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Brazil I Division

Brazil. I Division

First phase

Group A
1.Internacional 25 11 12 2 34-20 34 Qualified
2.Vasco da Gama 25 10 10 5 23-15 30 Qualified
3.São Paulo 25 11 6 8 45-31 28 Qualified
4.América-GB 25 8 10 7 19-21 26 Qualified
——————————————
5.Bahia 25 6 11 8 16-23 23
6.Sergipe 25 2 5 18 14-41 9

Group B
1.Palmeiras 25 14 8 3 39-15 36 Qualified
2.Coritiba 25 12 9 4 34-17 33 Qualified
3.Cruzeiro 25 12 9 4 37-20 33 Qualified
4.Flamengo 25 10 8 7 21-20 28 Qualified
——————————————
5.Remo 25 5 15 5 21-20 25
6.Náutico 25 7 8 10 30-34 22
7.ABC 25 4 7 12 20-33 15

Group C
1.Corinthians 25 11 10 4 29-24 32 Qualified
2.Atlético-MG 25 10 6 9 31-26 26 Qualified
3.Botafogo 25 7 11 7 30-30 25 Qualified
4.Santa Cruz 25 7 9 9 31-36 23 Qualified
——————————————
5.Nacional 25 4 10 11 23-31 18
6.Portuguesa 25 4 9 12 25-37 17

Group D
1.Santos 25 11 9 5 31-19 31 Qualified
2.Grêmio 25 10 8 7 22-16 28 Qualified
3.Ceará 25 8 12 5 27-25 28 Qualified
4.Fluminense 25 9 9 7 21-19 27 Qualified
——————————————
5.Vitória 25 6 10 9 13-26 22
6.América-MG 25 3 12 10 18-28 18
7.CRB 25 1 11 13 18-45 13

Second Phase
Group 1

1.Internacional 3 2 1 0 7- 4 5 Qualified
——————————————
2.Vasco da Gama 3 1 2 0 5- 3 4
3.Flamengo 3 0 2 1 3- 5 2
4.Cruzeiro 3 0 1 2 4- 7 1

Group 2
1.Palmeiras 3 2 0 1 6- 3 4 Qualified
——————————————
2.São Paulo 3 2 0 1 4- 1 4
3.Coritiba 3 1 0 2 2- 6 2
4.América-GB 3 1 0 2 3- 5 2

Group 3
1.Botafogo 3 2 1 0 6- 2 5 Qualified
——————————————
2.Grêmio 3 1 1 1 2- 2 3
3.Santos 3 1 0 2 3- 3 2
4.Santa Cruz 3 1 0 2 3- 7 2

Semifinals
[Dec 20]
Palmeiras 1-1 Internacional
[Nei; Tovar]
Botafogo 2-1 Corinthians
[Jairzinho, Nei; Nélson Lopes]

