in 1977 and 1978.Sá started his career with...
, José Omar Pastoriza, Ricardo Bochini
Ricardo Bochini
Ricardo Enrique Bochini is an Argentine former professional football player. He is nicknamed El Bocha. Bochini was a childhood idol of Diego Maradona....
and Daniel Bertoni
Daniel Bertoni
Ricardo Daniel Bertoni is a former Argentine footballer who played in a Right Winger role.He played 31 times for the Argentina national football team between 1974 and 1982. in both the 1978 and the 1982 FIFA World Cups...
: pillars of the titles of 1972, 1973, 1974
1974 Copa Libertadores
The Copa Libertadores 1974 was the 15th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. Independiente won the competition.- Group 1 :- Group 2 :- Group 3 :- Group 4 :- Group 5 :- Group 1 :- Group 2 :...
, and 1975. Their tetracampeonato has been a feat only achieved this once. Independiente's home stadium, La Doble Visera
Estadio Libertadores de América
The Estadio Libertadores de América is a stadium located in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province.It is home to the Argentine football club Independiente...
, became one of the most dreaded venues for visiting teams to play at. The first of these titles came in the 1972 edition when Independiente faced off against Universitario de Deportes
Universitario de Deportes
Club Universitario de Deportes, also known as Universitario, or more popularly as [La] "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. It is the most successful football club in Peru. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of...
of Peru in the finals. Universitario became the first team from the Pacific coast to reach the finals after eliminating Uruguayan giants Peñarol
C.A. Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol also known as Carboneros, Aurinegros and familiarly as Manya, is an Uruguayan sports club based in the Peñarol barrio, Montevideo, best known for its professional football team. The team plays their home matches in Estadio Centenario, the largest stadium in the country, but...
and defending champion Nacional at the semifinal stage. The first leg in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
ended on a 0-0 tie, while the second leg in Avellaneda
Avellaneda
Avellaneda is a port city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 328,980 as per the ....
finished 2-1 favoring the home team. Independiente successfully defended the title a year later against Colo-Colo after winning the playoff match 2-1. Los Diablos Rojos kept the trophy again in 1974 after defeating São Paulo 1-0 in a hard-fought playoff. In 1975, Unión Española
Unión Española
Club Unión Española S.A.D.P is a professional Chilean football based in Independencia, Santiago de Chile. Founded by a Spanish immigrants on 18 May 1897, Unión Española have participated in the top-tier of Chilean football for all of their existence but two seasons in the late '90s .Unión Española...
also failed to dethroned the champion in the finals after losing the playoff 2-0.
The reign of Los Diablos Rojos finally ended in 1976
1976 Copa Libertadores
The Copa Libertadores 1976 was the 17th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. The tournament began on February 23 and ended on July 30....
when they were defeated by fellow Argentine club River Plate in the second phase in a dramatic playoff for a place in the finals for their second time in history. However, in the finals River Plate themselves would be beaten by Cruzeiro
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube is a Brazilian football team, from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Internacional. Founded on January 2, 1921, they are only one of three clubs to have participated in...
of Brazil as the title returned to a Brazilian club after 13 years.
After having the trophy elude them in 1963 at the hands of Pelé's Santos, Boca Juniors finally managed to appear on the continental football map. Towards the end of the decade, the Xeneizes reached the finals on three consecutive years. The first was in 1977 in which Boca Juniors earned their first victory against defending champion Cruzeiro. After both teams won their home legs 1–0, a playoff at a neutral venue was chosen to break the tie. The playoff match finished in a tense 0–0 tie and was defined in a penalty shootout. Boca Juniors won the trophy again in 1978 after thumping Deportivo Cali
Deportivo Cali
Asociación Deportivo Cali is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, Colombia. Mostly known for its football team, it also sponsors basketball, volleyball and swimming...
of Colombia 4–0 in the second leg of the finals. In the following year, it looked as if Boca Juniors would also achieve a triple championship, only to have Olimpia end that dream after a highly volatile, second leg match in Buenos Aires. Just like in 1963, Boca Juniors had to watch as the visiting team lifted the Copa Libertadores in their home ground and Olimpia became the first (and so far only) team from Paraguay to do so.
Pacific emergence and last Uruguayan triumphs: 1980–1989
Nine years after their first triumph, Nacional won their second cup in 1980 after overcoming InternacionalSport Club Internacional
Sport Club Internacional is a Brazilian football team and multi-sport club from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, founded on April 4, 1909, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Cruzeiro. They play in red shirts, white shorts and...
. Despite Brazil's strong status as a football power in South America, 1981 marked only the fourth title for Brazilian clubs. Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo , also known as Flamengo and familiarly as Mengão, is a Brazilian sports club based in the Flamengo bairro, Zona Sul, Rio de Janeiro, best known for its professional football team...
, led by stars such as Zico
Zico
Arthur Antunes Coimbra , better known as Zico , is a Brazilian coach and former footballer. He is the current head coach of the Iraq national football team. Often called the "White Pelé", he is commonly considered one of the most skilled finishers and one of the best passers ever and possibly the...
, Júnior, Carpegiani
Paulo César Carpegiani
Paulo César Carpegiani is a former Brazilian footballer.- Playing career :Carpegiani began his professional career at Sport Club Internacional of Porto Alegre, in the Rio Grande do Sul, where he played from 1970 to 1977, winning two Brazilian Championships...
, Adílio
Adílio de Oliveira Gonçalves
Adílio de Oliveira Gonçalves, usually known simply as Adílio is a former Brazilian football attacking midfielder, who played for the Brazilian national team.-Career:...
, Cláudio Adão
Cláudio Adão
Cláudio Adalberto Adão, or simply Cláudio Adão , is a former Brazilian football player. A gifted forward, Adão was the top-scorer of almost every championship he's played....
and Tita, sparkled as the Mengão's golden generation
Golden Generation
In sport, a golden generation is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved...
reached the pinnacle of their careers by beating Cobreloa
Cobreloa
Club de Deportes Cobreloa is a Chilean football club from the Atacama Desert mining city of Calama which has established itself as one of the country's most competitive clubs. The club was founded on January 7, 1977 and play in the Chilean top flight, the Primera División, where they have played...
of Chile. After 16 years of near-continuous failures, Peñarol
C.A. Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol also known as Carboneros, Aurinegros and familiarly as Manya, is an Uruguayan sports club based in the Peñarol barrio, Montevideo, best known for its professional football team. The team plays their home matches in Estadio Centenario, the largest stadium in the country, but...
would go on to win the cup, for their fourth time, in 1982 after beating the 1981 finalists in consecutive series. First, the Manyas disposed of defending champion Flamengo 1–0 in the last match of the second phase at Flamengo's home ground, the famed Estádio do Maracanã
Estádio do Maracanã
The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final...
