Author: Vesselin

The last European competition – the Super Cup.

Strange looking trophy, which few took seriously. This year it should have been a clash between Liverpool and Dinamo Tbilisi. However, the Super Cup was not contested.

 

The UEFA Cup was much more entertaining than Cup Winners Cup and started with number of upsets. Manchester United was eliminated by unfancied Widzew (Lodz). Woolverhampton Wanderers lost to PSV Eindhoven. But the biggest surprise came from Bulgaria – Levski-Spartak (Sofia) had tough draw, Dinamo (Kiev), and, as usual, the Bulgarians were expected to lose without much of a fight. There was no worries in Soviet media: Dinamo practically had to look for the second round. Even when the first leg finished there was no real alarm: the match in Kiev ended 1-1 and the Bulgarians scored first, but Dinamo was seen as vastly superior and missed many opportunities. Just focus on scoring.

Levski-Spartak and Dinamo Kiev come out to start the second leg in Sofia. Note the Bulgarian goalkeeper on the left – early in the first game the regular keeper Staykov was injured and replaced by Vlado Delchev, young inexperienced goalie. He was perfect in both games.

The second leg ended 0-0. Perhaps the shock was so big, so no real criticism appeared in the Soviet press: Levski-Spartak was still judged a weak team, Dinamo – much better, but… failing to score and punished for that rather harshly. For a second time Bulgarian team eliminated the flagman of Soviet football, something unthinkable. Jumping a few years ahead, the same Levski-Spartak was ordered to lose to Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk) and did so promptly – there was not going to be any more funny stuff: beating Big Brother twice was way too much. However, the heroic disobedience was lost to many, because of the great performance of CSKA (Sofia) at the same time – they eliminated Nottingham Forest, the holders of the European Champions Cup.

The tournament went ahead with some more surprises, but also with predictable results as well. Levski-Spartak was completely destroyed by the new wonder of Dutch football – AZ’67. The first leg ended 1-1 and at home AZ’67 just scored and scored to a final 5-0 victory. Hamburger SV eliminated PSV Eindhoven in the second round, but the real upset came from another pair: 1.FC Koln vs Barcelona. Barcelona won the first leg in Koln 1-0 and seemingly they already qualified. But the Germans did not think so and thrashed Barcelona at their scared stadium 4-0.

West German football suffered big defeat at the 1/8 finals – 4 teams reached this stage, something everybody was used to see after 1975, and three of them were expected to go ahead. One team was to be eliminated, for Lady Luck played quite a few jokes this season, pairing strong teams against each other at early stages. This time VfB Stuttgart was paired with 1. FC Koln, so one German team was going to be out no matter what. Stuttgart lost by one goal. But Hamburger SV was expected to win againt Saint Ettienne, which was not really as strong, as it was a few years back. Not so strong… the French finished one of the strongest European teams at that time in Hamburg – 5-0! The second leg was no longer important, but St. Etienne won again – 1-0. The French were bad luck for the Germans: the modest Sochaux eliminated Eintracht (Frankfurt), after losing the first leg 2-4. At home, they won 2-0. The other two teams unexpectedly eliminated at this stage were still strong Torino, losing to Grasshoppers after penalty shoot-out, and bright and promising Real Sociedad, losing to middle-of-the-road Lokeren.

The quarter-finalists looked somewhat strange, considering some of the club names starting the tournament, but whoever is strong should win on the field. Ones again there was ‘unfair’ draw: Sochaux vs Grasshopper was the weakest pair. Standard (Liege) had the tough luck to play against 1. FC Koln – and lost. St. Etienne faced Ipswich Town and also lost. AZ’67 eliminated Lokeren, as expected, but at least AZ’67 was already noticed for playing strong and attractive football. They were lucky in the semi-finals, drawing Sochaux. The French played bravely, but managed only to lose minimally – 1-1 at home and 2-3 away. Ipswich Town vs 1. FC Koln was perhaps unfair draw… should have been the final. Or may be not: the English won both legs 1-0.

AZ’67 (Alkmaar) vs Ipswich Town (Ipswich). Neither club had won anything on continental level before. Like the Cup Winners Cup finalist, the UEFA Cup was contested between new names – either weakening of the big European clubs, or change of guard, introducing a new order. Yet, it was familiar final – Dutch and English teams ruled European football at least for 10 years. Ipswich Town was climbing up roughly since 1975, so it was about time for something big. AZ’67 were bright newcomers, quickly going up – their policy of gathering big Dutch names was somewhat unusual, but it worked just fine. It was hard to say which team was the favourite – both were strong, ambitious, at their best, and full of very good players. To a point, it was to be Dutch against Dutch, for the key players of Ipswich were Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen. Perhaps Ipswich Town was slightly favoured to win, because of the lingering inferiority the Dutch felt to English football. But one thing was sure: the finals were going to be highly entertaining. And the teams did not disappoint.

In front of 27 500 enthusiastic crowd, Ipswich stepped on high gear at home on May 6.

AZ’67 fought back, but were busy with defending.

The Brits were unstoppable, however. They scored a goal in the 28th minute and in the second half added 2 more.

The English Dutch were excellent – here Frans Thijssen clearly dominates his compatriot, playing for the other team. He scored the second goal of the match. Ipswich got huge advantage at home.

Final 1st Leg, Portman Road, Ipswich, 6 May 1981, att 27532

 

Ipswich Town (1) 3 AZ ’67 (Alkmaar) (0) 0

28′ 1-0 I: Wark (pen)

46′ 2-0 I: Thijssen

56′ 3-0 I: Mariner

 

Ipswich Town: Cooper; Mills, Osman, Butcher, McCall; Thijssen, Wark, A.Mühren; Mariner,Brazil, Gates

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar): Treytel; Van der Meer, Metgod, Spelbos, Hovenkamp; Peters, Jonker, Arntz, Nygaard (Welzl); Kist, Tol

Before the second leg AZ’67 coach Kesler stated that his team practically has no chance. It was not a statement of giving up, however: Kesler added that his team had no other option, but to move entirely into attack – all or nothing, all caution abandoned as meaningless under the circumstances. The approach was risky and Ipswich quickly took advantage of it. Frans Thijssen scored the first goal in Amsterdam, where the second leg was played, because Alkmaar had small stadium. Game over in the 4th minute… the Dutch did not think so. They equalized three minutes later and went ahead in the 25th minute, when Metgod scored a second goal.