Final
[Dec 23]
Palmeiras 0-0 Botafogo

SE Palmeiras wins due to better season record
23 de dezembro de 1972
PALMEIRAS 0 x 0 BOTAFOGO
Local: Morumbi (São Paulo). Renda: Cr$ 649.445,00. Público: 58.287
Árbitro: Agomar Martins (RS)
PALMEIRAS: Leão, Eurico, Luís Pereira, Alfredo e Zeca, Dudu (Zé Carlos) e Ademir da Guia, Edu (Ronaldo), Leivinha, Madurga e Nei. Téc.: Oswaldo Brandão
BOTAFOGO: Cao, Valtencir, Brito, Osmar e Marinho Chagas, Carlos Roberto e Nei Conceição, Zequinha, Jairzinho, Fischer e Ademir Vicente (Ferreti). Téc.: Sebastião Leônidas
Final Table
1.Palmeiras 30 16 10 4 46-19 42
2.Botafogo 30 10 13 7 38-31 33
3.Internacional 29 13 14 2 42-25 40
Standing from left: Mirandinha, Caíto, Dirceu Alves, Baldocchi, Sidnei, Tião, Luis Carlos Galter, Rivellino, Zé Maria, Beto, Lance, Armando, Célio,técnico Duque; Crouching: Adãozinho, Golê (ex-São José), Miranda, Paulo Borges, Vaguinho, Nelson Lopes, Aladim, Pedrinho, Paulo Sérgio, Guaraci, Joãozinho, Marco Antonio
4.Corinthians 29 12 12 5 31-26 36
5.Coritiba 28 13 9 6 36-23 35
Standing from left: Lauro, Darci, Hélio, Vanderlei, Piazza, Fontana.
Bottom: Luiz Carlos, Zé Carlos, Roberto Batata, Palhinha, Lima.
6.Cruzeiro 28 12 10 6 41-27 34
7.Vasco da Gama 28 11 12 5 28-18 34
8.Santos 28 12 9 7 34-22 33
9.São Paulo 28 13 6 9 49-32 32
10.Grêmio 28 11 9 8 24-18 31
11.Atlético-MG 28 11 8 9 35-29 30
12.Flamengo 28 10 10 8 24-25 30
13.Ceará 28 8 14 6 28-27 30
14.Fluminense 28 9 11 8 23-22 29
15.América-GB 28 9 10 9 22-26 28
16.Santa Cruz 28 8 9 11 34-43 25
17.Remo 25 5 15 5 21-20 25
Standing from left: Burcitte. Oldair. Onça. Mario Braga. Baiano, Paulo Henrique.
Front: Natal. Amorim. Picolé. Elizeu, Gilson Porto.
18.Bahia 25 6 11 8 16-23 23
19.Náutico 25 7 8 10 30-34 22
20.Vitória 25 6 10 9 13-26 22
21.Nacional 25 4 10 11 23-31 18
22.América-MG 25 3 12 10 18-28 18
Second row from left: Aguilera, Calegari, Lorico, Fogueira, Carlos Alberto Torres, Deodoro, Marinho Peres, diretor José Pereira Mendes Neto.
Bottom: Ratinho, Dirceu, Cabinho, Basílio, Piau.
23.Portuguesa 25 4 9 12 25-37 17
24.ABC 25 4 7 14 18-33 15
25.CRB 25 1 11 13 18-45 13
26.Sergipe 25 2 5 18 14-41 9
Palmeiras – champion of Brazil!

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England Championship

Bundesliga was obviously becoming exciting championship, but only claiming a place among the big European championships. England pretended nothing: just keeping its reputation of most interesting domestic football. Great competition, where no club was able to win two titles in a row and pre-season predictions hardly worked: every year – new champion. Manchester United was decaying, but with strong Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham, and Leeds, there were plenty of potential champions. None of which got the coveted title… Derby County finished first with 58 points, followed by Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester City with 57 points each. Tough. Exciting. So very British. How not to love this championship?

Rams on top! One Brian Clough coached them – a name to remember.

Interesting, but hardly winning squad at first glance. Yet, the coach and some players will conquer Europe by the end of the 1970s. With different club, freshly relegated to Second Division in 1972. And one more point – Colin Todd. Perhaps the best central English central defenseman in the 1970s, but rarely included in the national team.

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Uruguay II Division

II Division

1.Wanderers 18 11 5 2 25-12 27 Promoted
2.Fénix 18 10 4 4 35-20 24 Promotion Playoff
3.Racing 18 9 5 4 24-17 23 Promotion Playoff
4.Progreso 18 6 8 4 21-18 20
Standing from left: Oscar Washington Tabarez, Walter Hugo Silva, Harry Fleitas, Juan Nichele, Alfredo Corbo, Ruiz Diaz, Eloy Garcia (DT);
Crocuhing:Faccelo, Jorge Paz, Jorge Fanys, Milton Martinez, Eugenio Tato Santos.
5.It. El Tanque 18 8 2 8 26-19 18 [*]
6.Colón 18 5 5 8 17-30 15
Back row from left: Labarrere-Lachat- Couat- Bochi Grill-Monaco-Zwenger- Lachat
Front:Stoessel-Vizoso-Iriarte-Schwerdt-ARduin-Sañudo
7.Rampla Juniors 18 4 6 8 28-34 14
8.Misiones 18 4 6 8 16-23 14
9.Miramar 18 2 9 7 19-27 13
10.Cerrito 18 2 8 8 12-23 12

[*] full name: Sportivo Italiano El Tanque
Promotion/Relegation Playoff

Round 1
Racing – Fénix 3-1
Sud América – Central Esp. 1-1

Round 2
Central Esp. – Fénix 5-2
Sud América – Racing 1-1

Round 3
Central Esp. – Racing 0-0
Sud América – Fénix 5-0

1.Sud América 3 1 2 0 7- 2 4 Second Playoff
Central Esp. 3 1 2 0 6- 3 4 Second Playoff
Racing 3 1 2 0 4- 2 4 Second Playoff
4.Fénix 3 0 0 3 3-13 0

