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South American Club Championship (football)
Encyclopedia
The South American Championship of Champions was a football competition played in 1948 and the first continental-wide tournament in the history of the sport. It was played between February 11 and March 17. Vasco da Gama won the competition after earning the most points in the round-robin
tournament. This tournament is seen as a precursor of the Copa Libertadores and is considered, along with the Copa Río de La Plata, as an important stepping stone towards the creation of the South American club tournament.
and Uruguay
an clubs disputed the Copa Río de La Plata, a tournament played between the national champions of each nation's top national leagues. The great success of this tournament gave birth to the idea of a continental competition.
In 1929, the head executives of Nacional
, Roberto Espil y José Usera Bermúdez, idealized a competition between the national champions of each Conmebol
member. After analyzing the geographical distributions and distances, Espil devised a proyect in 1946 which also included the runners-up of every national league. However, it was Colo-Colo
's head executive, Don Robinson Alvarez Marín, that first put it into practice and hatched the idea in the late 1930s. In 1948, Don Luis Valenzuela, as president of the confederation, finally set into motion the antecedent of the Copa Libertadores: the Copa de Campeones.
Vasco da Gama, led by figures such as Augusto
, Barbosa, Danilo
, Friaça
, Ademir
and Chico, came away with the trophy after a deciding 0-0 draw against River Plate
on the last round of matches. Vasco da Gama had already defeated Lítoral
and Emelec
1-0 each, thumped Nacional
3-1, trashed Deportivo Municipal 4-0 and tied 1-1 with the host club Colo-Colo
. The competition was as successful financially as it was on the field: the average public attendance per game was 39,549 spectators and the tournament generated a gross of CLP
9,493,483.
The tournament was also the kickoff to the creation of the European Cup
in Europe. French journalist Jacques Ferran, present during the competition, was covering the Championship for French newspaper L'Equipe
. Ferran became fascinated with the proceedings of the tournament and took the idea to Gabriel Hanot
, the editor of L'Equipe, once he returned to Europe. Hanot, in turn, took the envisioned idea to UEFA
.
The Vasco executives managed to hold a ballot for the formalization of the title in question and the title of Vasco was recognized and formalized. The vote was almost unanimous with the only dissenting vote coming from Michel Assef, then-President of arch-rivals Flamengo
.
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|-
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|Colo-Colo
|Host and 1947 Primera División champion
|-
|
|Emelec
|Invitee
|-
|
|Deportivo Municipal
|1947 Primera División
runner-up
|-
|
|Nacional
|1947 Primera División champion
|}
Notes:
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Round-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
tournament. This tournament is seen as a precursor of the Copa Libertadores and is considered, along with the Copa Río de La Plata, as an important stepping stone towards the creation of the South American club tournament.
Summary
Since the early 1910s, ArgentineArgentina
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 Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,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...
an clubs disputed the Copa Río de La Plata, a tournament played between the national champions of each nation's top national leagues. The great success of this tournament gave birth to the idea of a continental competition.
In 1929, the head executives of 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....
, Roberto Espil y José Usera Bermúdez, idealized a competition between the national champions of each Conmebol
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...
member. After analyzing the geographical distributions and distances, Espil devised a proyect in 1946 which also included the runners-up of every national league. However, it was 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...
's head executive, Don Robinson Alvarez Marín, that first put it into practice and hatched the idea in the late 1930s. In 1948, Don Luis Valenzuela, as president of the confederation, finally set into motion the antecedent of the Copa Libertadores: the Copa de Campeones.
Vasco da Gama, led by figures such as Augusto
Augusto da Costa
Augusto da Costa was a Brazilian footballer who played for the Brazil national football team. He captained the Brazil team to the 1950 FIFA World Cup final leading them to become the runners-up of the tournament after losing to Uruguay. He was born in Rio de Janeiro. He started his career in 1936,...
, Barbosa, Danilo
Danilo Alvim
Danilo Alvim Faria was a Brazilian footballer. He was a member of the ill-fated Brazilian 1950 World Cup team.-Career:...
, Friaça
Friaça
Albino Friaça Cardoso , best known as Friaça , was a Brazilian football striker.He was born in Porciúncula. In his career he played for Vasco da Gama, São Paulo and Ponte Preta...
, Ademir
Ademir Marques de Menezes
Ademir Marques de Menezes , best known as Ademir , was a Brazilian footballer, regarded as one of the best centre forwards in the history of the Brazil national team. His prominent jawbone earned him the nickname Queixada, which means "Jaw".He is best known for his exploits in the World Cup 1950...
and Chico, came away with the trophy after a deciding 0-0 draw against 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....
on the last round of matches. Vasco da Gama had already defeated Lítoral
Club Litoral
Club Deportivo Litoral, commonly known as Club Litoral or as just Litoral, is a Bolivian football club based in Cochabamba. They competed in the South American Club Championship in 1948, when they finished in the sixth place out of seven clubs, and competed in the Copa Libertadores in 1969, when...
and Emelec
Club Sport Emelec
Club Sport Emelec is a Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil that is best known for their professional football team. The football team plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of professional football in the country....