John Wark scored his second goal in the finals in the 32nd minute, equalizing the result. In the 40th minute Tol made it 3-2 for AZ’67. The Dutch were still fighting against the odds, but 5 goals in the first half were wonderful for the fans and the way the match was going the second half was promissing even more fun. AZ’67 continued to attack and in the 70th minute Jonker scored their 4th goal. 4-2.

Ipswich never dug themselves in the back, but used every opportunity to attack – here Eric Gates troubles the Dutch defense. But it was 4-2 at the end.

Final 2nd Leg, Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, 20 May 1981, att 28500

 

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar) (3) 4 Ipswich Town (2) 2

4′ 0-1 I: Thijssen

7′ 1-1 A: Welzl

25′ 2-1 A: Metgod

32′ 2-2 I: Wark

40′ 3-2 A: Tol

74′ 4-2 A: Jonker

 

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar:Treytel; Reynders, Metgod, Spelbos, Hovenkamp; Peters, Jonker, Arntz, Nygaard; Welzl (Talan), Tol (Kist)

Ipswich Town: Cooper; Mills, Osman, Butcher, McCall; Thijssen, Wark, A.Mühren; Mariner, Brazil, Gates.

Ipswich Town won 5-4 on aggregate, but even if they lost by three goals the second leg, they were going to win thanks to their away goals. AZ’67 really had no chance, but must be credited for maiing everything possible to change the result in their favour.

One may be sorry for AZ’67, but Ipswich Town was really deserving winner and Mick Mills got the UEFA Cup.

After Mills received the Cup, it was the usual English happiness.

Followed by drinking adult beverages from the same cup in the dressing room. Who can blame Ipswich Town? They won fair and square.

Lovely losers, but losers. Standing from left: Hovenkamp, Metgod, Van Der Meer, Spelbos, Jonker, Treytel.

Crouching: Tol, Arntz, Peters, Nygaard, Kist.

AZ’67 reached its peak, but was unable to win the UEFA Cup. One may argue that they were lucky and had easy road – playing against Red Boys Differdange (Luxembourg), Levski-Spartak (Bulgaria), Radnicki Nis (Yugoslavia), Lokeren (Belgium), and Sochaux (France) – but they reached the final with 6 wins, 3 ties, and lost only the second leg against Lokeren 0-1. They scored 29 goals and received 9 – truly attacking and high scoring team. At the end, Ipswich outscored them only by one goal and the Dutch failed to score in just 2 games during the campaign. True, the club came out practically from nowhere, but the players they had were not at all anonymous: about 10 firmer, current, and future Dutch national team players appeared in the finals. Add the Austrian national team striker Welzl. Treytel, Hovenkamp, Metgod, Spelbos, Peters were already well known names. Arntz, Tol, Jonker were just becoming known. Kees Kist was currently the best scorer in Europe. The team was no joke, had plenty of experience, had ambitious players and if there was something on the negative side, it was the predicament of any small club: AZ’67 was going to sell players too good for such a club. Reaching European final could only speed up the inevitable. They gathered good players, but there was no way to add more class to the squad. Too bad, though – during this season AZ’67 were exciting team, perhaps the most exciting on the continent. Unfortunately, they had Englsih opponent at its prime.

Ipswich Town were more than worthy winners.

The victory was a great recognition for the work Bobby Robson had done – slowly and carefully, he built the excellent squad, which reached its peak this year. As for Robson, he established himself as one of the leading coaches in the world with this victory – which was in a way too bad for Ipswich, for Robson was not going to stay much longer with the club: he was already hot commodity. As for the players, Kevin Beattie was perhaps the only player beyond his peak and on the way down. John Wark, Alan Brazil, Russell Osman, and Paul Cooper were perhaps at their peak just at that time. Terry Butcher, George Burley, and to a point Allan Hunter were not yet at their peak, but near. Mick Mills was the great captain and constant feature of the Engliah national team. Solid squad to begin with, but two fantastic additions made it really great: at the time English coaches were reluctant of foreign players, Bobby Robson made a big step ahead – he bought two Dutch midfielders, trusted them, and they not only delivered, but became great stars of 1980s English football. What an eye Robson had – Frans Thijssen and Arnold Muhren were hardly among the big names of Dutch football in the 1970s. Their careers at home were rather modest and they were no longer young promising players. To buy them was risky… but the Dutch invigorated Ipswich’s midfield, quickly became the playmakers of the team, adding continental creativity to normally unimaginative English midfield football. As for fitness and toughness – they lacked neither. Their addition was the finest final touch of Robson’s creation – and with them came the biggest triumph of Ipswich Town. Lovely winners of UEFA Cup.

Cup Winners Cup continued to suffer: the tournament was constantly losing people’s interest, because the teams were weaker and there was no way to change that. This season the stronger clubs were few: Valencia, Roma, Feyenoord, Celtic, West Ham United, Benfica, and Fortuna Dusseldorf. The favourites were expected to go far easily and one of them to win, but none was particularly strong leading European club at the moment. Predictions were quickly destroyed: Celtic and Roma were eliminated in the first round. Celtic lost on away goal to Romanian Politehnica (Timisoara) and may have been unlucky, but Roma won its opening home match 3-0 and was seen as sure winner. Their East German opponent Carl Zeiss (Jena) managed incredible come back in the second leg, destroying the Italians 4-0. Two favourites out after the first round and in the second they were three – Carl Zeiss again was destroyer, this time of the reigning cup holder Valencia. Carl Zeiss took big advantage at home – 3-1 – and Valencia, not the most exciting team anyway, managed to win only 1-0 at home, so they were eliminated. Two more casualties in the ¼ finals: one was inevitable, for the draw paired Fortuna and Benfica. Benfica managed to end the opening match in Dusseldorf 2-2 and improved on their small advantage at home, beating the West Germans 1-0. Meantime West Ham United faced Dinamo (Tbilisi) . The Soviets were good, and the English hardly at their best, but English clubs ruled European football in the recent years and West Ham was expected to win. What a surprise: Dinamo thrashed them 4-1 in London. The second leg was more or less mere protocol – West Ham won, but only 1-0 and was out. Feyenoord had an easy draw – Slavia (Sofia). They lost the first match in Bulgaria 2-3, but there were no worries: two away goals favoured the Dutch and they won confidently in Rotterdam 4-0. One thing to keep in mind from this clash: Feyenoord discovered Slavia’s striker and captain Andrey Zhelyazkov and few years later bought him. Arguably, Zhelyazkov became the biggest and most successful Bulgarian transfer of the 1980s – he played well for Feyenoord and after that for two other West European clubs. Cral Zeiss had the easiest draw at this stage: Newport County from Wales. After playing against Roma and Valencia, this opponent should have been a leisurely walk in the par, but instead happened to be the most difficult challenge Carl Zeiss faced. Newport extracted a 2-2 draw in Jena and Carl Zeiss had to win the second match – they did with difficulties, a measly 1-0.