Second Playoff

Round 1
Sud América – Racing 3-1

Round 2
Central Esp. – Racing 2-2

Round 3
Central Esp. – Sud América 1-0

1.Central Esp. 2 1 1 0 3- 2 3
2.Sud América 2 1 0 1 3- 2 2 Relegated
3.Racing 2 0 1 1 3- 5 1

Promoted: Wanderers
Relegated from 1st level: Sud América

Promoted from 3rd level: Salus

Relegation Playoff
Cerrito – Rampla Jrs. 1-1 0-0 0-1

Rampla Juniors remained at 2nd level, Cerrito played (and won) a playoff
against a 3rd level team and eventually also remained at 2nd level

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West Germany

The West German football was in very good shape indeed – along with Borussia and Bayern, Schalke 04 was seemingly becoming a third extremely promising club: they finished second in the Bundesliga and won the Cup in 1972. Alas, the bribing scandal of 1971 cut short their challenge – investigations went well into 1972 and penalties were announced practically at the end of this season. Arminia (Bielefeld) were stripped from their points and relegated (they were to be relegated even without penalty, finishing last anyway). Players were suspended – many of them were Schalke 04 players, and although the suspensions were not long, the team was destroyed. The Cup was the last trophy Schalke 04 won for very, very long time.

Under their Yugoslavian coach Ivica Horvat the Blues were to be the third great German club. Well, no luck.

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Uruguay I Division

Uruguay. I Division.

 1. Nacional                   22  16  4  2  55-21  36 
------------------------------------------------------- 
Standing from left: Alberto Martínez, Walter Corbo, Nelson Acosta, Roberto Matosas, Edison Amoroso, Mario González. 
Crouching: Nilo Acuña, Daniel Quevedo (argentino), Juan Ramón Silva, Ruben Romeo Corbo, Alfredo Lamas. 
 2. Peñarol                    22  10  8  4  26-13  28 
 3. Defensor                   22   9  8  5  25-14  26 
 4. Huracán Buceo              22   6 11  5  23-17  23 
 5. Cerro                      22  10  3  9  28-31  23 
 6. Liverpool                  22   7  8  7  20-19  22 
Back row from left: Andrés Aguirre, Omar Correa, Juan Parravizzini, Voltaire García, Antonio De Lucca, Sergio Brogno.
Front: Walter Pinato, Jorge Barboza, Miguel Mansilla, Jorge Ribeiro, Eduardo Rey.
 7. CA River Plate             22   6  9  7  23-21  21 
 8. Sud América                22   6  9  7  20-23  21 
 9. Rentistas                  22   5 10  7  14-23  20 
10. Danubio                    22   4 10  8  26-31  18 
11. Bella Vista                22   5  7 10  24-43  17 
12. Central Español            22   0  9 13  24-52   9 

Champions: Nacional 
To C.Libertadores: Nacional and Peñarol 
Name change: Central becomes Central Español
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Bayern

Kaiser Franz led his teammates to the West German title, three points above Schalke 04. Bayern scored 101 goals in the championship, 40 of which belonged to Gerd Muller. He was far above the rest of the goalscorers – Klaus Fischer (Schalke 04) was second with only 22 goals. Yet, Bayern, with their superior attack were overwhelming champions – their defense was second best. Schalke 04 had better home record than the Bavarians too. These two clubs fought for the title, leaving the rest far behind – Borussia (Moenchengladbach) finished third, but 9 points behind Schalke 04. However, their captain Gunter Netzer was voted West German footballer of the year.

Bayern were becoming superclub – the core of team, built by Zlatko Cajkovski remained, finely tuned by Udo Lattek, younger coach who was to be one of the best coaches of the 1970s. The team added young players like Hoeness and Breitner. Bayerns’s policy was also taking shape: it was somewhat between this of Ajax and the traditional superclub policies – Bayern depended on their youth system and bought, so far, relatively cheap foreign players. But unlike Ajax, players were not bought just because they were cheap – Bayern looked for players to fill in positions where the team lacked strength – the Dane Hansen came to play right back, for instance. Not to keep the bench of reserves warm. Bayern also spent money on established players – never spending outlandish amounts, though. This careful financial policy of never spending neither too much, nor too little, made soon Bayern the European giant they are still today.

Champions in 1972. This line-up remained during the glorious years of the Bavarians. With the years only fine additions were made.