. Then in the final, they repeated the dosis on Cobreloa winning a decisive second leg match 1–0 in Santiago. Grêmio
Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense
Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, commonly known as just Grêmio , is a Brazilian professional association football team based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul founded by English and German immigrants on September 15, 1903. Major titles captured by Grêmio include one Intercontinental Cup, two Copa...
of Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
made history by defeating Peñarol to become the champion in 1983. In 1984, Independiente won their seventh cup, a record that stands today, after defeating title holders Grêmio which included an incredible 1–0 win in the first away leg highlighting Jorge Burruchaga
Jorge Burruchaga
Jorge Luis Burruchaga is a former Argentine professional football player, and last manager of Arsenal de Sarandí in the Primera División Argentina...
and a veteran Ricardo Bochini
Ricardo Bochini
Ricardo Enrique Bochini is an Argentine former professional football player. He is nicknamed El Bocha. Bochini was a childhood idol of Diego Maradona....
.
Another team rose from the Pacific as Cobreloa did. Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n club América de Cali
América de Cali
Corporación Deportiva América, commonly known as América de Cali or simply América is a Colombian football club based in Cali. They currently play in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight professional league in the country....
reached three consecutive finals in 1985, 1986
1986 Copa Libertadores
The 1986 Copa Libertadores was the 27th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. River Plate won the competition for the first time ever.- Group 1 :- Group 2 :- Group 3 :- Group 4 :- Group 5 :...
and 1987 but like Cobreloa they could not manage to win a single one. In 1985, Argentinos Juniors
Argentinos Juniors
Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine football club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. Founded on August 15, 1904, the club was originally called the “Martyrs of Chicago”, in homage to the eight anarchists imprisoned or hanged after the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.-Early...
, a small club from the neighborhood of La Paternal in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, astonished South America as they eliminated title holders Independiente in La Doble Visera 2–1 during the last decisive match of the second round, for a place in the final. Argentinos Juniors went on to win an unprecedented title by beating America de Cali in the play-off match via a penalty shootout. After the frustrations of 1966 and 1976, River Plate reached a third final in 1986 and were crowned Cup champion for the first time ever after winning both legs of the final series against America de Cali, 2-1 at the Estadio Pascual Guerrero and 1-0 at Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti
Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti
Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, is a stadium in the Belgrano district of Buenos Aires, Argentina at the intersection of Figueroa Alcorta and Udaondo. It is the home venue of Club Atlético River Plate and is named after former club president Antonio Vespucio Liberti...
. Peñarol won the Cup again in 1987 after beating America de Cali 2–1 in the decisive playoff; it proved to be their last hurrah in the international scene as Uruguayan football, in general, suffered a great decline at the end of the 1980s. The Manyas fierce rivals, Nacional, also won one last cup in 1988 before falling from the continental limelight.
It was not until 1989 before a Pacific team finally broke the dominance of the established, Atlantic powers. Atlético Nacional
Atlético Nacional
Corporación Deportiva Atlético Nacional is a Colombian football team based in Medellín. They play their home games at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot stadium which also serves as home to Deportivo Independiente Medellín...
of Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
won the final series becoming the first team from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
to win the tournament. In a tournament filled with controversial refereeing and circumstances, Atletico Nacional faced off against Olimpia losing the first leg in Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
2–0. Because Estadio Atanasio Girardot
Estadio Atanasio Girardot
Estadio Atanasio Girardot is a multi-purpose stadium in Medellín, Colombia. It is currently used mostly for football matches by two local teams, Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín. It is part of the Unidad Deportiva Atanasio Girardot, which also contains other sports facilities...
, their home stadium, did not have the minimum capacity CONMEBOL required to host a final, the second leg was played in Bogota's El Campín
Estadio El Campín
The Nemesio Camacho Stadium, commonly known as El Campín, is the main stadium of Bogotá, Colombia. It is the home ground of the Independiente Santa Fe and Millonarios association football teams....
with the match ending 2–0 in favor of Atletico Nacional. Having tied the series, Atletico Nacional become that year's champion after winning a penalty shootout which needed to go into four rounds of sudden death. Goalkeeper René Higuita
René Higuita
José René Higuita Zapata is a former Colombian football goalkeeper nicknamed El Loco...
cemented his legendary status with an outstanding performance as he stopped four of the nine Paraguayan kicks and scored one himself. The 1989 edition also had another significant first: it was the first ever time that no club from Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil managed to reach the final. That trend would continue on until 1992.
Renaissance: 1990–1999
Having led Olimpia to the 1979 title as manager, Luis CubillaLuís Cubilla
Luis Alberto Cubilla Almeida is a former Uruguayan football player and coach. He had a successful playing career winning 15 major titles...
returned to the club's bench in 1988. Around the legendary goalkeeper Ever Hugo Almeida
Ever Hugo Almeida
Ever Hugo Almeida ; naturalized Paraguayan in 1975, is a former football goalkeeper and now is the national coach of Guatemala....
, Gabriel González
Gabriel González (footballer)
Gabriel González Chaves is a former football player from Paraguay that used to play as a forward or attacking midfielder....
, Adriano Samaniego
Adriano Samaniego
Adriano Samaniego Giménez ; is a former football striker.-Club:Samaniego started his football career in the youth divisions of Club Olimpia of Paraguay. His debut in the first team squad was in 1981...
, and star Raul Vicente Amarilla
Raúl Vicente Amarilla
Raúl Vicente Amarilla is a retired Paraguayan football striker.-Career as a player:Amarilla made his debut in his hometown team, Sportivo Luqueño at the age of 17. Because of his scoring ability and great heading skills he soon moved to Spain and signed for Real Zaragoza...