The draw for the semi-finals practically spelled out the finalists: Carl Zeiss vs Benfica and Dinamo Tbilisi vs Feyenoord. So, Benfica and Feyenoord would meet at the final… it was not to be: the East European teams got strong leads after their opening home games. Carl Zeiss won 2-0 and Dinamo – 3-0. The Westerners were unable to come back – they won at home, but both teams fell a goal short: Benfica won 1-0 and Feyenoord 2-0. All favourites were eliminated – usually a victory of the underdogs are nice and pleasant surprise, but not this time: it was just one more nail in the coffin of the Cup Winners Cup. The final in Dusseldorf was going to be played practically without audience: Soviet and East German fans were not allowed to travel to the West and neutral public was not going either – neither finalist attracted foreign viewers. Two very small and carefully selected groups came from USSR and DDR and this final one of the least attended in the history of the tournament with 9000 attendees – only the 1964 final between Sporting (Lisbon) and MTK (Budapest) was attended by less, 3000 people. It was inevitable: Eastern European countries did not allow people to travel abroad and little known clubs did not attract Westerners. As a result, the final became the forgotten one – few paid attention at the time and even fewer remember it today. Which is ironic, because the final was lively and entertaining. Both teams were unable to field their best lines: Dinamo’s captain Shota Khinchagashvili was suspended for yellow cards received in the previous games and Carl Zeiss had two starters injured – Konrad Weise and Martin Trocha. There were fears that three more Georgians would not be able to play because of injuries and sickness – Sulakvelidze, Chivadze, and Gabelia – but the team doctor managed to get them on their feet. The opponents were quite different in their making and style: the East Germans depended on well established veterans, well known for their play for the national team of DDR – Grapentin (37 years old), Vogel (38), Kurbjuweit (30), Lindemann (31). They were very disciplined and fit squad, dedicated to attacking football, but a bit predictable. In defense, they employed personal marking, which was risky approach. Dinamo Tbilisi was slightly younger and much more exciting team, lead a great midfielder – David Kipiani. As a team, Dinamo was at its peak, playing fast attacking football. The Georgians were very skillful, creative and loved to improvise – a team difficult to beat and full of Soviet national team players (Kipiani, Chivadze, Sulakvelidze, Shengelia, Daraselia, Gutzaev, Gabelia). Observers favoured Dinamo, but not by much. It was not expected to be attractive game, which happened to wrong – whoever watch the final was pleasantly surprised by the fast, open, attacking match, full of scoring chances. At first the Germans pushed ahead and slightly dominated the match for 30 minutes. Eventually Dinamo equalized the game and had the upper hand to the end, but not for a moment there was big dominance of one team. Both goalkeepers were busy and made great saves. Carl Zeiss pressured the Georgians, but they were more dangerous on counter-attacks, thanks to their technicality and creativity. To a point, Carl Zeiss suffered from their defensive scheme – personal marking did not work well against imaginative and very skillful players. The Germans had problems when their attacks were broken – gaps opened, which immediately were used by the Georgians for dangerous counter-attacks. No wonder Grapentin was the best German player – the collective approach did not allow to any field player to shine. On the other side Shengelia, Daraselia, Gutzaev shined with their quick improvisations and Kipiani was clearly the star of the game.

Almost no pictorial material exists from this final – no wonder, for the picture shows the empty stands. Time was running and there was no goal – both goalkeepers were outstanding. The first goal was scored in the second half, when Dinamo was clearly the stronger – but the goal was in their net. In the 63rd minute the central defender of Carl Zeiss Hoppe scored wonderful goal. Dinamo equalized 4 minutes later – one more excellent goal, thanks to Gutzaev. In the 87th minute they scored again – Daraselia was the hero this time.

Everybody celebrates the second goal and scorer Daraselia cannot be seen. Three minutes were not enough for any change – there was no extra time. Dinamo won and rightly so – they were the better team and it was only just. Carl Zeiss played well and had their chances, but Dinamo deserved the victory and got it. The second all-East European final ended as the first one: the Soviet club won.

Final, Rheinstadion, Dusseldorf, 13 May 1981, att 9000

 

Dynamo Tbilisi (0) 2 Carl Zeiss Jena (0) 1

63′ 0-1 C: Hoppe

67′ 1-1 D: Gutsayev

86′ 2-1 D: Daraselia

 

Dynamo Tbilisi: Gabelia; Kostava, Chivadze, Khisanishvili, Tavadze; Svanadze

(Kakilashvili), Sulakvelidze, Daraselia; Gutsayev, Kipiani, Shengelia

Carl Zeiss Jena: Grapenthin; Brauer, Kurbjuweit, Schnuphase, Schilling; Hoppe (Övermann), Krause, Lindemann; Bielau (Töpfer), Raab, Vogel.

Captain Chivadze lifts the Cup Winners Cup.

Happy Georgians, no matter the empty stadium.

Tamaz Kostava, one of the lesser known players, proudly poses with the cup.

David Kipiani, the genius midfielder, with the cup – perhaps the most deserving player.

Worthy finalists, standing from left: Eberhard Vogel, Jurgen Raab, Andreas Bielau, Rudiger Schnuphase, Gerhard Hoppe, Hans-Ulrich Grapentin, Lothar Kurbjuweit.

First row: Wolfgang Shilling, Lutz Lindemann, Gerd Brauer, Andreas Krause.

Surprise finalists, but Carl Zeiss (Jena) were one of the three best East German teams in the 1970s. To a point, this was their swan song – the key players were getting too old: Grapentin, Vogel, Weise, Lindemann, Kurbjuweit. To a point, the team already reached its peak a few years back. But it was a team full of national team players, including 5 members of the 1974 World Cup team – perhaps the best squad DDR ever had. Currently, 6 players were members of the national team – Grapentin, Schnuphase, Brauer, Lindemann, Kurbjuweit, and Bielau. Jurgen Raab was rapidly becoming the next generation star and would be constant member of the national team in the 1980s. Strong team, no doubt, but just a bit over the hill and may be too disciplined for its own good. Carl Zeiss played very well at the final and had a chance to win, but they were slightly weaker than Dinamo.