Back, left to right: Krauthausen, U. Hoeness, Hansen, Roth, G. Muller, Schwarzenbeck, Beckenbauer, Udo Lattek – coach.

Front: Hoffmann, Zobel, Maier, Breitner.

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Peru Second Level

Peru – second level:

The 1972 Copa Perúseason the promotion tournament of Peruvian football.

In this tournament, after many qualification rounds, each one of the 24 departments in which Peru is politically divided qualified a team. Those teams, plus the team relegated from First Division on the last year, enter in two more rounds and finally 6 of them qualify for the Final round, staged in Lima (the capital).

Two teams were promoted to play in1972 First Division.

Final Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion

1 Atlético Grau 5 5 0 0 14 5 +9 10 1972 Torneo Descentralizado

2 León de Huánuco 5 3 1 1 10 8 +2 7

3 Deportivo Junín 5 2 1 2 10 11 −1 5

Standing from left: Fernado Anto (kinesiologo), el niño Ademir Arroé ex-jugador del Muni, Javier Buendia, Dante Febres, Luis Cuba, Arturo Olazabal, Héctor Berrios, Herbert Yepez.

Bottom: Humberto Castañeda, Hugo Arroé, José Carrión, José Valenza, Luis Morales.

4 Cienciano 5 0 4 1 9 11 −2 4

5 Cultural Juanjuí 5 1 1 3 9 12 −3 3

6 Deportivo Carsa 5 0 1 4 7 12 −5 1

The 1972 Peruvian Segunda División, the second division of Peruvian football, was played by 11 teams. The tournament winner, Atlético Chalaco was promoted to the 1973 Torneo Descentralizado.

In April 1973, the Peruvian Football Federation ordered the elimination of the Second Division, so all the teams that maintained the category, in addition to Defensor Arica, which was relegated from 1972 Torneo Descentralizado, began to play in their respective league of origin.

Pos Team Pld W D L Pts Qualification or relegation

Standing from left: Guido Mendoza, Gustavo Orellana, Ramón Aparicio, Adrián Bernal, Carlos Bravo, Gabriel Sánchez.
Crouching: Pedro Baylón, Víctor “Pichicho”  Benavides, Manuel Lobatón, Víctor “Velita” Aquije, Manuel “Kilo” Lobatón.

1 Atlético Chalaco 20 17 3 0 37 1973 Torneo Descentralizado

2 Porvenir Miraflores 20 14 6 0 34

3 Mariscal Sucre 20 10 5 5 25

4 Centro Iqueño 20 9 4 7 22

5 Carlos Concha 20 7 5 8 19

6 Ciclista Lima 20 7 3 10 17

7 Independiente Sacachispas 20 5 6 9 16

8 Deportivo Bancoper 20 5 5 10 15

9 Racing 20 4 5 11 13

10 ADO 20 3 5 12 11

11 Atlético Sicaya 20 4 3 13 11 1973 Liga Provincial del Callao

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European Player Of The Year

No mystery in Europe – Franz Beckenbauer was voted the Player of the Year.

The great rivalry Cruiff or Beckenbauer was established… well, who was best? The attacker or the defenseman? It is futile… but really: Ajax won every possible cup in 1972. West Germany won the European title without any Dutch seen around. Club football or national teams competitions? And what is this attack versus defense? Neither Cruiff was traditional attacker, nor Beckenbauer traditional defenseman. However unjust, the choice was just – Beckenbauer was on the top world scene since 1966. Cruiff – only a club star so far. Beckenbauer was great in 1972. Was he the greatest? Who cares… voting is never truly objective. Nothing is ever really objective. Impasse.

And somehow it is clear why Beckenbauer was number one in 1972.

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Peru I Division

Peru. I Division

Grupo Metropolitano

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

Second row from left: Héctor Revoredo, Roberto Chauca, Gerardo Baygorria, Orlando la Torre, Víctor Fernández, Ramón Quiroga.
Front: Tadeo Risco, Ramón Mifflin, Vinha de Souza, José del Castillo, Reynaldo Jaime.

