Author: Vesselin

The first phase of first division practically determined only the clubs proceeding to fight for the title and those trying to avoid relegation. The final positions of the first stage hardly suggest the real final standings – one can expect those finishing bellow 4th place in the first stage to just go through the motions in the second phase and those, who were originally 9th and 10th to be too strong for the relegation group. But it was still very risky prediction, since only the top three clubs carried bonus points to the final stage and only the three lowest clubs started the relegation phase with penalty points. General equality not only rendered the first stage practically meaningless, but also made predictions pointless. Yet, it was expected the big clubs – Alianza, Universitario, Sporting Cristal – to compete for the title. Two clubs were out of the important race – Sport Boys (Callao) and Deportivo Municipal (Lima) finished 10th and 11th , so they went to the relegation group. But all that was only general guessing, based largely on tradition. What must be pointed out is the positions of some clubs in the first stage: Atletico Chalaco (Callao) finished 7th with 31 points – 10 less than the winner of the stage. They managed to tie exactly half of their matches – 15. Certainly not a team able to look for more than lucky escape from relegation zone. Leon (Huanaco), little known club, finished 9th with 30 points and went to relegation zone only because of worse goal-difference than Deportivo Junin (Huancayo). Leon won 12 matches – more than any other club of the lower half of the table, so it was safe to expect them having easy sailing in the relegation group. 15th was Juventud La Palma (Huacho) – without much top league experience and starting the final stage with minus 2 points, they were the most obvious candidate for relegation. Atletico Torino (Talara) was 14th, thus, going to the relegation phase with minus 1 point, and last was Melgar F.B.C. (Arequipa), going to the last stage with minus 3 points. Melgar F.B.C. Were really weak this year – usually they were well placed in the league, so their performance indicated big disaster coming. Well, at least it looked so.

At the top Alianza finished 4th with 33 points. No bonus point for them, but they were usual favourites and could be that they were really saving strength for the really important stage. Sporting Cristal finished 3rd with 35 points – they got 1 bonus point, yet, like Alianza, most likely saved energy for the final stage. Juan Aurich (Chiclayo) finished 2nd with 38 points – the only team seemingly trying to challenge the winners of the first stage. Normally, a club playing in the upper half of the league, but not a real contender. They got 2 bonus points. The winners were familiar: Univeristario de Deportes (Lima).

Universitario were practically the only candidates for the first place – they won it with 3 points more than Juan Aurich, the best defense in the league and the second-best attack. They were also the only club with more the 50% wins in the first stage – 16. For all their efforts, they got 3 bonus points.

Well, nothing really strange – it looked like the battle for the title will be between Universitario, Alianze, and Sporting Cristal, with Universitario having slight advantage of 3 points. They could be all decisive, for Alianza and Sporting Cristal had more famous names in their squads.

The relegation group produced a surprise: Melgar F.B.C. suddenly got fighting spirit and overcome their 3 points starting deficit. They 6 matches, tied 4, and lost 4, finishing with second-best record in the relegation group. With 3 points deducted, they still finished 3rd – 11th in the all-league final table – and safe. Leon (Huanuco) went the opposite direction – after their strong first stage they were expected to avoid relegation rather easily. Leon won 6 matches in the final stage – which was second-best number in the group. But they lost all other games and with 12 points they shared the worst record with CNI (Iquitos). Still, Leon were last for having the worst goal-difference. Juventud La Palma finished just a place above Leon, overcoming 2 points starting deficit. Such big drop of form… it is hard to explain what happened to Leon – nobody expected miracles from them, but they had strong first phase. Did they misjudged the situation and invested all their strength in the first stage? They missed complete safety on goal-difference – it may have been a strategy of the club, ending unlucky. It was not the end of troubles for Leon…

At the top of the relegation group finished expected clubs:

Sport Boys (Callao) were too weak for the upper half of the league, but still too strong for the lower half. They won the relegation group with 17 points, outscoring the other teams by far.

Coronel Bolognesi (Tacna) finished 2nd – thanks to deficit of 3 points Melgar F.B.C. started with. Standing from left: Hector Revoredo, Juan Ayala, Jose Zevallos, Gerardo Baigorra, Luis Advincula, Oscar Vega.

First row: Jorge Zegarra, Oscar Herrera, Victorino Vicente, Jose Carranza, Juan Tardio.