New Cup winners, standing from left: V. Daraselia, A. Chivadze, D. Kipiani, N. Khizanishvili, A. Andguladze, T. Sulakvelidze, V. Zhvania, G. Tavadze.

Crouching: V. Gutzaev, R. Shengelia, O. Gabelia, Z. Svanadze, N. Kakilashvili, T. Kostava.

Dinamo (Tbilisi) were always among the best Soviet clubs, but the late 1970s were their best time – winning the Soviet title and cup, and finally – the Cup Winners Cup. Fine crafted team, which had something unusual for a Soviet team – a flair. Very attractive kind of football, based on technical skills and improvisation – something fans always enjoy. There was one misfortune – Shota Khinchagashvili, their long time central defender and captain missed the final. Misfortune on personal level, but not on team level – Nodar Khizanishvili perfectly replaced Khinchagashvili, which was no wonder: he was experienced player, who would have been regular in almost any other Soviet team. As a contrast, Carl Zeiss had no so good replacement for their injured central defender Konrad Weise – the veteran striker Vogel played at his place at the semi-final and Hoppe at the final. He scored the German goal, but… Khizanishvili played his part to neutralize the German attack, when Hoppe was not able to stop the Georgian strikers. Dinamo had a whole bunch of able and eager to win players – no line was lacking class and some players would be important part of the exciting Soviet national team of the 1980s – particularly Chivadze, Sulakvelidze, and Shengelia. Gutzaev was one of the most interesting wingers of Soviet football in the 1970s, but little known abroad, because he was rarely called to the national team. But the great star was David Kipiani – wonderful attacking midfielder, who also was the key playmaker of the team. Very skillful, imaginative, precise, entertaining, scoring – Kipiani was world class player, one of the top midfielders in the world, but unfortunately playing at a time the Soviet national team was weak, missing two World Cup finals, and, therefore, the international exposure. The other problem was that he was not called often to play for USSR – coaches preferred Moscow and Kiev players and thought technical Georgians unreliable. Kipiani got his revenge, so to say, by shining at the final and winning the Cup Winners Cup. Dinamo Tbilisi was deserving winner – they were the better team for the most of the match, played excellent football, pleased the eye, and evidently were at their peak as a team at this moment. USSR got her second European club trophy; DDR did not.

The European Champions Cup was true to expectations right to the final, save for one surprise. One, but huge: in the first round the reigning cup holders were eliminated by CSKA (Sofia). The Bulgarians won both legs against Nottingham Forest – 1-0 each match. True, Nottingham Forest were never overwhelming team and already showed signs of reaching the top of their potential and losing interest. True, CSKA dethroned Ajax in 1973 and by 1980 managed to build new strong team after years of uncertainty, lead by young talented coach Asparoukh Nikodimov. But it was great surprise nevertheless: Bulgarian teams never performed well against British teams and Nothingham was the best team in the world at the moment. Reason failed, the underdogs won.

Georgy Iliev (CSKA, in white) tackles Frank Gray – determined Bulgarians won and the days of Nottingham Forest were over. Forever.

The draw was easy on the favourites all the way to the ¼ finals and CSKA was lucky too – they played against Szombierki (Bytom) in the second round. The weakest ever Polish champion was no match and lost both legs. In the ¼ finals CSKA met the second English representative – Liverpool – and this time nothing unusual happened: Liverpool, in perfect form, destroyed the mavericks 5-1 and 1-0. Only Inter (Milan) and Crvena zvezda (Belgrade) was tough pair and after the first leg the Yugoslavian champions seemingly had the edge – they managed a 1-1 tie at the inhospitable Italian ground. In Belgrade Inter won 1-0 and qualified.

No more easy games at the semi-finals: Liverpool vs Bayern and Real Madird vs Inter. All former Champions Cup winners with great ambitions. Real won 2-0 at home and lost only 0-1 away, thus reaching the final for the first time since 1966. Bayern survived in Liverpool – 0-0 – but Liverpool was not giving up: 1-1 in Munich. The away goal qualified Liverpool, may be luckily.

On May 27, 1981 Liverpool and Real Madrid met at Parc de Princes, Paris. In front of over 48 000 spectators, not the greatest crowd attending a final, the opponents had a lot at stake: Liverpool wanted their 3rd Cup – Real Madrid its 7th. Perhaps the pressure was more on the Spaniards – their fantastic dominance in the late 1950s and early 1960s was a heavy burden. The club lost a lot of its aura after 1966 and was desperate to restore its fame as a world football leader. But times changed… the battle was heavy and not very inspiring.

Laurie Cunningham in attack – an Englishman against English team made largely of Scots.

Liverpool defended well, not forgetting to attack. As a whole, they were slightly better, but the strikers were unable to put the ball behind the goalkeepers.

Near the end a goal was scored at last – Alan Kennedy, the left full back of Liverpool, gave the lead to the British in the 82nd minute. And they preserved it to the final whistle.

Final, Parc des Princes, Paris, 27 May 1981, att 48360

 

Liverpool (0) 1 Real Madrid (0) 0

82′ 1-0 L: A.Kennedy

 

Liverpool (trainer Paisley:Clemence; Neal, Thompson, Hansen, A.Kennedy; Lee, McDermott, Souness,R.Kennedy; Dalglish (Case), Johnson

Real Madrid (trainer Boskov: Agustin; Cortes (Pineda), Navajas, Sabido; Del Bosque, Angel, Camacho, Stielike; Juanito, Santillana, Cunningham

Referee: Palotai (Hungary)

Phil Thompson receives the European Champions Cup.

After that – happy winners Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish, and Alan Hansen make their lap of triumph.

Real Madrid was perhaps bitterly disappointed – no 7th Cup for them – but the truth was they did not really deserve it. Compared to Liverpool, Real was inferior team. Yes, they had Stielike, Santillana, Camacho, Del Bosque, Juanito, Cunningham, but the defense was rather ordinary. Even in the 1970s Real had stronger squads. They fought, but it was clear that winning would have been possible only with grit and cunning. Real had to wait and reshape before winning anything in Europe.