, a rejuvenated decano boasted an extremely formidable side that promised a return to the glory days of the late 1970s. After coming up short in 1989 against Atlético Nacional, Olimpia reached the 1990 Copa Libertadores finals after defeating the defending champion in a climactic semifinal series decided on penalties. In the finals, Olimpia defeated Barcelona
Barcelona Sporting Club
Barcelona Sporting Club is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of football in the country, and hold the distinction of being the only team to have never been relegated.With...
of Ecuador 3–1 in aggregate in a relatively comfortable victory to win their second title. Olimpia will reach the 1991 Copa Libertadores finals afterwards, once again, defeating Atlético Nacional in the semifinals and face Colo-Colo
Colo-Colo
Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo is a Chilean football club based in the commune of Macul, Santiago. It competes in the Primera División, the top-flight football league in the country, from which they have never been relegated. Their home ground is the Estadio Monumental David Arellano.Colo-Colo...
. Led by Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
n coach Mirko Jozić
Mirko Jozic
Mirko Jozić is a retired Croatian football player and currently an active football manager.As a coach, he won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile, with the Yugoslavia U-20 national team composed of names such as Robert Prosinečki, Zvonimir Boban and Davor Šuker.He coached Chilean club...
, the Chilean squad beat the defending champion 3–0, sparking an unforgettable party in the country that celebrated the conquest in the streets as well as ending Olimpia's second golden era.
1992 Copa Libertadores
The 1992 Copa Libertadores was the 33rd edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. São Paulo won the competition....
, São Paulo rose from being a mere great in Brazil to become an international powerhouse. The monumentally-recognized manager Telê Santana
Telê Santana
Telê Santana da Silva, also known as Telê Santana , was a Brazilian football manager and former player...
turned to the Paulistas's youth and instilled his style of quick, cheerful, and decisive football. Led by stars such as Zetti
Zetti
Armelino Donizetti Quagliato, best known as Zetti is a former association football goalkeeper and coach manager.-Playing career:Zetti played with São Paulo from 1990 to 1996...
, Müller, Raí
Raí
Raí, full name Raí Souza Vieira de Oliveira is a former Brazilian football midfielder. He was part of the Brazil team which won 1994 FIFA World Cup. He also played for São Paulo FC when he had the most glorious time of his career, and Paris Saint-Germain, two clubs for which he has achieved...
, Cafu
Cafu
Marcos Evangelista de Moraes , better known as Cafu, is a former Brazilian footballer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest right-backs ever. He was given this nickname due to his speed up and down the right flank which was reminiscent of Cafuringa, a Brazilian forward from the 1970s...
, Palhinha, São Paulo beat Newell's Old Boys
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario. The club was founded on November 3, 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell, one of the pioneers of Argentine football...
of Argentina to begin a dynasty. In 1993
1993 Copa Libertadores
The Copa Libertadores 1993 was the 34th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. São Paulo won the competition....
São Paulo successfully defended the title by thumping Universidad Católica
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile, which plays in the Primera División.Universidad Católica is one of the most successful and popular football clubs in Chile and considered one of the three "big teams"...
of Chile in the finals. The Brazilian side became the first club since Boca Juniors in 1978 to win 2 consecutive Copa Libertadores. Like Boca Juniors, however, they would reach another final in 1994 only to have the penalty shoot-out, the instrument of their first victory, come back to haunt them as they lost the title to Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield is a sports club based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vélez is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División, the top level of the Argentine league system...
of Argentina. Vélez Sársfield's consegration in the Copa Libertadores was considered an institutional victory and it was Carlos Bianchi
Carlos Bianchi
Carlos Arcecio Bianchi , popularly known as El Virrey , is a prolific Argentine football forward turned manager...
, a former Vélez player, that built a squad capable of playing on an equal footing on any terrain against any team.
With a highly-compact tactical lineup and the goals of the formidable duo Jardel
Mário Jardel
Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro is a former Brazilian professional footballer.Jardel was most noted for his positioning on the field and "being at the right place, at the right time"...
and Paulo Nunes
Paulo Nunes
Arílson de Paula Nunes, better known as Paulo Nunes , is a former Brazilian football player. He retired in 2003 playing for Mogi Mirim Esporte Clube.-Career:...
, Grêmio won the coveted trophy again in 1995 after beating an Atlético Nacional led, once again, by the iconic figure of René Higuita. Jardel became the top scorer in this edition with the high mark of 12 goals. The team coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari
Luiz Felipe Scolari
Luiz Felipe Scolari , ComIH , also known as Felipão in Brazil and Phil Scolari in the United Kingdom, is a World Cup-winning Brazilian football manager. He is currently the manager of Palmeiras. He served as the manager of the Portuguese national team from July 12, 2003 to June 30, 2008...
had some fundamental pillars as defender (and captain) Adilson and the skilful midfielder Arilson
Arílson
Arílson Gilberto da Costa is a Brazilian football player who currently plays for 14 de Julho. He has formerly played for Esportivo de Bento Gonçalves, Grêmio, Kaiserslautern, Internacional, Palmeiras, Real Valladolid, Universidad de Chile, 15 de Novembro, Portuguesa , América Mineiro, Club Santa...
. In the 1996 edition, emerging figures such as Hernán Crespo
Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...
, Marcelo Salas
Marcelo Salas
José Marcelo Salas Melinao , better known as El Matador, Shileno or simply Marcelo Salas, is a former football player from Chile. He, along with world cup veterans, 3 time Best Player of America Elías Figueroa and former Real Madrid and Inter Milan forward Iván Zamorano, has been one of Chile's...
, Esteban Valencia, Sebastián Abreu
Sebastián Abreu
Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo is an Uruguayan footballer who plays with Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas in Brazil as a striker.Best known by his nickname El Loco , the prolific goalscorer – for club and country – played for more than 20 teams during his professional career, in six different...
, Edmundo
Edmundo
Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto , better known simply as Edmundo, is a retired Brazilian footballer.Edmundo played for Brazil at the 1998 World Cup. For Palmeiras, he won the Campeonato Brasileiro in the beginning of the Nineties. For Vasco da Gama he won 1997's Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, scoring...
, Enzo Francescoli
Enzo Francescoli
Enzo Francescoli Uriarte is a former uruguayan football player of Italian and Spanish origin, who retired in 1997. An elegant and highly skillful dribbler, passer, and goal-scorer, Francescoli was nicknamed El Príncipe or Le Prince...
and Leonardo Rodríguez
Leonardo Rodríguez
Leonardo Adrián Rodríguez Iacobitti is a former Argentinian football midfielder. He was born on August 27, 1966, in the city of Lanús in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina...
helped River Plate secure its second title after defeating América de Cali in a rematch of the 1986 final.