For a club with checkered history, having a squad without recognizable players is expected, but they achieved their goal – to remain in the first division.

And so did Atletico Torino (Talara) – they finished 4th in the group.

There is a little mystery about this photo, taken by local photo-studio ‘William’ – if it is from 1979, then the inserted text is wrong. On the other hand, it may be dated wrongly. But the boys preserved a place in first division and that was all that mattered in 1979.

Deportivo Municipal struggled to the end. Now, that is a club expected to run for the title, but this was a lean year and relegation was more than mere threat. 13 points was all they got in the relegation group, which was a point more than the worst. Safe at last…

Standing, from left: Víctor Corbacho, Roberto “Titín” Drago, Duilio Poggi, Julio Caycho, Raúl Obando, Humberto Horacio Ballesteros.

Crouching: Julio Argote, Adehmir Arroé, Franco Navarro, Raúl Gorriti, Roberto Zevallos.

Well, the squad tells the story – for whatever reason, Deportivo Municipal had no big names. Lucky to escape relegation.

Which was not decided with the end of regular second stage. Three clubs finished with 12 points. Goal-difference was waved and the bottom three were directed to relegation play-off – a mini round-robin tournament. Colegio Nacional (Iquitos) – usually written CNI, Juventud La Palma (Huacho), and Leon (Huanaco). Tough life to the end… finally CNI gathered enough strength and determination and won their both matches.

Survivors, standing from left: Rufino Bernales, Pedro Cajo, Bernaola, Vargas, Lizandro Navarro, Manuel Toyco.

First row: Martín Gago, Andrés Zegarra, Almonte, Juan Rubianes, Henry Perales.

So, relegation was decided in the direct match between Leon and Juventud La Palma. Leon lost… what a failure: from almost going to play in the championship group to plummeting down to second level football.

What a sad story were the Lions in 1979. Instead of fighting for the title – relegated.

 

Peru had more comprehensible championship than most South American countries, yet, still two-phased affair. At the first stage, it was standard league format – 16 clubs playing 30 rounds. After that the top 8 entered the second stage as championship group, playing 14 rounds and the bottom 8 formed relegation group, also playing 14 rounds. One team was relegated. Such structures never satisfy no matter the rules: if teams carry their points from the first stage, then a whole bunch of clubs have nothing to play for in the second and only go through the motions. If everything begins anew, then the first stage is meaningless for the top clubs. No matter which way is chosen, such championships are open for various schemes and corruption – and often the best schemer benefits at the end. Peru chose a variety of the starting anew – no points were carried over from the first stage, except for bonus points awarded to top three – depending on their place, 3,2, and 1 point. At the bottom, penalty points wee taken away from the last three teams, also depending on position – the last had 3 points deducted in the second phase and the 14th – 1. So, the first league really played largely to form the two final groups and only the leaders had some minimal advantage. The losers in the first phase entered with slight disadvantage the relegation group, yet,what mattered most was still how the teams played in the final stage.

Peru had no second division – instead, the winners of the regional championships played promotional tournament, also called Copa Peru. Like most South American countries, Peru had no parallel national cup tournament and Copa Peru had little significance in itself – the importance of winning it was the promotion to first league. Copa Peru went through many stages with teams from the 24 country’s departments, until the final 6 moved to the final round-robin, played in Lima. This year only one participant had familiar name – Defensor (Lima). At least on paper, it looked like they would win promotion. In reality it was different. The final table will provide the home cities and departments. 1. Asociación Deportiva (Tarma, Junin) 8 – 5 – 3 – 2 – 0 – 5 – 1

2. Aguas Verdes (Zarumilla, Tumbes) 7 – 5 – 3 – 1 – 1 – 9 – 2

3. Defensor Lima (Lima, Lima) 5 – 5 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 8 – 6

4. Garcilaso (Cuzco, Cuzco) 5 – 5 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 8 – 6

5. Universidad Técnica (Cajamarca, Cajamarca) 5 – 5 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 3

6. Centenario (Ayacucho, Ayacucho) 0 – 5 – 0 – 0 – 5 – 1 – 16

Centenario was out of their depth, obviously – they lost every match they played. Defensor Lima failed to impress.

Deportivo Centenario (Ayacucho) – perhaps just happy to be at the finals and nothing else.