1-0 each, thumped 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....
3-1, trashed Deportivo Municipal 4-0 and tied 1-1 with the host 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...
. The competition was as successful financially as it was on the field: the average public attendance per game was 39,549 spectators and the tournament generated a gross of CLP
Chilean peso
The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. The symbol used locally for it is $. The ISO 4217 code for the present peso is CLP. It is subdivided into 100 centavos, although no centavo denominated coins...
9,493,483.
The tournament was also the kickoff to the creation of the European Cup
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...
in Europe. French journalist Jacques Ferran, present during the competition, was covering the Championship for French newspaper L'Equipe
L'Équipe
L'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of football , rugby, motorsports and cycling...
. Ferran became fascinated with the proceedings of the tournament and took the idea to Gabriel Hanot
Gabriel Hanot
Gabriel Hanot was a French association football player and journalist .He made 12 appearances for the France national football team, with his debut coming on 8 March 1908 against Switzerland. He made another 10 appearances for them up to World War I...
, the editor of L'Equipe, once he returned to Europe. Hanot, in turn, took the envisioned idea to UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
.
Afterwards
Until 1996, Conmebol did not recognize the competition as an official South American tournament. Vasco da Gama, although always considered the first South American champion, had never asked recognition to the title before to Conmebol. The recognition of it was needed to give Vasco da Gama the right to compete in the Supercopa Sudamericana, a competition which brought together all the past winners of the Copa Libertadores. But in 1996, an archive was rediscovered in Conmebol telling the story of the Copa Libertadores, which stated that the torunament of 1948 was the "embryo" of the Libertadores.The Vasco executives managed to hold a ballot for the formalization of the title in question and the title of Vasco was recognized and formalized. The vote was almost unanimous with the only dissenting vote coming from Michel Assef, then-President of arch-rivals 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...
.
Participants
| Country | Team | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| 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.... |
1947 Primera División champion | |
| Deportivo Litoral Club Litoral Club Deportivo Litoral, commonly known as Club Litoral or as just Litoral, is a Bolivian football club based in Cochabamba. They competed in the South American Club Championship in 1948, when they finished in the sixth place out of seven clubs, and competed in the Copa Libertadores in 1969, when... |
1947 La Paz champion | |
| Vasco da Gama |
|-
|
|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...
|Host and 1947 Primera División champion
|-
|
|Emelec
Club Sport Emelec
Club Sport Emelec is a Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil that is best known for their professional football team. The football team plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of professional football in the country....
|Invitee
|-
|
|Deportivo Municipal
|1947 Primera División
Primera División Peruana 1947
The 1947 Campeonato de Selección y Competencia, the top category of Peruvian football at the time, was played by 8 teams. The national champion was Atlético Chalaco. Sporting Tabaco and Universitario de Deportes refused to play a relegation playoff...
runner-up
|-
|
|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....
|1947 Primera División champion
|}
Notes:
- Deportivo Municipal took part in place of the Peruvian champions Atlético Chalaco.
- As the champion of Rio de Janeiro stateCampeonato CariocaThe Campeonato Carioca, also known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, is the football league of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and is one of the most prestigious national football tournaments...
, Vasco da Gama represented Brazil. They were given preference over PalmeirasSociedade Esportiva PalmeirasSociedade 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...
, the São Paulo state champion, since Rio won the 1946 Championship of State TeamsCampeonato Brasileiro de Seleções EstaduaisThe Campeonato Brasileiro de Seleções Estaduais was a Brazilian football tournament contested by state teams. It was Brazilian's most important football competition until the 1950s...
and thus was considered the champion of the stronger league. No national club championship existed then.
Final standings
| Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Vasco da Gama |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 10 | |
| 2 |  River PlateClub 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.... |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 9 | |
| 3 |  NacionalClub 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.... |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 8 | |
| 4 |  Deportivo Municipal |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 6 | |
| 5 |  Colo-ColoColo-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... |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 |  Deportivo LitoralClub Litoral Club Deportivo Litoral, commonly known as Club Litoral or as just Litoral, is a Bolivian football club based in Cochabamba. They competed in the South American Club Championship in 1948, when they finished in the sixth place out of seven clubs, and competed in the Copa Libertadores in 1969, when... |
6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 18 | −9 | 2 |
| 7 |  EmelecClub Sport Emelec Club Sport Emelec is a Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil that is best known for their professional football team. The football team plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of professional football in the country.... |
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 18 | −14 | 1 |
Match results
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External links
- Mauro Prais: South American Club Championship 1948 RSSSF, 11 July 2008
- Campeonato Sul-Americano de Campeões 1948 Vasco.Net
- Esteban Bekerman: Hace 60 años, River perdía la gran chance de ser el primer club campeón de América Perfil, 14 March 2008
- Título sul-americano completa 60 anos GloboEsporte, 14 March 2008