The Copa Libertadores stayed on Brazilian soil for the remaining of the 1990s as Cruzeiro, Vasco da Gama and Palmeiras won the spoils. The cup of 1997 clashed Cruzeiro and the Peruvian team Sporting Cristal
Sporting Cristal
Club Sporting Cristal is a Peruvian football team. Based in the Rímac District, in the department of Lima, it plays in the professional league known as the Peruvian First Division. Founded on November 16, 1926 in the Rimac District given its approval to the merger and Snuff Sporting merging with...
. It was defined in the second leg of the final when Cruzeiro broke the deadlock with just under 15 minutes left in a match attended by over 106,000 spectators in the Mineirão
Mineirão
Mineirão , officially Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto established in 1965 in Belo Horizonte, is the largest football stadium in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and the second largest in the country, after Maracanã...
. Vasco da Gama defeated Barcelona SC with ease to enter in the gallery of champions in 1998. The decade ended on a high note when Palmeiras and Deportivo Cali, both runners-up in the competition before, bid to become winners for the first time and the trophy, in 1999, was decided in a dramatic back-and-forth match that went into penalties. Luiz Felipe Scolari managed to lead yet another club to victory as the Verdão won 4–3 in São Paulo.
This decade proved to be a major turning point in the history of the competition as the Copa Libertadores went through a great deal of growth and change. Having been long overshadowed by Argentina's clubs, the Brazilians begin overshadowing their neighbors as they saw its clubs reach the final on eight of this decade's ten finals (and winning six). From 1998 onwards, the Copa Libertadores was sponsored by Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation
, , , commonly known simply as Toyota and abbreviated as TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production.The company was founded by...
and became known as the Copa Toyota Libertadores. That same year, Mexican clubs, although affiliated to CONCACAF
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...
, started taking part in the competition thanks to quotas obtained from the Pre-Libertadores which pitted Mexican and Venezuelan clubs for two slots in the group stage. The tournament was expanded to 36 teams and economic incentives were introduced by an agreement between CONMEBOL and Toyota Motor Corporation. All the teams that advance to the second stage of the tournament received $25,000 for their participation.
Decade of resurgences: 2000–2009
During the 2000 Copa Libertadores, Boca Juniors returned to the top of the continent and raised the Copa Libertadores again after 22 years. Masterfully directed by Carlos BianchiCarlos Bianchi
Carlos Arcecio Bianchi , popularly known as El Virrey , is a prolific Argentine football forward turned manager...
, the Virrey, along with outstanding players like Mauricio Serna
Mauricio Serna
Mauricio Alberto Serna Valencia is a retired Colombian football player who played 51 games for the Colombia national team between 1993 and 2001...
, Jorge Bermúdez
Jorge Bermúdez
Jorge Hernán Bermúdez Morales is a retired Colombian football defender. He played 56 times for the Colombia national team between 1995 and 2001.-Playing career:...
, Óscar Córdoba
Óscar Córdoba
Óscar Eduardo Córdoba Arce is a retired Colombian football goalkeeper who has played more than 70 games for the Colombia national team...
, Juan Roman Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme is an Argentine footballer who plays for Boca Juniors. A longtime Argentine international, Riquelme is best known for his spells with Boca Juniors and Villarreal...
, Martín Palermo
Martín Palermo
Martín Palermo is a retired Argentine footballer who formerly played for Boca Juniors of Argentina, and the Argentina national team...
, among others, revitalized the club to establish it among the world's best. The Xeneizes started this legacy by defeating defending champion Palmeiras in the final series. Boca Juniors won the 2001 edition after, once again, defeating Palmeiras in the semifinals and Cruz Azul in the final series to successfully defend the trophy. Cruz Azul became the first ever Mexican club to reach the final after great performances against River Plate and an inspired Rosario Central
Rosario Central
Club Atlético Rosario Central is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina. Its football team currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second tier of the Argentine football league system, after being relegated in the 2009-10 season....
. Like their predecessors from the late 1970s however, Boca Juniors depleted of some of its figures would fall short of winning three titles in a row. As with Juan Carlos Lorenzo's men, the Bosteros became frustrated as they were eliminated by Olimpia, this time during the quarterfinals. Led by World Cup winner
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...
-turned manager Nery Pumpido
Nery Pumpido
Nery Alberto Pumpido is a football coach and former goalkeeper who played for the Argentine national team in two World Cups. After retirement, Pumpido moved into club management and is currently in his second spell as coach of Paraguayan side Olimpia of Asunción.-Club career:Pumpido began his...
, Olimpia would overcome Grêmio (after some controversy) and surprise finalists São Caetano
Associação Desportiva São Caetano
Associação Desportiva São Caetano, commonly known as São Caetano, is a Brazilian football team based in the city of São Caetano, Brazil, part of the São Paulo greater metropolitan area. The team is dubbed Azulão , after the shirt colour. The sponsor is Consul, a well known Brazilian producer of...
. Despite this triumph, Olimpia did not create the winning mystique of its past golden generations and went out of the 2003 edition, in the round of 16, after being routed by Grêmio 6–2, avenging their controversial loss from the year before.
The 2003 tournament became an exceptional show as many teams such as América de Cali, River Plate, Grêmio, Cobreloa, Racing, among others, brought their best sides in generations and unexpected teams such as Independiente Medellín
Independiente Medellín
Corporación Deportiva Independiente Medellín is a professional Colombian football team competing in Fútbol Profesional Colombiano, the Colombian first division. The club is based in the city of Medellín and founded in 1913. It has won the league's national tournament known as Copa Mustang five...
and Paysandu
Paysandu Sport Club
Paysandu Sport Club is a Brazilian football club located in Belém, Pará. Paysandu is also known as Papão da Curuzu because it won several titles in the 1940s and Curuzu from the name of the street where Paysandu's stadium sits.Paysandu is a club in Northern Brazil, having won 43 State Leagues, 1...
became revelations in what was, arguably, the best Copa Libertadores in history. The biggest news of the competition was previous champion Santos. Qualifying to the tournament as Brazilian champion, coached by Emerson Leão
Émerson Leão
Émerson Leão is a Brazilian manager and former football player. He is one of the all-time best Brazilian goalkeepers. A documentary video produced by FIFA, FIFA Fever, called him the third-most impressive defense player of all time. He was born in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo.-Playing career:He was...
and containing marvelous figures such as Renato
Renato Dirnei Florêncio
Renato Dirnei Florêncio Santos , simply Renato, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas....
