Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol: Copa Libertadores

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Highlights: 2011 Copa Libertadores Group stages.

There are 8 groups in the second round of the 2011 Copa Libertadores.

To see the latest posts from the 2011 Copa Libertadores click here.
To see highlights from specific groups follow the links below.

Group 1 (Libertad, Once Caldas, San Luis, Universidad San Martín)
Group 2 (Grêmio, Junior, León, Oriente Petrolero)
Group 3 (Argentinos Juniors, Club América, Fluminense, Nacional)
Group 4 (Caracas FC, Unión Española, Universidad Cátolica, Vélez Sársfield)
Group 5 (Cerro Porteño, Colo-Colo, Deportivo Táchira, Santos)
Group 6 (Emelec, Internacional, Jaguares, Jorge Wilstermann)
Group 7 (Cruzeiro, Deportes Tolima, Estudiantes, Guaraní)
Group 8 (Godoy Cruz, Independiente, LDU Quito, Peñarol)

Highlights: 2011 Copa Libertadores - qualification phase

Copa Libertadores 2011 kicked off on 25 January with a 2-0 win for Copa Sudamericana 2010 champions Independiente against Deportivo Quito of Ecuador. Matías Defederico who made his return to Argentina after an unsuccessful stint with brazilian side Corinthians scored on his competitive debut to make it 1-0 and Patricio Rodríguez bagged another to give the Argentine side a healthy 2-0 advantage going into the return leg which they lost 1-0 earning them a place in group 8 with Peñarol, LDU Quito and Libertadores debutants Godoy Cruz.

Jaguares of Mexico comfortably won both legs of their qualification playoff against Peruvian side Alianza Lima by 2-0 on both occasions. They will join holders Internacional, Emelec and Jorge Wilstermann in group 6.

Ronaldo's Corinthians team crashed out against Colombian side Deportes Tolima. Having drawn their home tie 0-0 the Brazilians lost their return leg in Colombia 2-0. However Brazilian Libertadores heavyweights Grêmio claimed their place in the group stages by beating Uruguayan minnows Liverpool de Montevideo 3-1 in a rocking Estadio Olimpico after a 2-2 draw in the first leg in Montevideo last week.

Chilean side Unión Española earned a creditable 0-1 away win against Bolivian side Bolívar in the high altitude city of La Paz and ensured progress to the group stage with a 0-0 draw. Paraguayan side Cerro Porteño who got the pick of the draw against Deportivo Petare of Venezuela, but they could only manage a 1-0 home win in theie home leg setting up a tense second leg back in Caracas, but they made it through thanks to a goal from Roberto Nanni.

25-01-11
Independiente (Arg)	2-0	Deportivo Quito (Ecu)
01-02-11
Deportivo Quito (Ecu)	1-0	Independiente (Arg)
Winner: Independiente

26-01-11
Alianza Lima (Per)	0-2	Jaguares (Mex)
01-02-11
Jaguares (Mex)	2-0	Alianza Lima (Per)
Winner: Jaguares

26-01-11
Corinthians (Bra)	0-0	Deportes Tolima (Col)
02-02-11
Deportes Tolima (Col)	2-0	Corinthians (Bra)
Winner: Deportes Tolima

26-01-11
Liverpool (Uru)	2-2	Grêmio (Bra)
02-02-11
Grêmio (Bra)	3-1	Liverpool (Uru)
Winner: Grêmio

27-01-11
Cerro Porteño (Par)	1-0	Deportivo Petare (Ven)
03-02-11
Deportivo Petare (Ven)	1-1	Cerro Porteño (Par)
Winner: ?

27-01-11
Bolívar (Bol)	0-1	Unión Española (Chi)
03-02-11
Unión Española (Chi)	0-0	Bolívar (Bol)
Winner: Unión Española

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues, the pick of the rest and other international tournaments:

click here

Golazo: Dayro Moreno, Once Caldas vs São Paulo, Copa Libertadores 2010

25 February 2010. Colombian side Once Caldas faced São Paulo of Brazil in the group stage of the 2010 Copa Libertadores. The game was a repeat of the 2004 semi-final which the Colombian minnows had won against all the odds with a 2-1 home win in the 2nd leg, to set up a final with Boca Juniors which they won after two draws and an incredible penalty shoot out in which Boca had missed all of their penalties.

In the 2010 rematch the Brazilian side took the lead with a free kick from their goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni, before Once Caldas recovered to repeat the 2-1 scoreline of 6 years before, with this stunning goal from Dayro Moreno.

Both sides qualified for the 2nd round, Once Caldas could not repeat the dream of 2004 losing in the 2nd round to Libertad of Paraguay. São Paulo made it to the semi-final which they lost to fellow Brazilians and eventual champions Internacional.

See Also

Dayro Moreno's best goals compilation

Part of the Golazo series.

Golazo: René Higuita, Nacional vs River Plate, Copa Libertadores 1995

Whenever English football fans think of eccentric Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita, generally the first thing that comes to mind is his outrageous trick at Wembley in 1995 and the second is probably his encounter with Roger Milla at the 1990 World Cup.