Garcilaso (Cuzco) – neither good, nor bad, right in the middle. Standing from left: Rolando Echegaray, Fernando Valencia, José Elguera, “Arbolito” Gonzáles, Robinson Astete, Wilfredo Valencia.

First row: Marco Echegaray, Percy Huamán, Miguel Arapa, Javier Ugaz,el “Cóndor” Sergio Hinojosa.

The battle for promotion was really between unknowns:

Aguas Verdes, hailing from a city often flooded by the very river waters giving the club’s name, missed promotion by a point. They scored most goals in the tournament and ended with the best goal-difference. Small consolation.

The winners did not lose even a match and that was the secret of success, for they were not great scorers. One point more than Aguas Verdes and ADT won the tournament, Copa Peru and the single promotion.

Going to first league: standing, from left: Nicolás Miranda, Alberto Marticorena, Rowland Chumpitaz, Alejandro Mujica, Gonzalo Ginocchio, José Chacaltana.

First row: Luis Camacho, Juan Zapata, Carlos Gutiérrez, Angel Fuentes, Carlos Gavidia.

Asociacion Deportiva – more often just abbreviated to ADT (Asociacion Deportiva de Tarma) – were founded in 1929, but little known. They never played first division before. As for the squad – no familiar names here, as expected. This was their biggest success at the time – winners of Copa Peru for the first time and promoted to the top league.

That was then – Copa Peru still exists, but now it equals third division championship. So far ADT never won it again.

 

 

The First Division of Chile had exactly the same format and rules as the lower division: Campeonato Apertura – called ‘Copa Polla Gol’ first, giving 2 bonus points to the winner and 1 bonus point to losing finalist and semi-finalist, followed by standard Campeonato Oficial, where a bonus point was given to any winning team, who scored 4 or more goals. The last two teams in Campeonato Oficial were relegated and the 15th and the 16th had to play promotion/relegation mini-league with the 3rd and 4th in the second division. Another mini-league, consisting of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th finishers of Campeonato Oficial was to determine the second Chilean participant in Copa Libertadores. Busy season.

The Apertura was a bit strange – the 18 first division teams were divided into 4 groups. Three of them had 4 teams, the fourth – 6. Why? There is no apparent logic in such division – may be weaker teams were bunched together with mighty Colo-Colo and Universidad de Chile in the 4th group. May be. Anyhow, the big clubs had no problem qualifying. Aviacion lost their chance to go to ¼ finals by a point. Universidad Catolica and Palestino qualified from Group 1, Union Espanola and Cobreloa from Group 2, and Concepcion and Naval from Group 3. The latter were seemingly the weakest among the quarter-finalists and were eliminated. Cobreloa and Colo-Colo went into extra-time in the1/2 finals – at last Colo-Colo scored the only goal in the game. In the other semi-final Union Espanola lost 1-2 to Universidad de Chile. Cobreloa and Union Espanola got a bonus point each and the two biggest Chilean clubs went to decide who gets 2 bonus points. Universidad de Chile managed 2-1 victory again.

Colo-Colo – what was worse? Losing a cup, losing to their bitterest enemy, or losing a bonus point?

Universidad de Chile – proud winners of Apertura – or Copa Polla-Gol – and 2 points. Well, if anything, it was great to beat Colo-Colo.

The real thing started after the rather meaningless Apertura. It should be said right away that no team won a match scoring 4 or more goals, so no further bonus points were awarded. The carriers of bonus points from the Apertura proved to be the strongest Chilean teams this season, yet, the extra points helped no one, so they were good for nothing. Three clubs were hopeless outsiders. Nublense were the worst of the bunch and finished last with 19 points. Goal-difference decided the second directly relegated club. Santiago Morning and Santiago Wanderers both finished with 21 points. Santiago Morning took the unfortunate 17th place because they had the worst goal-difference in the whole league: 33-72. Santiago Wanderers ended 16th, but there was still danger – they had to play in the promotion/relegation mini-league. 15th finished Audax Italiano – they lost a race against 4 other clubs and also had to play at the promotion/relegation mini-league. Everton finished unusually low, but safe – 14th – with 29 points, two more than Audax Italiano. The other three survivors were lowly clubs happy to escape relegation:

Naval was 13th with 30 points.

Lota Schwager – 12th with 31 points, and Aviacion – 11th with 32 points.

Standing, from left: Luis Linderos, Roberto Hodge, Eduardo Peralta, Humberto Martinez, Avelino Albornoz, Roberto ‘Condor’ Rojas.