, Alex
Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa
Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, better known as Alex , is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Chelsea FC and the Brazil national team. His nickname is "Vinny" amongst fans for his close similarities to actor Vin Diesel....
, Léo
Leonardo Lourenço Bastos
Leonardo Lourenço Bastos , commonly known as Léo, is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays as a defender for Brazilian club Santos FC.-Career:...
, Ricardo Oliveira
Ricardo Oliveira
Ricardo Oliveira is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Al Jazira Club in the United Arab Emirates, as a striker.He represented São Paulo in two different spells, but also played in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 120 games and 58 goals for three teams.A Brazilian international in the 2000s,...
, Diego
Diego Ribas da Cunha
Diego Ribas da Cunha , commonly known as just Diego, is an international Brazilian footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid on loan from VfL Wolfsburg, as an attacking midfielder.-Santos:...
, Robinho
Robinho
Robson de Souza , more commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently plays as second striker and winger for Serie A club AC Milan...
, and Elano, the Santásticos became a symbol of entertaining and cheerful football that resembled Pelé's generation of the 1960s. Boca Juniors once again found talent in their ranks to fill the gap left by the very successful group of 2000–2001 (with upcoming stars Rolando Schiavi
Rolando Schiavi
Rolando Schiavi is an Argentine football defender. He currently plays for Boca Juniors.-Club career:Schiavi started his career in the lower leagues with Argentino de Rosario, before moving to Argentinos Juniors in 1995. Schiavi played for Argentinos for six years, before joining Boca Juniors...
, Roberto Abbondanzieri
Roberto Abbondanzieri
Roberto Carlos "Pato" Abbondanzieri is an Argentine former football goalkeeper who had a successful career at Boca Juniors.- Club career :...
and Carlos Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
). Boca Juniors and Santos would eventually meet in a rematch of the 1963 final; Boca avenged the 1963 defeat, at the hands O Rei and co., by defeating Santos in both legs of the finals. Carlos Bianchi won the Cup a fourth time and became the most successful manager in the competition's history and Boca Juniors hailed themselves pentacampeones. Boca Juniors reached their fourth final in five tournaments in 2004 but they were beaten by surprise-outfit Once Caldas
Once Caldas
Corporación Deportiva Once Caldas is a Colombian association football team, based in Manizales. They were the surprise winners of Copa Libertadores de América in 2004, mainly due to the performances of Juan Carlos Henao and Jhon Viáfara...
, ending Boca's dream generation. Once Caldas, using a very conservative and defensive style of football, became the second ever Colombian side to win the competition after eliminating powerhouses such as Santos and São Paulo.
Ruing their semifinal exit in 2004, São Paulo made an outstanding comeback in 2005 to contest the final with Atlético Paranaense
Clube Atlético Paranaense
Clube Atlético Paranaense is a Brazilian football team from Curitiba in Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The club won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A in 2001.-History:...
. This became the first ever Copa Libertadores finals to feature two teams from the same football association; The Tricolor won their third crown after thrashing Atlético Paranaense in the final leg, making them South American champion. The 2006 tournament was also an all-Brazilian final and featured the defending champion São Paulo against Internacional. Led by team captain Fernandão
Fernandão
Fernando Lúcio da Costa, also called Fernandão , is a retired Brazilian footballer.-Career:Having started his career at Goiás of Goiânia, Fernandão had a four-year spell in France, initially moving to Marseille for R$1.4 million, before returning to Brazil to play for Internacional...
, the Colorados beat São Paulo 2–1 at Estádio do Morumbi
Estádio do Morumbi
Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo is a stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, home of São Paulo Futebol Clube and its formal name honors Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, who was São Paulo FC's chairman during most of the stadium construction, and died before its inauguration....
and held the defending champions at a 2–2 draw at home in Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
as Internacional won their first ever title. Internacional's arch-rivals, Grêmio, surprised many as they reached the final in 2007 with a relative young squad. However, it was not to be as Boca Juniors, reinforced by aging but still-capable players, came away with the trophy to win their sixth title in history at the hands of Juan Román Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme is an Argentine footballer who plays for Boca Juniors. A longtime Argentine international, Riquelme is best known for his spells with Boca Juniors and Villarreal...
.
In 2008 the tournament stopped being sponsored by Toyota. Grupo Santander
Grupo Santander
The Santander Group is a banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A., the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. According to Forbes Magazine Global 2000, it is the 13th largest public company in the world...
, one of the largest banks in the world, became the sponsor of the Copa Libertadores, thus, the name change to Copa Santander Libertadores. In that season, LDU Quito became the first team from Ecuador to win the Copa Libertadores after defeating Fluminense
Fluminense Football Club
Fluminense Football Club is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Founded in the beginning of the 20th century as a single-sport institution, Fluminense is today an umbrella organization for several teams in more than 16 different sport activities. The most popular endeavor of Fluminense,...
3–1 on penalties, with Jose Francisco Cevallos being a key player blocking three penalties in the final shootout in what is considered the best ever final series in the history of the competition. It is also the final with the most goals in the history of the tournament. The biggest resurgence of the decade happened in the 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores and it was won by a former power that has reinvented itself. Estudiantes de La Plata, led by Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón is an Argentinian professional football player who is the current captain and midfielder for Estudiantes de La Plata in the Argentine Primera División....
, won their fourth title 39 long years after the successful generation of the 1960s (led by Juan Sebastián's father, Juan Ramón). The pincharatas brilliantly managed to emulate their predecessors by defeating Cruzeiro 2–1 on the return leg in Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
Format
Qualification
As of 2009, most teams qualify to the Copa Libertadores by winning half-year tournaments called the Apertura and ClausuraApertura and Clausura
The Apertura and Clausura tournaments are a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional European football season from August to May is divided in two sections per season, each with its own champion. Apertura and Clausura are the Spanish words for...
tournaments or by finishing among the top teams in their championship. The countries that use this format are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela. Peru and Ecuador have developed new formats for qualification to the Copa Libertadores involving several stages. Brazil is the only South American league to use a European league format instead of the Apertura and Clausura format. However, one berth for the Copa Libertadores can be won by winning the Copa do Brasil
Copa do Brasil
The Copa Kia do Brasil, commonly known as Copa do Brasil , is a knockout competition played by 64 association football teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District...