Kings of Europe for a third time. What more to say? Liverpool came even with the great teams of the early 1970s – Ajax and Bayern – thus becoming one of the greatest clubs ever. In consistency and wise policy they surpassed everybody: Real was unable to keep excellent squad after 1966, Ajax disintegrated after 1973, Bayern had 5 miserable years after their last triumph, but Liverpool kept strong squad since 1964, which seemingly was only getting better and stronger. Changes were carefully made and those gone were replaced by new excellent players. Not long ago Kevin Keegan was the bog star – and he still was arguably the best European player – but Liverpool had a new emperor, Kenny Dalglish, and better don’t ask who was the better player – he or Keegan. New boys were pushing ahead all the time: Hansen, Alan Kennedy, Johnson, Lee. A national team player – Case – was already reduced to a substitute. Liverpool was already a legend and beloved across the world. With them, the English club dominance continued: the European Champions Cup was kept in England for a straight 5th year and rightly so: European football became too tactical and physical. The English teams were the only ones playing brave attacking football – the fans liked that. It was only fair Liverpool to win and they did. Kings of Europe indeed.

 

The clash for supremacy between Europe and South America finally was back on solid track in 1981 – the Toyota Cup, which everybody still called the Intercontinental Cup, not only was stabilized by Japanese sponsorship and hosting, but was restored to the actual year: it was played in December, unlike the previous year, when it was scheduled after the end of the actual year. It was still a compromise, but there was no other convenient time in the season: European and South American tournaments run in different months, the calendar was busy. The winter was not to the liking of South American clubs, but they were not really complaining. The time, however, slightly benefited European teams – they were used to winter conditions. Flamengo and Liverpool were the contestants this time and it was hard to predict the outcome: Liverpool were the best club in Europe for some years. They were supposed to be in perfect form, for usually English teams gear to be in top form in the busy and tough December. But they were also so much involved in the domestic championship, so it was not entirely clear were they able to keep their minds on the Toyota Cup. After all, the busy December calendar often decides the championship of England. Flamengo had its own problems – they were busy with the new Brazilian championship in the difficult early stages, plus the Rio championship. English clubs were always considered to be those with most games played in a season, but Brazilians played more – who was the more tired was difficult to decide. Both opponents fielded their best, of course, and the match started in front of 62, 000, mostly Japanese, who may have been fairly ignorant of the game, but enthusiastically cheered both teams.

Neither team was prepared to give up, and seemingly the more physical British players – and also the more famous than the Brazilians – were going to run down Flamengo. But nothing like this happened:

Adilio scored.

Nunes scored twice. Flamengo won 3-0. Liverpool was destroyed – which was a surprise in Europe: not that Flamengo won, but that they won so confidently. In December… the British time.

Tokyo. Field: National Stadium.

December 13, 1981.

Referee: Vasquez (Mexico), att: 62000.

 

Flamengo (Brazil) 3-0 Liverpool (England)

 

Goals: Adilio and Nunes (2).

 

Flamengo: Raul – Leandro, Mozer, Junior, Marinho, Amdrade, Tita, Adilio,Zico, Lice, Nunes.

 

Liverpool: Grobbelaar – Neal, Thompson, Hansen, Lawrenson, R. Kennedy, Lee, McDermott (D. Johnson), Souness, C. Johnson, Dalglish.

Flamengo at the top of the world.

Liverpool before the start of the match. All smiles and confidence. But it was also all or nothing and the best team in Europe got nothing. There were a few newly added players, but to say that Liverpool was weaker than a year or two earlier would be wrong: for years the club was carefully adjusting the team, maintaining its class. Grobelaar was young and compared to Clemence, a weaker goalkeeper, but Clemence was no longer around and Grobelaar was to be constant feature of the very successful Liverpool in the 1980s. There was nothing really to blame Liverpool for – in the clash of two very different football schools, the South American one prevailed. No shame to lose to Brazilian team – even the British recognized the quality of samba football.

As for Flamengo – it was their year. Winning everything internationally and bursting with bright stars, rapidly becoming famous. Nunes was the new discovery and after scoring twice in the net of no other, but Liverpool, Nunes was expected to be the next great thing in the game – the expectations did not come true, but he had his moment of glory. The giant was Zico and there was no longer any doubt about it: he delivered. As it was the first internationally glorious year for Flamengo, the team instantly became a legend, cherished forever:

Today one can use the great winners as wallpaper for his/her computer. In real time – most of this boys became big international stars – in 1982 and 1986 – and... moved to European clubs. The legend lives, though.

South American Player of the Year was voted Zico, followed by Maradona and Junior. Two Flamengo players among the best, which is understandable.

Arthur Antunes Coimbra, known as Zico, was the most popular Brazilian football player for a long time and not at all newcomer to international recognition, but so far his career was kind of strange. He was noticed when he was 14-years old and advised to try Flamengo, which was Zico’s wish anyway, for he was Flamengo fan. And there he played since 1967. He debuted in the first national Brazilian championship in 1971, made big impression almost immediately, and was called the White Pele. But in 1972 he almost quit playing football – he called and played for the Olympic team of Brazil in the qualifications, but was not selected in the team going to the finals in Munich, West Germany. Zico was very frustrated and decided to quit football – he did not join Flamengo’s training camp for 10 days. This was perhaps the most telling moment of his early days: a star, adored by fans, praised by Pele, but… not a national team player and, on top of it, Flamengo did nothing memorable in the national championships. Zico eventually debuted for Brazil in 1976, yet, his career was sketchy: by the end of 1981, he made 49 appearances for Brazil, scoring 34 goals – quite impressive at the time, but… 12 matches and 10 goals belonged to 1981. At the 1978 World Cup he was not exactly memorable player and there was another misfortune: against Sweden he scored after a corner kick in the last minute, but the referee called the end of the game when the ball was still in the air and the match ended 1-1. Meantime everybody started talking of Maradona… Zico was voted South American player of the Year in 1977. Maradona easily left him behind – he was voted number one twice: 1979 and 1980. Until 1980 Zico had only 5 Rio de Janeiro State titles. Nothing bigger than that… so he had to wait until 1980 for real success: to win the Brazilian championship at first and everything internationally the next year. Arguably, his best year was 1981, when he was already 28-years old. Compared to Pele… very little and very late. Compared to Maradona… the Argentine had the future at his side. Zico managed to come equal to Maradona in 1981 – twice number one player of South America.