1 Sporting Cristal 14 8 4 2 21 13 +8 20 Liguilla Final

2 Defensor Lima 14 8 3 3 28 16 +12 19

3 Sport Boys 14 4 7 3 28 22 +6 15

4 Deportivo Municipal 14 5 4 5 19 18 +1 14

5 Universitario 14 4 5 5 17 17 0 13

6 Alianza Lima 14 5 2 7 18 28 −10 12

7 Defensor Arica 14 2 6 6 16 25 −9 10

8 Deportivo SIMA 14 2 5 7 16 24 −8 9

Grupo Regional

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

Standing from left: Demetrio Mazzo, Luis Acosta, Roberto Agüero, Luis La Fuente, Augusto Prado, Otorino Sartor.
First row: Félix Rubianes, Luis Palomino, Marcos Portilla, César Cueto, Mariano Loo.

1 José Gálvez 14 8 4 2 18 11 +7 20 First place play-off

2 Unión Tumán 14 7 6 1 23 13 +10 20

3 Atlético Torino 14 6 5 3 19 13 +6 17

4 Melgar 14 6 3 5 23 18 +5 15

5 Juan Aurich 14 4 7 3 26 23 +3 15

6 Atlético Grau 14 4 3 7 24 24 0 11

7 Carlos A. Mannucci 14 3 2 9 13 29 −16 8

8 León de Huánuco 14 2 2 10 12 27 −15 6

First place play-off

José Gálvez

1–0

 Unión Tumán

Torneo Descentralizado

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation

1 Alianza Lima 30 17 7 6 55 26 +29 41 Liguilla Final

Standing from left: Roberto Chale, Pedro Alexis González, Teodoro Wuchi, Miguel Angel Tojo, Miguel Angel Converti.
Crouching: Rodulfo Manzo, Antonio Trigueros, Pedro Gonzáles, Eduardo Stuchi, Rubén Correa, José Fernández.

2 Defensor Lima 30 16 8 6 60 35 +25 40

Top from left: Jorge Ayo, Ayala, Manuel Carrizales, Fernando Cárdenas, José Navarro, Eloy Bernales.
Bottom: Pietrone, Hernán Aedo, Angel Clemente Rojas, Manuel Mellán, Luis Enrique Camacho.

3 Deportivo Municipal 30 16 8 6 45 30 +15 40

4 Universitario 30 12 11 7 61 34 +27 35

Standing from left: Jorge Charún, Carlos “Pinocho” Urrunaga, Pedrito Ruíz, Francisco “Pancho” Gonzáles, Andrés Zegarra, Fernando “Muchachito” Guerrero.
Bottom: Carlos Vidal, Julio “Buyo” Ramírez, Heredia, Vásquez Balbetón, Alberto Párraga.

5 Juan Aurich 30 15 5 10 55 44 +11 35

Standing from left: César Tagle, Roberto Chauca, Ramón Quiroga, Fernando Mellán, Orlando La Torre, Víctor Fernández.
Crouching: Tadeo Risco, Alfredo Quesada, Vinha de Souza, Augusto Palacios, Carlos Gonzáles Pajuelo.

6 Sporting Cristal 30 11 10 9 41 34 +7 32

7 Atlético Grau 30 11 7 12 38 47 −9 29

Standing from left: Higinio Briceño, Julio Zevallos, José Arias, Eduardo Portilla, Otorino Sartor, Miguel Company.
First row: Félix Rubianes, Luis Palomino, Rómulo Ferretti, Marcos Portilla, Mariano Loo.

8 José Gálvez 30 8 12 10 32 34 −2 28

Second row from left: Guillén, Bazán, Tragodara, Salinas, Mora, Salazar;
Bottom: García, Ormeño, Lurita, Rodríguez, Menacho.

9 Deportivo SIMA 30 6 16 8 33 37 −4 28

10 Melgar 30 12 3 15 38 43 −5 27

Top from left: charro velasquez, peron maldonado, león , nene farias, farias negrini, ray vargas, camay Bottom: farfan, sívori vargas, paco celi , jefe mendoza, el cholo juarez.

11 Atlético Torino 30 10 7 13 35 47 −12 27

12 Unión Tumán 30 8 10 12 40 41 −1 26

13 Sport Boys 30 9 8 13 38 45 −7 26

14 León de Huánuco 30 7 12 11 33 47 −14 26

15 Carlos A. Mannucci (R) 30 7 10 13 30 53 −23 24 1973 Copa Perú

Standing from left: Raúl Chumpitaz, Alberto Marticorena, Eduardo Saavedra, Chiapa, Justo Aliaga, RicardoVicente.
Front: Reyes, Carlos Chirinos, Jesús Lavalle, Manuel Manrique, Ronchiz.