. Peru, Uruguay and Mexico used a second tournament to determine who qualifies to the Libertadores (the "Liguilla Pre-Libertadores" since 1992 to 1997, the "Liguilla Pre-Libertadores de América" since 1974 to 2009, and the InterLiga
InterLiga
The InterLiga was a football competition from 2004 to 2010 between Mexican clubs to determine qualifying spots for that country in South America's premier club competition, the Copa Libertadores....
from 2004 to 2010, respectively). Chile still uses a competition to determine a Copa Libertadores participant, the "Liguilla para Copa Libertadores". Argentina used an analogous method only once in 1992. Starting in 2011, the winner of the Copa Sudamericana will qualify directly to the following Copa Libertadores.
The competitors of the 2011 edition will be distributed as follows:
- The defending champion
- The Copa Sudamericana champion
- 5 from ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... - 3 from BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, ParaguayParaguayParaguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, and VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
each - 3 invitees from MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Unlike the nation containing the defending champion, the country of the Copa Sudamericana champion does not gain an extra berth to the tournament.
Rules
Unlike most other competitions around the world, the Copa Libertadores historically did not use extra time or away goalsAway goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. By the away goals rule, the team that has scored more goals "away from home" will win if scores are otherwise equal...
to decide a tie that was level on aggregate. From 1960 to 1987, two-legged ties were decided on points (teams would be awarded 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss), without taking goal difference into consideration. If both teams were level on points after two legs, a third match would be played at a neutral site. Goal difference would only come into play if the third match was drawn. If the third match did not produce an immediate winner a penalty shootout
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...
was used to determine a winner.
From 1988 onwards, two-legged ties were decided on points, followed by goal difference, with an immediate penalty shootout if the tie was level on aggregate after full time of the second leg. Starting with the 2005 event, CONMEBOL began to use the away goals rule. In 2008, the finals became an exception to the away goals rule and employed extra time.
Tournament
The current tournament features 38 clubs competing over a six to eight month period. There are three stages: the first stage, the second stage and the knockout stage.The first stage pits a number of clubs, currently 12, in series of two-legged knockout ties. The six survivors join 26 clubs in the second stage, in which they are divided into eight groups of four. The teams in each group play in a double round-robin format, with each team playing home and away games against each team in their group. The top two teams from each group are then drawn into the knockout stage, which consists of two-legged knockout ties. From that point, the competition proceeds with two-legged knockout ties to quarterfinals, semifinals, and the finals. Between 1960 and 1987 the previous winners did not enter the competition until the semifinal stage, making it much easier to retain the cup.
Between 1960 and 2004, the winner of the tournament participated for the now-defunct Intercontinental Cup
Intercontinental Cup (football)
The European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the World Club Championship, Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...
. Since then, the winner plays in the FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
-organized Club World Cup
FIFA Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup is a football competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations.The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in January 2000...
. The winning team also qualifies to play in the Recopa Sudamericana, a two-legged final series against the winners of the Copa Sudamericana
Copa Sudamericana
The Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes , known simply as the Copa Sudamericana , is an annual international club football competition organized by the CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second most prestigious club competition in South American football. CONCACAF clubs were invited between 2004...
.
Trophy
The tournament shares its name with the trophy, also called the Copa Libertadores or simply la Copa, which is awarded to the Copa Libertadores winner. It was designed by ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
designer Alberto de Gasperi, an immigrant of Peru, in Camusso Jewelry of Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
(owned by Gasperi) at the behest of CONMEBOL. The top of the laurel is made of sterling silver
Sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925....
, with the exception of the football player at the top (it is made of bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
with a silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
coating). The pedestal
Pedestal
Pedestal is a term generally applied to the support of a statue or a vase....
, which contains badges from every winner of the competition, is made of hardwood plywood. The badges provides the year of the edition, the full name of the winning club, the city that the club comes from and the nation. To the left of that information is the club logo. The current trophy is the third in the history of the competition; in 1970, Estudiantes's third victory in the tournament entitled them to keep the original trophy permanently. Independiente won the second trophy in 1974 after winning the competition for the third consecutive time.
Cultural impact
The Copa Libertadores remains an important goal for South Americans, a golden paradigm to the players and teams of the continent. The folklore, fanfare, and organization of many competitions around the world owe its aspects to the Libertadores.El Sueño Libertador
The Sueño Libertador is a promotional SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
phrase
Phrase
In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....
used in the context of winning or attempting to win the Copa Libertadores. Thus, when a team gets eliminated from the competition, it is said that the team has awakened from the liberator dream. The project normally starts after the club win one's national league (which qualify their winner to compete in the following year's Copa Libertadores), and the clubs usually spend large sums of money to win the Copa Libertadores.
In 1998 for example, Vasco da Gama spent $10 million to win the competition, and in 1998, Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras is a Brazilian football club from São Paulo. The club was founded on August 26, 1914, as Palestra Italia but changed to the current name on September 14, 1942...
, managed by Luiz Felipe Scolari
Luiz Felipe Scolari
Luiz Felipe Scolari , ComIH , also known as Felipão in Brazil and Phil Scolari in the United Kingdom, is a World Cup-winning Brazilian football manager. He is currently the manager of Palmeiras. He served as the manager of the Portuguese national team from July 12, 2003 to June 30, 2008...
, brought Júnior Baiano
Júnior Baiano
Raimundo Ferreira Ramos Jr. is a retired Brazilian footballer.-Club:...
among other players, and successfully won the 1999 Copa Libertadores. The tournament is highly regarded among its participants. In 2010, players from Chivas de Guadalajara
C.D. Guadalajara
Club Deportivo Guadalajara , is a Mexican professional football club based in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Guadalajara plays in the Primera División de México and is the most successful club in Mexican football, having won 11 First Division titles, 7 Campeón de Campeones and 2 Copa México...
stated that they would rather play the Copa Libertadores final rather than appear on a friendly against Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
, the reigning FIFA World Cup holders who are playing with their best side, and dispute their own national league. Players from Santos FC have stated, after their triumph in the 2010 Copa do Brasil
2010 Copa do Brasil
The 2010 Copa do Brasil was the 22nd edition of the Copa do Brasil, starting on February 10 and ended on August 4. It was contested by 64 teams, either qualified through their respective state championships or by the CBF Rankings...
, that they would rather stay in the club and participate in the 2011 Copa Libertadores
2011 Copa Libertadores
The 2011 Copa Libertadores de América was the 52nd edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. It was held from January 25 to June 22 of the same year...