Crouching: Julio Garcia, Selvin Pennant, Eleodoro Cornejo, Victor Solar, Eduardo Diaz.

Perhaps Aviacion finished well bellow expectation, for unlike the other outsiders, the club had a bunch of good players – Eduardo Peralta played 4 years in Mexico, Selvin Pennant is one of the most prolific goalscorers ever of Guatemala and played for her national team 11 years, Roberto Hodge – a legend of Chilean football, who played 38 games for the national team between 1964 and 1977. True, Hodge was 35 years old, but still a few years away of retirement. And finally there was emerging young star – the 22-years old goalkeeper Roberto ‘Condor’ Rojas. He debuted for Aviacion in 1976 and made strong impression, although his greatest – and lowest – days were still ahead: he played 69 games for Chile between 1983 and 1989, when his career ended prematurely. Trying to prevent a loss of the national team, he deliberately injured himself – the incident resulted in lifetime ban for him and one world cup ban for Chile. At the time Rojas played for Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the end of his playing days turned him to coaching – eventually, he coached the al-time top scorer among the goalkeepers, Rogerio Ceni. All that was in the distant future, but with him and the other strong players Aviacion should have been better in 1979.

Not that they were the only club running low.

Universidad Catolica had weak year and finished 10th. Palestino, the champions in 1978, also were down and finished 8th.

The strong clubs were those distinguishing themselves in Campeonato Apertura. With a little difference. O’Higgins was also in the top group, of which 4 teams were fairly equal and fought for everything but the title. O’Higgins was bumped to 5th place by the bonus points Univesidad de Chile carried from Apertura and finished 5th with 43 points. Universidad de Chile got 4th place for they had worse goal-difference than Union Espanola. Union Espanola continued their good spell – bronze medals this time. But the established names were beaten by rapidly rising newcomer – Cobreloa (Calama).

If their first ever season in first division was considered perhaps due to surprise and enthusiasm, in their second year Cobreloa proved that they were not one-time wonder. Just to make their point, they destroyed O’Higgins 10-0 in Apertura. Cobreloa earned one point more than their rivals – 45 – and finished 2nd for a second consecutive season. Two years in Primera Division – two silver medals. Cobreloa clearly was going to be a big factor in Chilean football.

Still, Cobreloa was not ready yet to really run for the title. 1979 was the year of revival for Colo-Colo. They lost the final of Apertura, but easily outplayed everybody in Campeonato Nacional. 23 wins, 8 ties, only 3 losses, 72-24 goal-difference – best in everything. 55 points – Cobreloa was very distant second with 45 points. Colo-Colo was supreme. At last.

Standing from left: Leonel Herrera, Oscar Wirth, Daniel Díaz, Mario Galindo, Eddio Inostroza, Atilio Herrera.

First row: Ramón Mané Ponce, Carlos Rivas, Carlos Caszely, Severino Vasconcellos , Leonardo Véliz.

Colo-Colo won Primera Division for 12th time, but the previous title was quite long time ago. Hard to tell how much the crisis Colo-Colo experienced in the mid-1970s was a result of politics. Their last title was won in 1972, when Allende was still President. The most popular club in the country was somewhat leaning to the left – at least many of its supporters, some of the players, the star Carlos Caszely very vocally. The great team reached the final of Copa Libertadores in 1973 – then suddenly collapsed. Well, General Pinochet came to power, Allende shot himself, many run away into exile, including football players. Including Caszely, who went to Spain. Colo-Colo not only did not win anything – they were becoming rather mediocre. Time passed, the country settled under the military rule, the turbulent days were over, there was even sense of economic improvement – felt in the football world by the rising clubs from mining town Cobreloa and Cobresal. May be Colo-Colo also benefited in some way. Carlos Caszely came back from Espanol (Barcelona) in 1978. There were some other good players in the squad – Mario Galindo, b. 1951, who was part of the Chilean 1974 World Cup squad. Adolfo Nef (b. 1946), one of the best Chilean goalkeepers of the late 1960s and the 1970s, and also part of the 1974 World Cup team, was between the posts. Carlos Rivas, b. 1953, represented the next talented generation – and was to play at the 1982 World Cup finals. Two new players arrived in 1979 – Oscar Wirth, b. 1955, who immediately relegated Nef to the bench, and, like Rivas, was to be part of the 1982 World Cup squad; and Brazilian midfielder right from Inter (Porto Alegre) – Severino Vasconcelos (b. 1950). Vasconcelos was not a star in Brazil, but had plenty of experience. In Colo-Colo, he was just right – he controlled the midfield and organized the game. He more or less spurred the team and was instrumental for the great season. His presence was so important the club kept him 6 years – Vasconcelos was 29 when arrived and he finally moved to Barcelona (Ecuador) in 1985, he was 35 years old. To a point, the revival of Colo-Colo happened thanks to him and Caszely, who was exactly the same age. Anyhow, Colo-Colo came back with a bang.