But he was already a big international star, one of the best players of his time, and it was great that he and his club finally started winning. Zico was wonderful this year and soared above Maradona.

Copa Libertadores. Nacional (Montevideo) entered at the semi-final stage, all other teams depended on the luck of the draw at first as usual. Five groups of 4 teams each, only the winners qualified to the semi-finals. The Uruguayans were the luckiest, playing with the Venezuelan representatives. No fight at all in Group 5: Penarol and Bella Vista had it easy and the only question was who will be number one. As it turned out, the decisive match was the very first one in the group – Penarol beat Bella Vista 3-1 and in the long run this victory ensured them the first place, 2 points ahead of Bella Vista.

Group 1 opposed the Argentines to the Colombians. River Plate was the obvious favourite, but… the team full of reigning world champions lost both legs to Deportivo Cali and consequently finished second. Deportivo Cali lost to Atletico Junior and Rosario Central, so they had the same number of losses as River Plate. However, the Colombians won all other matches, unlike River Plate – it was the other visit to Colombia which decided their fate: Atletico Junior tied River Plate 0-0 and at the end Deportivo Cali triumphed with 1 point more than mighty River Plate.

Group 2 opposed Chilean to Peruvians, fairly equal and balanced group, where anything was possible. It remained exactly that – a duel between rival neighbours. Cobreloa and Sporting Cristal emerged as favourites and 1 point difference decided the winner. It was a surprise one: Cobreloa (Calama), debutants in the tournament. The Chilean sensation did not lose any group match and excelled in something else: along with Penarol, they finished with the best defensive record in the first stage, allowing only 3 goals in 5 matches. In the same time they shared with Flamengo the second best striking record with 14 goals – only Bella Vista (Montevideo) scored more – 16.

Group 3 was supposed to be tough one: Brazilians vs Paraguayans. Skill vs grit, in theory, for Brazilian players were quite dirty and dull in the recent years, and Paraguayans topped South America not long ago on both club and national team level. But nothing difficult this season – the Brazilian clubs were way stronger and fought between themselves. And fought they did… Flamengo and Atletico Mineiro finished with 8 points each after winning 2 matches and tying 4. Goal-difference did not count and the rivals met in a decisive play-off on neutral ground in Goiania. The play-off did not finish – the match was stopped and abandoned in the 35th minute. The result was 0-0, but Flamengo was awarded the win. It was perhaps one of the greatest curiosity in football history: in the 35th minute Atletico Mineiro had its 5th expelled player! Only 6 players remained on the pitch and the ancient rule – so rarely used, people tend to forget its existence – called the end: a team has to have at least 7 players on the pitch, so the game to be allowed.

Play-off decided the winner of Group 4 too, but it was just a normal game. Bolivian vs Ecuadorians quickly became a battle between Jorge Wilstermann (Cochabamba) and The Strongest (La Paz) – traditional Bolivian rivalry. Both teams finished with 8 points and The Strongest had better goal-difference, but a play-of had to be played and was, in Santa Cruz. Now Jorge Wilstermann destroyed The Strongest 4-1, Jairzinho scoring two goals. Jorge Wilstermann qualified, adding one more curiosity to this edition of Copa Libertadores: they qualified without having positive goal-difference.

The semi-final groups was clearly fortunate for Flamengo – their opponents were Deportivo Cali (Colombia) and Jorge Wilstermann (Ecuador). Practically, no opposition – Flamengo won every game they played. The other group was theoretically tougher – two great Uruguayan enemies, Nacional and Penarol, plus Cobreloa (Chile), which was expected to be the outsider. What a surprise! Cobreloa won 3 and tied 1 match, leaving the famous clubs back in the dust. Nacional and Penarol finished without a single victory, evidently suffering from the matches between themselves – both 1-1 draws. Cobreloa took advantage from its home games, but they surprised Nacional in Montevideo, beating them 2-1. And thus the finalists were Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro) and Cobreloa (Calama). Still practically unknown debutantes vs one of the most famous clubs in South America, which, however, not only did not win Copa Libertadores so far, but never even reached a final. One can easily imagine the level of ambition in both camps and also is good to remember that the winner of Copa Libertadores often was decided after 3 games. A decisive play-off did not happened after 1977 and given the difference in class between the finalists – at least on paper – was hardly expected this year.

In front of almost 94, 000 fans the first leg of the final started at Maracana on November 13, 1981.

Captains Soto and Zico shake hands and after that the smiles are gone.

Flamengo attacked, Cobreloa defended, and the result stayed 0-0 until the 12th minute.

Then Zico scored and a bit later scored again – in the 30th minute Flamengo was leading 2-0. Game over? Not at all – in the second half Cobreloa managed to return one goal and the match ended 2-1.

1st leg. Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, 13-11-1981

 

Flamengo – Cobreloa 2-1

12′ Zico 1-0

30′ Zico 2-0

65′ Merello 2-1

 

Flamengo: Raúl, Leandro, Figueiredo, Mozer, Júnior, Andrade, Zico, Adilio, Lico

(Baroninho), Nunes, Tita.

Cobreloa: Wirth, Rojas, Soto, Tabilo, Escobar, Alarcón, Jiménez, Merello, Múñoz

(R. Gómez), Siviero, Puebla.

 

Referee: Espósito (Argentina)

Attendance: 93,985

A week later Flamengo kept Cobreloa at bay until 79th minute, when Merello scored his second goal in the finals and the only one in Santiago.

Zico down, Cobreloa in fighting mood. It was all or nothing.

Raul on his knees – Victor Merello scored and Cobreloa won.

2nd leg. Estadio Nacional, Santiago, 20-11-1981

 

Cobreloa – Flamengo 1-0

79′ Merello 1-0

 

Cobreloa: Wirth, Jiménez, Tabilo, Soto, Escobar, Merello, Alarcón, R. Gómez

(Múñoz), Puebla, Siviero, W. Olivera.

Flamengo: Raúl, Leandro, Figueiredo, Mozer, Júnior, Andrade, Adilio, Zico, Lico

(Baroninho), Nunes (Nei Dias), Tita.

 

Referee: Barreto (Uruguay)

Attendance: 61,721

For the first time since 1977 Copa Libertadores final had to be decided by a third match. It was played on neutral ground – in Montevideo, Uruguay, which immediately dropped the audience. Three days after Cobreloa won, it was Flamengo in full flight.