Fans of Argentine club River Plate have another moment etched into their collective memory. The occasion was the first leg of the 1995 Copa Libertadores semi-final. River had knocked out the holders, fellow Argentine side Vélez Sársfield in the quarter finals to set up their 8th Libertadores semi-final (they currently hold the record for the most semi final appearances with 13, but they've lost 9 of them).

River Plate's opponents were Colombian side Atlético Nacional, who had scraped through the group stage thanks to a last minute penalty save by Higuita against Universidad Cátolica of Chile.

Nacional hosted the first leg of the semi-final which they won 1-0 with this exquisite free kick from Higuita but River Plate rallied to win their home leg 1-0 to set up a penalty shootout which Nacional eventually won 8-7 after Higuita saved Matías Almeyda's penalty.

Unfortunately for Nacional, Higuita had an absolute stinker of a game in the first leg of the final against Grêmio of Brazil, in which he was at fault for all three goals. Nacional could only draw their home leg 1-1 and were beaten 4-2 on aggregate.

Part of the Golazo series.

Golazo: Martín Palermo vs Deportivo Táchira - Gol 200

Martín Palermo has plenty of critics in Argentina, they usually complain that he has limited talent and technical abilities and can only score headers.

In some ways he is similar to Alan Shearer, they have both scored hundreds of goals, many of them exceptionally well taken, have been the league top scorer on several occasions and they are brilliant headers of the ball. Yet they have both suffered constant criticism for their style of play.

The difference being of course, that Palermo has won 13 major titles with the club he loves (Boca Juniors), while Shearer won absolutely nothing with Newcastle.

On 13 April 2009 in a Copa Libertadores game against Deportivo Táchira of Venezuela Palermo really silenced his critics by scoring his 200th goal for Boca Juniors with a magnificently taken "Chilena". He soon went on to break Boca Juniors all time goalscoring record surpassing Roberto Cherro's tally of 221 goals on 4 September 2010 with his 222nd goal for the club in a 2-1 win against San Lorenzo.

Part of the Golazo series.

Golazo: Joãozinho, CRUZEIRO vs River Plate, Copa Libertadores final 1976

The 1976 Copa Libertadores final was played between River Plate of Argentina, hoping to win their first Copa Libertadores and Cruzeiro of Brazil hoping to become the first Brazilian team to win the Libertadores since Santos way back in 1963.

Cruzeiro won the first leg 4-1 and River Plate won the second leg 2-1 necessitating a playoff game in the neutral venue of Estadio Nacional in the Chilean capital Santiago.

With the score tied at 2-2 on 88 minutes and extra time looming Cruzeiro striker Joãozinho lined up a free kick and arced it over the wall into the top left corner of the River Plate goal instigating delirious celebrations from the Cruzeiro players and a mass brawl involving several of the River Plate players.

Aftermath

After failing to win in the 1966 and 1976 Copa Libertadores finals, River Plate won the title in 1986 and 1996 both times beating the Jimmy Whites of South American club football, Colombian side América de Cali (who lost all 4 of their Copa Libertadores finals to date 1985, 1986, 1987, 1996).

Cruzeiro failed to retain their title, losing the 1977 final to Boca Juniors (fierce rivals of River Plate), they won their second Libertadores in 1997 against Peruvian team Sporting Cristal and reached the final for a fourth time in 2009 where they lost to Estudiantes de La Plata of Argentina.

Part of the Golazo series.

Great goals: Diego Aguirre, América de Cali 0-1 PEÑAROL, Copa Libertadores final - Last minute heartbreaker

The Copa Libertadores final of 1987 was contested between América de Cali of Colombia, appearing in their 3rd consecutive final and Peñarol of Uruguay trying to obtain their 5th Libertadores title.

The teams each won their home legs of the final, resulting in a playoff in the neutral venue of Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile. América held a slight advantage going into the playoff, they had won their home leg 2-0, against Peñarol's 2-1 home victory, meaning that if the playoff finished level after extra time the trophy would be awarded to América on goal difference.

In the 120th minute the score was 0-0 and having been defeated in the 1985 and 1986 finals América thought they were finally going to get their hands on the trophy, however with only 15 seconds to go Diego Aguirre scored for Peñarol prompting the Colombian radio commentator in the video clip to lament:

No lo voy a cantar (I'm not going to shout "gooooool")
No lo voy a cantar (I'm not going to shout "gooooool")
Es Increible (It's unbelievable)
No lo voy a cantar (I'm not going to shout "gooooool")
Dios Mío, por que? (My God, why?)
por que siempre a nosotros, Señor? (God, why do you always do it to us?)

In the second audio clip you will hear the Uruguayan commentator scream in delight and then descend into unintelligible and tearful delirium.

Part of the Golazo series.

Copa Libertadores

The prestigious Copa Libertadores trophy.

The Copa Libertadores is the premier international tournament for South American clubs. The competition admits teams from all ten associations in CONMEBOL, in recent years it also admitted teams from Mexico.