But the season was not finished yet. There was the mini-league for the second Libertadores spot. It went in two stages – single-match round robin tournament first, followed by play-off between the top two teams. O’Higgins and Universidad de Chile finished 1st and 2nd. Cobreloa lost all their three matches, unable to score even single goal. The play-off was won by O’Higgins 1-0.

The other mini-league had different concerns – promotion/relegation. Just a regular single-match round-robin. Santiago Wanderers and Audax Italiano from First Division and Arica and Independiente from Second Division. All was practically decided in the 2nd round, when the first division clubs met those from the lower level and won. The 3rd round was carefully played for scoreless ties and the status quo was preserved. The first division clubs finished at the top with 4 points each. Arica got 3, Independiente – 1.

Lucky boys – after suffering and lots of fret, Santiago Wanderes kept their place among the best. The lovely city of Valparaiso was not going to suffer second division football. Nor La Florida, the hometown of Audax Italiano. At least for one more year.

 

Chile, like most South American countries, had strangely organized championship – two championships really, but connected somewhat. Campeonato Apertura was similar to the format used in Argentina and Brazil: the league was subdivided into 4 groups, where the teams played two-legged round-robin tournament. The top two teams proceeded to next stage, run in standard cup format of direct elimination from quarterfinals to the final. But the winners hardly benefited – Apertura was not separate championship. Only bonus points were carried on to Campeonato Oficial: 2 points for the winner and 1 point for the losing finalist and semi-finalists. In the Second Division bonus points were also awarded to those winners who scored 4 or more goals in Campeonato Oficial. The winners of that championship, run like standard league, were the champions of the season. Two teams were directly relegated and promoted, but there was a promotion/relegation mini-league too – the 15th and the 16th from First Division and the 3rd and 4th from Second Division played in it. Lastly, there was a mini-league, deciding the second Chilean participant in Copa Libertadores: the teams finishing right behind the champion – from 2nd to 5th place – in Campeonato Oficial competed. Apertura counted for almost nothing, which is confusing: normally, only the final table of Campeonato Oficial is seen, so not many people know the whole complexity and wonder where extra points came from. Chilean football was busy affair taking the whole year and every club played lots of games – perhaps on the level of the English clubs and certainly much more than most European clubs. It was orderly championship and Chilean football was on ascent – may be the only one improving in South America , although the quality was still much lower than football in Brazil and Argentina. But it was a saner scene, compared to the financial chaos in Brazil and Argentina, and organizational chaos in Brazil.

Second Division – 20 teams participated in it, the last was doomed to relegation, and the top too getting direct promotion. Apertura did not matter – fighting for survival was concentrated in Campeonato Oficial. Intersetingly, one club did not play in Apertura – Deportes Iquique. Note the name. Why they did not play in the opening phase would be anybody’s guess. One other club should be mentioned – Rangers (Tacna). They had miserable first phase, finishing with 5 points – 6 less than the 2nd placed Union Calera. The top two in each of the 4 groups qualified for the ¼ finals, then the winners went to the ½ finals, and at the end Huachipato prevailed 1-0 over Ovalle at the final and won the Apertura. Huachipato won… and what exactly they won? 2 bonus points. Ovalle and the losing semi-finalists Arica and San Luis got 1 bonus point each. Not exactly meaningful advantage when 38 championship games laid ahead. Apertura perhaps was giving some idea who was in strong from this year, but such things are never certain – Rangers had weak Apertura, Independiente worse, Huachipato – strong, Iquique – none. So what? In Campeonato Oficial some stayed strong, some sunk , others improved, and still others were more or less the same. Predictions and expectations vs reality. And reality was Campeonato Oficial where promotion and relegation were.