Of course, it was tough match, but eventually Flamengo was getting the upper hand.

And the Brazilians were running away from the Chileans.

Defending well, but defense can survive assaults only so far.

Zico was unstoppable and in the 18th minute he scored. 11 minutes before the final whistle, he scored again – now it was over. One of his goals was a beauty:

 

A magnificent free kick, making Oscar Wirth entirely helpless. It is good to recall those days: a wall was never positioned at the required distance and moved ahead before the kicker reached the ball.

Zico finished Cobreloa – he scored all the goals for Flamengo, but this one was the sweetest.

Play-off. Centenario, Montevideo, 23-11-1981

 

Flamengo – Cobreloa 2-0

18′ Zico 1-0

79′ Zico 2-0

 

Flamengo: Raúl, Nei Dias, Marinho, Mozer, Júnior, Leandro, Andrade, Zico, Tita,

Nunes (Anselmo), Adilio.

Cobreloa: Wirth, Tabilo, Páez (Múñoz), Soto, Escobar, Jiménez, Merello, Alarcón,

Puebla, Siviero, W. Olivera.

 

Referee: Cerullo (Uruguay)

Attendance: 30,200

And now Copa Libertadores was given to the White Pele. The rest was just happiness.

Life is much better with cup in hands.

Flamengo – campeon!

Cobreloa came close… Of course, there was regret. Yet, the boys from mine town Calama were heroes. Four years ago nobody heard of them. They were still almost unknown in 1981. They were the third Chilean club failing to win Copa Libertadores, but it was still a fantastic achievement, for Cobreloa was the least famous club of all playing at the final so far. They were underdogs in every sense: they had a number of good players, but Soto, Wirth, Merello hardly qualified as huge stars – especially compared to Brazilians, even omitting Zico. Excellent job, but no cup.

Flamengo won its first Copa Libertadores – at last! It was not an easy victory, but finally the famous club managed to put itself on equal footing with the other South American grands. One can think this was a star-studded squad, but at the time it was more potential than actual stardom: Junior, Leandro, Raul, Mozer certainly became world-famous, but not this year. Even Nunes had to wait a little until the world really heard of him. The true star was Zico, pushing 30 already – to a point, his fame was recognized as rightly deserved this year: so far, he won very little on Brazilian national level and won nothing internationally. He even did not play all that much for Brazil – only at the 1978 World Cup. At last he delivered – 4 goals, that is, all Flamengo goals at the finals. It could be said that he won Libertadores alone. And this was not the end of the fairy tale yet. As good as Cobreloa were and as much as one wants the underdog triumph, Flamengo were the classier team and deserved to win.

 

The championship of Brazil, or Taca de Ouro, meandered step by step to its last stages of direct elimination. Rules should be mentioned: from the 1/8 on, if there was no winner after both legs, away goals or penalty-shoot out did not decide the winner, but the team with better record at the previous stage qualified. Strange rule. It benefited Ponte Preta against Vasco da Gama in the ¼ finals, when both matches ended 0-0. Flamengo was also eliminated at this stage, but Botafogo beat them without the help of the rule. But the semi-finals were decided only on that rule: Botafogo won their home match against Sao Paulo 1-0 and lost the second leg 2-3. Sao Paulo qualified, thanks to better ¼ final record. Ponte Preta lost at home to Gremio 2-3 and won the away match 1-0 , but Gremio had better ¼ fina; record than them. The final, deciding the 1981 champion of Brazil opposed Botafogo and Gremio.

So far, there were teams with various degrees of luck and form – the structure of the Brazilian championship hardly gave a clear picture of the real strength or weakness of many a club. In the so-called final table Londrina ended 42nd of 44 teams.

Londrina (Londrina) still won their state championship, but on national stage they finished very low – as it was expected. Similar clubs had similar fate:

River (Teresina) ended 40th.

Joinville (Joinville – 39th. But some big clubs had either terrible year or tremendously bad luck.

Palmeiras ended 31st – it was no longer the mighty team they had not long ago, but that bad? Or were they just unlucky? Palmeiras did not even reach the second stage of the long championship.

Corinthians moved ahead for awhile, but may be they were the biggest disappointment at the end.

Paulo Cesar Caju, Ze Maria, Zenon, Biro-Biro, Gomes… and the new genius, already becoming a world class superstar, Socrates. 26th at the end…

It was the other way around for some clubs – the ‘second tier’ Brazilian clubs performed well this year – no miracles and not going very far, but at least maintaining the level they were supposed to be on. Nautico, Bahia, Santa Cruz, Portugueza, even Bangu. Perhaps CSA (Maceio) were most pleasant surprise.

Like Londrina, they earned promotion to First level by reaching the final of Second level in 1980. But unlike Londrina, they played very well in 1981 – and finished 13th. Yet, they were unable to go beyond the 1/8 finals. The only other smaller clubs at this stage were Ponte Preta and Operario. Both moved ahead.

Operario (Campo Grande) did very well this year, but they face Gremio in the ¼ finals and lost both matches. No shame in it – Zico’s Flamengo was eliminated at this point too.

Gremio was the bad luck for the small teams – after eliminating Operario, they met Ponte Preta. Gremio depended on their record against Operario to eliminate Ponte Preta, but that was the rule, and the fantastic run of Ponte Preta finished at the semi-finals.

Fantastic season: they were second in the Sao Paulo championship and semi-finalists in the national championship! Standing from left: Zé Mário, Nenê, Carlos, Juninho, Odirlei, Toninho Oliveira;

Crouching: Édson, Marco Aurélio, Chicão, Dicá, Osvaldo.

Not a bad team, but let’s face it: Ponte Preta (Campinas) hardly is the name coming to mind, when one thinks of Sao Paulo football. But they did much better than the best clubs – better than Sao Paulo, Santos, Portuguesa. Corinthians, with all their great players, was eliminated long, long ago – Ponte Preta was eliminated only by the rules, not on the pitch!

Botafogo (Rio de Janeiro) also cannot be blamed – they were eliminated by the rules too. A case to be sorry, not angry. May be not even sorry, for there was a sweet moment at the ¼ finals: they eliminated Flamengo, which counts highly in Rio de Janeiro – often to beat a rival is better than winning a title.