The Copa Libertadores de América South American version of the European Champions League, unlike the European Champions League the Copa Libertadores final is contested over two legs (home and away).It is also completed much more quickly than the Champions League, over half a season, the 2nd tournament Copa Sudamericana takes part in the other half of the season.

Copa Libertadores was established in 1960 and since it's inception it has been won by 22 different clubs from 7 different countries. To date the tournament has been dominated by Argentine, Brazilian and Uruguayan teams, with only 6 of the 51 titles having gone to clubs from other nations and three of them to Paraguayan side Olimpia.

The most successful team in the history of the tournament are Argentine club Independiente who won it seven times between 1964 and 1984. Fellow Argentine team Boca Juniors have been catching them up, they won three Copa Libertadores in four years between 2000 and 2003, they now have six Libertadores championships and are keen to steal Independiente's nickname "El Rey de Copas" (The king of cups).

Argentine defender "Pancho" Sá
is the only playerto have played
in six Libertadores winning teams

The highest scoring player in the history of the competition is Ecuadorian striker Alberto Spencer who hit 54 goals in 87 games for Uruguayan side Peñarol and Barcelona Sporting Club back in Ecuador. The player with the most Copa Libertadores medals is Argentine defender Francisco "pancho" Sá who won four titles with Independiente and another two with Boca Juniors.

Argentine manager Carlos Bianchi is the most successful manager having won tournament for the fourth time in 2003 (1 with Vélez Sársfield & 3 with Boca Juniors) to surpass the record three championships won by Estudiantes de La Plata manager Osvaldo Zubeldía.

Only two clubs have ever won the tournament in their first appearance in the competition, Flamengo in 1981 and Argentinos Juniors in 1985.

The unluckiest team in the history of the tournament are América de Cali who lost all four of the finals they appeared in (1984, 1985, 1986, 1996). The only other side to have lost four finals are Peñarol of Uruguay, but they have also won the tournament five times. Argentine giants River Plate share the record for the most semi-final appearances with Peñarol, however River Plate managed to lose 9 of their 13 semis while Peñarol won 9 of their 13.

The record for the most comprehensive win in the Copa Libertadores final was Boca Juniors 5-0 thrashing of Brazilian side Grêmio in 2007.The highest scoring final was the 2008 final between Liga de Quito of Ecuador and Fluminense of Brazil which finished 5-5 on aggregate and was won by the Ecuadorian side on penalties.

The biggest win and the highest scoring game in the entire history of the tournament was Uruguayan side Peñarol's 12-2 win against Bolivian side The Strongest in 1971.

Only three men have ever won the Copa Libertadores as player and coach, they are Luis Cubilla, José Pastoriza and Nery Pumpido.

List of champions

1960 - Peñarol (Uruguay)
1961 - Peñarol (Uruguay)
1962 - Santos (Brazil)
1963 - Santos (Brazil)
1964 - Independiente (Argentina)
1965 - Independiente (Argentina)
1966 - Peñarol (Uruguay)
1967 - Racing Club (Argentina)
1968 - Estudiantes (Argentina)
1969 - Estudiantes (Argentina)
1970 - Estudiantes (Argentina)
1971 - Nacional (Uruguay)
1972 - Independiente (Argentina)
1973 - Independiente (Argentina)
1974 - Independiente (Argentina)
1975 - Independiente (Argentina)
1976 - Cruzeiro (Brazil)
1977 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)
1978 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)
1979 - Olimpia (Paraguay)
1980 - Nacional (Uruguay)
1981 - Flamengo (Brazil)
1982 - Peñarol (Uruguay)
1983 - Grêmio (Brazil)
1984 - Independiente (Argentina)
1985 - Argentinos Juniors (Argentina)
1986 - River Plate (Argentina)
1987 - Peñarol (Uruguay)
1988 - Nacional (Uruguay)
1989 - Atlético Nacional (Colombia)
1990 - Olimpia (Paraguay)
1991 - Colo Colo (Chile)
1992 - São Paulo (Brazil)
1993 - São Paulo (Brazil)
1994 - Vélez Sarsfield (Argentina)
1995 - Grêmio (Brazil)
1996 - River Plate (Argentina)
1997 - Cruzeiro (Brazil)
1998 - Vasco da Gama (Brazil)
1999 - Palmeiras (Brazil)
2000 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)
2001 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)
2002 - Olimpia (Paraguay)
2003 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)
2004 - Once Caldas (Colombia)
2005 - São Paulo (Brazil)
2006 - Internacional (Brazil)
2007 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)
2008 - LDU Quito (Ecuador)
2009 - Estudiantes (Argentina)
2010 - Internacional (Brazil)

Number of championship teams by nation

Argentina	22
Brazil	15
Uruguay	8
Paraguay	3
Colombia	2
Chile	1
Ecuador	1

Most succesful teams

Team	Titles
Independiente (Argentina)	7
Boca Juniors (Argentina)	6
Peñarol (Uruguay)	5
Estudiantes (Argentina)	4
Nacional (Uruguay)	3
Olimpia (Paraguay)	3
São Paulo (Brazil)	3