Second Division does not attract attention and since Chilean clubs are not well known, the wisdom goes that the lower level must be entirely anonymous. Not so – there were clubs with great past and others fairly known – like Huachipato, the Chilean champion of 1974. Rangers (Tacna) was also a club normally playing in first division. Lesser known, yet known, clubs were also found in the league:

Deportes La Serena

Ovalle

Antofagasta

Clubs moving up and down – the ‘unsettled’ category, present in every country.

Most league members did not ring any bell – if they had better days, those were in distant past.

San Antonio Unido

Ferroviarios (Santiago)

Trasandino (Los Andes)

Iberia (Los Angeles)

And the rest were entirely unknown – that is, the typical second division clubs.

Colchagua (San Fernando) was one of those – clubs mostly happy to play at this level, which was high achievement for them.

A league like that is usually dominated by the clubs ‘in between’ – too strong for this league, but too weak for the best league. It was not exactly the case here, but still comes close. Five clubs were in close pursuit during Campeonato Oficial, four of which played often first division football. Two of them were carrying bonus point from Apertura – Arica and San Luis. Not only the bonus points helped no one, but not a single team managed to get extra point for scoring 4 or more goals this year. Three teams fought bitterly for survival at the bottom – Linares finished last with 24 points. Union San Felipe was lucky 19th with 25 and Curico Unido – 18th with 26 points. But Linares was also happy… the league was extended to 22 clubs for the next season and relegation was revoked. At the top, bad luck for San Luis (Quilota) – thanks to their bonus point from Apertura, they finished with 48 points – equal with Independiente (Cauguenes). Unfortunately for them, Independiente was the second best scoring team this year, which resulted in better goal-difference. San Luis finished 5th, Independiente got a chance for promotion.

With 49 points – thanks to their bonus point – Arica finished 3rd. They also scored the most goals in the league – 76.

Magallanes (Santiago) finished 2nd with 51 points and got direct promotion. Returning to top flight was excellent news for the fading club: may be a revival at last? Hope never dies.

The champions of the league managed a three-point lead at the end. 23 wins, 8 ties, and 7 losses. They were outscored by Arica and Independiente and Magallanes had better defensive record, but what mattered was points and 54 nobody else had. The champion was not a famous club like Magallanes, but no stranger to first division either – they played modest role in it before.

And here they are – the proud champions of Chilean second division 1979: Deportes Iquique. Going up. Note their sponsor – it seems Chile was the South American leader in introducing shirt adds. Even second division clubs had sponsors and in this case a famous one: Sony in second division? No more.

Indepenediente and San Luis still had to play promotion/relegation tournament and kept hopes going up too, but so far Deporteas Iquique and Magallanes were the happy winners.

Ranking Paraguayan championship third is ambiguous, but this was a year of success – perhaps the best ever year of that country. Both on club and national team level Paraguayan teams conquered the world, there was exciting young star everybody was talking about. Curiously, it was also an year which practically left no information – even the final table is impossible to find.

Julio Cesar Romero, 19 years old midfielder of Sportivo Luqueno was the huge name – this year he became huge international star, adoring fans already nicknamed him Romerito and he led Paraguay to victory at Copa America. He rivaled Maradona – for many was even better, which may have been justified assessment, for Maradona was still trying to get a place in the Argentina national team and Romero not only was regular player for Paraguay, but was winning too. He debuted in 1977 for Sportivo Luqueno in his native city of Luque, but – just like Maradona in his earliest years – did not win a title. 1979 was the last year he played in Paraguay – the same year he signed with Cosmos (New York) and returned to his native land and original club after more than 10 years. Stangely, it is very difficult to find a photo of his early years – the one above is from 1979, perhaps shortly before moving to USA.

The big young star was unable to make Sportivo Luqueno a winner – there was a team at its prime at the same time conquering the world – and Paraguay as well. Yet, very little can be said about this season…

Nacional won the Second Division and was promoted. To a point, it is even strange that they were playing second division football – hardly known outside Paraguay, Nacional is one of the oldest, biggest, and most successful clubs. May be after a spell of misfortune they were coming back – for the moment, only returning to first division football.

One expects the usual suspects playing big role in the championship:

Cerro Porteno, or, if they failed for some reason, perhaps

Guarani. Yet, neither was a factor this year, it seems. Still, Paraguay – like many countries all around the world – was dominated by the clubs from the capital. Sportivo Luqueno was – and is – practically the only provincial club challenging Asuncion’s monopoly. But it was not them fighting for the title – it was once again a club from the capital: Sol de America.