, despite having multi-million dollar contracts lining up for them from clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
, such as Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Lyon
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais is a French association football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Oscar Cordoba has stated that the Copa Libertadores was the most important trophy he attained (above the Argentine league, Intercontinental Cup, etc.)
'La Copa se mira y no se toca'
Since its inception in 1960, the Copa Libertadores had predominantly been passed around clubs from nations with an Atlantic coast: Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Olimpia AsunciónOlimpia Asunción
Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sport club based in Asunción. It is best known for its professional football team which plays in the Paraguayan Primera División....
of Paraguay became the first team outside of those nations to win the Copa Libertadores when they triumphed in 1979.
The first club from a country with a Pacific coast to reach a final was Universitario of Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, who lost in 1972 against Independiente of Argentina. The following year, Independiente defeated Colo-Colo
Colo-Colo
Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo is a Chilean football club based in the commune of Macul, Santiago. It competes in the Primera División, the top-flight football league in the country, from which they have never been relegated. Their home ground is the Estadio Monumental David Arellano.Colo-Colo...
of Chile, another Pacific team, creating the myth that the trophy would never go to the west, giving birth to the saying, "La Copa se mira y no se toca" . Atletico Nacional
Atlético Nacional
Corporación Deportiva Atlético Nacional is a Colombian football team based in Medellín. They play their home games at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot stadium which also serves as home to Deportivo Independiente Medellín...
of Medellin
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, Colombia, won the Copa Libertadores in 1989, becoming the first nation with a Pacific coastline to win the tournament.
Other clubs from nations with Pacific coastlines to have won the competition are Colo-Colo in 1991, Once Caldas
Once Caldas
Corporación Deportiva Once Caldas is a Colombian association football team, based in Manizales. They were the surprise winners of Copa Libertadores de América in 2004, mainly due to the performances of Juan Carlos Henao and Jhon Viáfara...
of Colombia in 2004, and LDU Quito of Ecuador in 2008.
Sponsorship
Like many major football tournaments, the Copa Libertadores is sponsored by many corporations. However, the competition is currently primarily sponsored by Banco SantanderGrupo Santander
The Santander Group is a banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A., the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. According to Forbes Magazine Global 2000, it is the 13th largest public company in the world...
, one of the largest banks in the world. The deal running for a period of 5 years began with the 2008 edition. As the main sponsor of the tournament, the competition will carry the name of the bank. Thus, the competition is known officially as the '"Copa Santander Libertadores'". The first major sponsor was Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation
, , , commonly known simply as Toyota and abbreviated as TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production.The company was founded by...
who signed a 10 year contract with CONMEBOL in 1998.
However, the competition has had many secondary sponsors that invest in the tournament as well. Many of these sponsors are nationally based but have expanded to other nations. Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
supplies the official match ball, as they do for all other CONMEBOL competitions. Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
's Pro Evolution Soccer
Pro Evolution Soccer (series)
Pro Evolution Soccer is a series of football video game developed and published by Konami...
is also a secondary sponsor as the official Copa Libertadores video game. This is the first time
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 is an association football video game in the Pro Evolution Soccer series developed and published by Konami with production assistance from the Blue Sky Team...
that the competition is being featured on a video game. Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the Copa Libertadores.
The tournament's current secondary sponsors are:
Fox Sports (Fox Sports en Latinoamérica
Fox Sports en Latinoamérica
Fox Sports, is a Latin American cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-recorded event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming, Fox Sports compete with the largest international sports network, ESPN.The channel broadcast...
and Fox Deportes are the brands advertised.) Heineken International (Cristal
Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas
CCU is a Chilean company of the diversified beverages, but operates in the food sector founded in 1902. With operations in Chile and Argentina....
, Kaiser, Schneider
Schneider (beer)
Schneider is the brand of beer produced by the Compañia de Cervercerias Unidas Argentina or Company of United Beer Producers in Spanish. The CCUA is as of 2006, the 3rd largest producer of beer in Argentina. It controls around 16% of the beer market in the country, and is the official importer of...
, and Tecate is the brand advertised.) Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
(Pro Evolution Soccer
Pro Evolution Soccer (series)
Pro Evolution Soccer is a series of football video game developed and published by Konami...
is the brand advertised.) Makita
Makita
Makita Corporation is a Japanese power tool company founded in 1915, and based in Anjō, Japan. Makita is a manufacturer of professional and consumer power tools, and operates factories in Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Romania, UK and USA. Annual turnover is equivalent to US$1.8 billion.-...
McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
Samsung
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul...
Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation
, , , commonly known simply as Toyota and abbreviated as TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production.The company was founded by...
Visa
Ambassador
Pelé, widely regarded among football historians, former players and fans to be one of the best and most accomplished footballers in the game's history, is the ambassadorAmbassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
of the Copa Libertadores, having won it with Santos twice. In 1999, he was voted as the Football Player of the Century by the IFFHS International Federation of Football History and Statistics. In the same year French weekly magazine France-Football consulted their former "Ballon D'Or" winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Pelé came in first position. In 1999 the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
named Pelé the "Athlete of the Century". In his career he scored 760 official goals, 541 in league championships, making him the top scorer of all time. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games. In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football. He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil). During his career, he became known as "The King" (O Rei).
Official anthem
The official anthem of the Copa Libertadores is a section of Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral". The famous choral finale is Beethoven's musical representation of Universal Brotherhood. The piece is a non-literal adaptation of An die Freude (English: Ode to Joy) by Friedrich Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, who Beethoven admired. The anthem's chorus is played before the beginning and the end of television broadcasts of the matches in the Copa Libertadores. The piece is also played during the draw of teams at the beginning of each edition. It is also played during the awarding ceremony.
Match ball
The current match ball for the Copa Libertadores is named the Total 90 Ascente Libertadores, manufactured by NikeNike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
,. It is one of the many balls produced by the American sports equipment maker for CONMEBOL, replacing the Mercurial Veloci Hi-Vis in 2009. The ball, approved by FIFA and weighting approximately 422 g
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
, has a spherical shape that allows the ball to fly faster, farther, and more accurately. According to Nike, the ball's geometric precision distributes pressure evenly across panels and around the ball. The compressed polyethylene
Polyethylene
Polyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons...
layer stores energy from impact and releases it at launch, and the 6-wing carbon-latex air chamber improves acceleration.