16 Defensor Arica (R) 30 4 8 18 24 61 −37 16

Liguilla Final

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification

Standing from left: Campos, Chauca, Таgle, Rubinos, La Torre, Fernandez
Crouching: Risco, Del Castillo, Palacios, Vinha de Souza, Reynaldo Jaime

1 Sporting Cristal (C) 5 3 2 0 6 3 +3 8 1973 Copa Libertadores

Top from left: Elezar Soria, Fernando Cuellar, Cesar Luna, Carlos Carbonell, Hector Chumpitaz, Humberto Horacio Ballesteros.

Bottom: Juan Hose Munante, Percy Rojas, Ruben Techera, Luis Cruzado, Oswaldo Ramirez.

2 Universitario 5 2 3 0 10 7 +3 7 1973 Copa Libertadores

Second row from left: Jorge Ayo, Jesús Neyra, Fernando Cárdenas, Rubén Díaz, Enrique Verástegui, Manuel Carrizales.
First row: Pietrone, Roberto Drago, Angel Clemente Rojas, Hugo Sotil, Alejandro Gonzáles.

3 Deportivo Municipal 5 1 3 1 8 7 +1 5

Top from left: Demetrio “Chimango” Mazzo, Rodolfo Bazán, Luis “El Príncipe” La Fuente, Roberto Aguero, Augusto Prado, Roberto “Tito” Elías.
Crouching: Félix Rubianes, Luis Palomino, Marcos Portilla, César Cueto, Mariano Loo.

4 José Gálvez 5 0 4 1 5 6 −1 4

Standing from left: Francisco Ponce, Javier Castillo, Moisés Palacios, Javier Gonzáles, Luis Ivaldy, Manuel Mayorga.
Bottom: Julio Baylón, Víctor Zegarra, Teófilo Cubillas, Juan Rivero, Luis Martínez.

5 Alianza Lima 5 0 3 2 4 7 −3 3

Second row from left: José Fernández. Carlos Burella, Jorge Barreto, Walter Escobar, Pedro Gonzáles, Eduardo Stucchi.
First row: Pedro Alexis González, Raúl Párraga, Teodoro Wuchi, Miguel Angel Tojo, Miguen Angel Converti.

6 Defensor Lima 5 0 3 2 3 6 −3 3

Sporting Cristal (Lima) won their 5th title. From left: Rafael Asca, Reynaldo Jaime, José del Castillo, Luiz Carlos de Oliveira , Ricardo Quiles, Orlando La Torre, Ramón Mifflin, Vinha De Souza, Roberto Chauca, Gerardo Rubiños, Carlos Gonzáles Pajuelo, Víctor Fernández, César Tagle, Luis Rubiños, Marcos Calderón, Ramón Quiroga, Augusto Palacios, NN, Gerardo Baygorria, Alfredo Quesada, Juan Orbegozo, Alberto Gallardo, Tadeo Risco, Eloy Campos,

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South American Player Of The Year

In 1972 South American Footballer of the Year went to Teofilo Cubillas. Cubillas is probably the best Peruvian player of all time, but still it is hard to figure out why he was awarded. Cubillas still played for Alianza (Lima), which is perhaps the biggest club in Peru, but at least internationally it was not a success. Alianza’s rival Universitario reached the Libertadores Cup final, but this is no reason for voting Cubillas. Since the event is distant now and South American football was hardly featured in early 1970s Europe, the election of Cubillas is enigma to me. It could have been inertia of the surprisingly strong performance of Peru at World Cup 1970. It could have been strong season of the player. Something does not much, though – Cubillas moved to Europe in 1973, but not to big club – he went to Switzerland. His teammate in the national squad, who is not considered the best ever Peruvian player, but a drunk – Hugo Sotil – was the very first purchase Barcelona made after the Spanish Federation lifted the ban on foreign players. The mystery remains, but it is insightfull to know that the King of Football was not worthy for this award already a second year. Something like a Brazilian crisis perhaps? Something like Uruguayan decline? Something like an Argentine wrong direction? Something like Chileans been eternal wannabes? Something like… non existent Colombians, despite having Alfredo di Stefano playing for them once upon a time?

Questions are questions, but Teofilo Cubillas was great player. Overall, if not that particular year.

Cubillas (on the ground) scoring against Morocco (I think) at World Cup 1970. Since I don’t really know why he was voted Footballer of the Year in 1972, he better stays on his bottom – I want to keep the mystery.