And at last the first leg of the final was played on April 30. Gremio hosted and won 2-1 after 2 goals by Paulo Isidoro. Serginho scored for Sao Paulo and kept the dream alive – one goal difference is not much when the most important match is at home. So is the usual wisdom. Sao Paulo did not score at all on May 31, but Gremio did, thanks to Baltazar. A second victory and the title was theirs.

Sao Paulo ended with silver – which, for them, translates ‘ended empty handed’. How good or bad they were? Hard to tell, for Brazilian football – unlike the European – rarely concentrated all superstars in 2-3 teams. Typically, a strong Brazilian team had 5-6 great players – and the competition had the same number. Sao Paulo was typical – Renato, Francisco Marinho Chagas, Oscar, Valdir Peres, Serginho. Corinthians had that many – and look where they ended. Flamengo had that many, so a few other teams, including the champions.

Gremio (Porto Alegre) – champions of Brazil! What could be better? First national title – not only great by itself, but also restoring Gremio among the top clubs of the country. Porto Alegre was leading Brazilian football during the 1970s, but it was thanks to the rivals, Internacional. Now Gremio bested all and Inter was nowhere to be seen. True, the arch-enemy had more titles, but the present – and perhaps the future – belonged to Gremio. Leao, Paulo Isidoro, Baltazar, the Uruguayan star De Leon… Gremio had the usual for a Brazilian team number of stars – may be even a bit fewer and on lower scale than other clubs, but the chemistry worked and they won. And a bit of football trivia and irony: the bad boy Emerson Leao, who quarelled with everybody, and was unable to stay in one club for long because of his temper, was already twice Brazilian champion (three times, if the unofficial 1969 championship is counted) – Zico was champion only once, Socrates – not at all, Pele – plain zero. Yes, Leao was the best goalkeeper of the 1970s and early 80s, but there were much bigger stars who won nothing on national scale. Anyway, it was no Leao’s victory, but of the whole team.

The Second National Level championship – Taca de Prata – had 48 participants, divided into 6 groups of 8 teams each. Standard league championship was played in each group and the winners qualified to the semi-finals. Peculiar structure, typical for Brazil: the numbers were not suited for the familiar next stages of direct elimination, but never mind. The championship meandered eventually to the semi-finals. During the rounds some well known clubs failed:

Bahia (Salvador) was one of the failures, along with many clubs of, let us say, ‘the second stringers’: America (Rio de Janeiro), Americano (Campos), America (Belo Horizonte), Coritiba (Curitiba), Nautico (Recife).

And many of even lesser fame, like:

Ceara,

Atletico (Goiania),

Treze (Campina Grande),

Central (Caruaru).

Maranhao (Sao Luis)

Comercial (Ribeirao Preto)

America (Sao Jose)

Gremio (Maringa)

Leonico (Salvador)

Comercial (Campo Grande), Guarani (Campinas), Remo (Belem), and Anapolina (Anapolis) reached the semi-finals. Guarani won both legs against Comercial – 2-1 and 3-0 – and Anapolina did the same against Remo – 3-2 and 4-2. On March 21st, 1981 the first leg of the final was played in Anapolis and hosts Anapolina lost 2-4. The second leg was more or less a formality and Guarani just kept the tie at home – 1-1.

Anapolina (Anapolis) had a strong season, but lost the final. They were the underdog anyway and unable to produce a miracle. But it was not so bad – reaching the final qualified them to Level A for the next season.

The winners: second row from left: Birigui, Miranda, Edson, Almeida, Edmar, Edson Magalhães.

First row: Lúcio, Angelo, Careca, Jorge Mendonça, Capitão.

Guarani won Taca de Prata, which was great – a trophy plus going up to Level A. Where they belonged at least by name. And not just by name – Jorge Mendonça played for Brazil in the 1978 World Cup. His much younger teammate Careca was on his way of becoming world-famous striker. Even in Brazil star players belong to top level, not to the lower one.

Brazil. The national championship celebrated its 10th season – still the messy, long, confusing championship. 44 teams participated in the top national level – Taca de Ouro. The teams were selected by record on previous state championship, depending on the berths every state had. Plus the top two teams of the 1980 second level championship or Taca de Prata. With time, the national championship gained authority, but it was still competing with the individual state championships. A lot of football, a lot of trophies, to each their own, for not every team had a chance to play in the national championships. Internationally, such teams were entirely out of sight – naturally, some clubs were unknown anyway, but some were fairly well known. Occasionally, some well known names were lost in the vast Brazilian football universe – old stars, playing in the local state leagues by now, or future stars, making their first steps in professional football. Like Walter Casagrande, playing for Caldense this year.

Casagrande was only 18 years old, playing his second professional season, but Caldense played only state level football this season. For them and many, many other clubs, the only chance of getting national exposure was winning locally. Some clubs were unheard of – like Penapolense.

No matter what, most Brazilian teams were best described by the word ‘exotic’ and Penapolense (Penapolis) is a typical example. Standing from right: Claercio, Caseli, Jonas, Piva, Romero, Quico.

First row: Ribinha, Betinho, Morangueira, Waldir, Luciano.

Some others were barely known, largely because they played now and then in the national championship.

Gama (Brasilia) is one of those – depending on how they performed locally, they had a chance of getting better known. But for that a team had to win its state championship at least and Gama did not.

Taguatinga won the Distrito Federal championship in 1981. Still, exotica…

Moto Clube, the champions of the state of Maranhao, were also one of those somewhat known clubs – the state had one berth in the national championship, so winning the state championship was very important and even in a state like Maranhao there was competition: on national level, it was represented by Sampaio Correa in 1981. A team similar to Moto Clube in terms of fame. It was easier for the ‘bigger’ clubs in the weaker states – in the centre of Brazilian football was much tougher and some quite famous clubs suffered from fierce competition.

Rio Branco was a good example of such unlucky clubs – with the changing focus from state championship to the national, the left out clubs were often losing fame.

Well, slowly Brazil was arriving to the point when the national championship mattered most. Yet, the final table at the end of the season meant absolutely nothing – there was no relegation to fear. Instead, the next year participants were to be selected again by combined criteria: something depended on their 1981 performance and something on the berths their state had. But promotion happened and the second national level had every reason to look up. Since the top football states had the most well clubs, the second level had a big number of clubs more famous than perhaps half of those playing the first level. And for those clubs – strong enough, but having no real chance to compete with, say, Vasco da Gama or Sao Paulo, winning Taca de Prata was the only chance to play top level football.