Another feature of the ball is its rubber layer; it was designed to allow a better response while retaining the impact energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
and releases it in the coup. Its support material of cross-linked nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
-expanded foam
Foam
-Definition:A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping gas in a liquid or solid in a divided form, i.e. by forming gas regions inside liquid regions, leading to different kinds of dispersed media...
improves its retention and durability of its shape. Polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
support fabric enhances structure and stability. The asymmetrical high-contrast
Contrast (vision)
Contrast is the difference in visual properties that makes an object distinguishable from other objects and the background. In visual perception of the real world, contrast is determined by the difference in the color and brightness of the object and other objects within the same field of view...
graphic around the ball creates an optimal flicker as the ball rotates for a more powerful visual signal, allowing the player to more easily identify and track the ball.
Media coverage
The tournament attracts television audiences beyond South America. The matches are broadcasted in over 135 countries, with commentaries in more than 30 languages, and it is often considered as one of the most watched sports events on TV; Fox Sports en LatinoaméricaFox Sports en Latinoamérica
Fox Sports, is a Latin American cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-recorded event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming, Fox Sports compete with the largest international sports network, ESPN.The channel broadcast...
, for example, reaches more than 25 million households in the American
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
continent alone. The 2009 edition saw over 1 billion television spectators in total tune in for the competition. Torneos y Competencias
Torneos y Competencias
Torneos y Competencias is an Argentine sports communications firm created by businessman Carlos Ávila, who has left the company...
is a secondary sponsor that sponsors the television broadcasts of the Copa Libertadores.
Prize money
Clubs in the Copa Libertadores receive $25,000 for advancing into the second stage and $210,000 per home match in the group phase. That amount is derived from television rights and stadium advertising. The payment per home match increases to $295,000 in the round of 16. The prize money then increases as each quarterfinalist gets $375,000, $525,000 for each semifinalist, $6255,000 for the runner-up, and $1,000,000 for the winner.The winner also receives $2 million from Banco Santander as a bonus.
The top goalscorer of the tournament receives the Alberto Spencer Trophy and $30,000. The best player of the tournament receives the Premio Santander and $30,000. The Fair Play Trophy, sponsored by Samsung, and $50,000 will be awareded for the first time in 2011 to the team with the best discipline in each edition.
Records and statistics
Francisco SáFrancisco Sá
Francisco Pedro Manuel Sá is a retired Argentine football defender.Sá holds the record for the most Copa Libertadores titles, he won six; 4 consecutive titles with Club Atlético Independiente between 1972 and 1975, and a further 2 with Boca Juniors in 1977 and 1978.Sá started his career with...
is the only player to have won six Copa Libertadores winners' medals. The overall top goalscorer in Copa Libertadores history is the Ecuadorian Alberto Spencer
Alberto Spencer
Alberto Pedro Spencer Herrera was an Ecuadorian football player, regarded as the best of his country. He is probably best known for his still-standing record for scoring the most goals in the Copa Libertadores, the most important club tournament in South America...
, scorer of 54 goals. Fernando Morena
Fernando Morena
Fernando Morena Belora is a retired football striker from Uruguay. His most known nicknames were "Nando" and "Potrillo", and he is the all-time top goalscorer in the history of the Uruguayan Primera with 230 goals in 244 games...
is second with 39 goals. Daniel Onega
Daniel Onega
Daniel Onega is a retired Argentine football centre forward who played for the Argentina national team between 1966 and 1972. He is the brother of the late midfielder Ermindo Onega....
holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Copa Libertadores. All of his 17 goals were scored in the 1966 tournament. Paraguayan (Uruguayan-born) goalkeeper Ever Hugo Almeida
Ever Hugo Almeida
Ever Hugo Almeida ; naturalized Paraguayan in 1975, is a former football goalkeeper and now is the national coach of Guatemala....
is the player with most appearances in the competition, 113 matches (winning two finals), all of them in Club Olimpia. Luis Cubilla
Luís Cubilla
Luis Alberto Cubilla Almeida is a former Uruguayan football player and coach. He had a successful playing career winning 15 major titles...
, Nery Pumpido
Nery Pumpido
Nery Alberto Pumpido is a football coach and former goalkeeper who played for the Argentine national team in two World Cups. After retirement, Pumpido moved into club management and is currently in his second spell as coach of Paraguayan side Olimpia of Asunción.-Club career:Pumpido began his...
and José Omar Pastoriza are the only people to date to win the Copa Libertadores as both player and head coach. Cubilla won in 1960, 1961 and 1971 as a player and in 1979 and 1990 as head coach. Pumpido won in 1986 as a player and in 2002 as head coach. Pastoriza won in 1972 as a player and in 1984 as head coach.
Carlos Bianchi
Carlos Bianchi
Carlos Arcecio Bianchi , popularly known as El Virrey , is a prolific Argentine football forward turned manager...
is the only head coach to ever win four Copa Libertadores. All Copa Libertadores winning head coaches were natives of the country they coached to victory except for Luis Cubilla, Mirko Jozić
Mirko Jozic
Mirko Jozić is a retired Croatian football player and currently an active football manager.As a coach, he won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile, with the Yugoslavia U-20 national team composed of names such as Robert Prosinečki, Zvonimir Boban and Davor Šuker.He coached Chilean club...
, Nery Pumpido and Edgardo Bauza
Edgardo Bauza
Edgardo Bauza is an Argentine former footballer and current manager of Ecuadorian club LDU Quito. Before taking up management, he played over 300 games for Rosario Central, a club he went on to manage. He also played for Independiente in Argentina, Atlético Junior in Colombia and Veracruz in Mexico...
. Jozić has the distinction and honor of being the only non-South American coach to win the tournament.
As of the end of the 2010 tournament, Nacional
Club Nacional de Football
Club Nacional de Football is a Uruguayan sports club based in Montevideo. It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Uruguayan Primera División....
have played the most games and scored the most goals, playing 319 games and scoring 481 goals.
External links
- Conmebol.com Official Site of the Copa Santander Libertadores.
- Fútbol Santander Official Sponsor of the Copa Santander Libertadores.
- Copa Libertadores at Fox Sports en Español
- Copa Libertadores at ESPN
- Copa Libertadores at Goal
- Copa Libertadores at Univision
- Copa Libertadores at Fox Soccer
- Copa Libertadores results at RSSSF.com
- Copa Libertadores at worldfootball.net
- Copa Libertadores at southamericanfutbol.com
- Copa Libertadores at www.copalibertadores.ru/