Apparently, good season for the club founded in 1909 in Barrio Obrero – runners up. Without a final table, it is impossible to guess did they really fought for the title or were they distant second, really overcoming only Cerro Porteno and the rest. So far, Sol de America never won the championship, so may be the big clubs were really weak this year – except one.

Champions were Olimpia – nothing strange and even entirely in line with their fantastic year in which they won Copa Libertadores and a few months later – the Intercontinental Cup. Olimpia was more or less presented earlier and little additional information is needed here. Olimpia won their 25th title – Cerro Porteno was distant second with 19 titles. Olimpia was also going through their most successful domestic period – this was still unknown, though. What was known was business as usual.

Familiar champions, sporting still rare in South America sponsor adds on their shirts.

Olimpia did not always use adds, it appears here, but more interesting is their tactical scheme – a variation of the dominant in the 1970s despite total football 4-3-3. Two full back staying deeply back, supported by defensive midfielder, and quite standard attacking line. Nothing innovative really – and the squad itself was standard, even conservative: Olimpia used 22 players, the usual number at the time, but in terms of South America, where transfer rules were lax and teams changed players often, thus listing at the end of the season large number of players used, Olimpia appeared at least stubborn.

And here is the full squad of the Paraguayan, South American, and world’s champions of 1979.

 

Yet, when all is said and done, the national championship stays as the pinnacle of the season – structurally and historically. To trace the tournament is confusing hell of a job – many stages, from which emerged winners going to the next round, but also teams which did not play, or ranked low, yet, going ahead. 14 clubs got direct byes from the beginning – the reason is beyond explanation: one can imagine favours to the big boys Botafogo, Flamengo, Vasco da Gama, and Fluminense, but in the same group are clubs like AA Francana, if you ever heard of such club. Most were of the same caliber, but the favoured clubs represented only two states – Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. So, at the end, it was still the big boys favoured. Stage after stage, group after group, the championship crawled and meandered ahead – some times 8 out 10 participants in a group moved to the next level; sometimes only one… until the semi-finals were reached. Cortiba vs Vasco da Gama and Internacional vs Palmeiras. Up to this point Coritiba and Internacional played 19 matches each, Vasco da Gama – 10, and Palmeiras – only 3! Privileges are privileges, but… what kind of championship is one in which the champion would play less games than the team at the very bottom? If Palmeiras won, it would have been with a total of 7 games – Guara, 94th, the last in the ‘final table’ played 8.

Guara left no visual trace of itself, but the team just above them did – Chapecoense was 93rd in the unofficial final table.

Here they are, the weakest this year. It meant nothing, though – there was no relegation and the final table tells mostly the full list of participants. Chapecoense ended with 2 points, one more than Guara. Goytacaz also had 2 points (and played one match less than Chapecoense), but took 58th place – they started the competition in a later round than Chapecoense, which was taken into account.

Luck, relative form, priorities, neglect… all contributed to the final ranking. Lowest of the big names was Sport (Recife) – 92nd. Highest of the small fry – Operario: 5th.

Since there are many clubs named Operario, it must be added that this one hails from Campo Grande and also won the state championship of Mato Grosso do Sul for the first time. Not bad on national scale either – even when it counts for nothing.

But 90 participants did not matter even for mentioning at the time of the semi-finals. After all trials and tribulations, the last four were more than familiar – reestablishing what the world knew about Brazilian football: familiar names, therefore, big clubs were really stronger than the rest.

Vasco da Gama managed 1-1 tie in the first match, visiting Coritiba, and extracted 2-1 victory at home. Tough semi-final, but all good at the end.

Coritiba, the least famous of the semi-finalists, fought bravely, but no luck. One goal – the difference between life and death. If they scored equalizer in Rio de Janeiro, they should have been finalists. Unlucky.

Palmeiras had it worse – they lost their home match to Inter. 2-3 – not much, but home loss, putting them to disadvantage for the second leg. Falcao scored twice for the enemy. In the second leg Palmeiras tried as much as they could – or Inter was overcareful, preferring to keep their small advantage. A 1-1 tie eliminated Palmeiras – more or less, as expected after they lost the first match.

Standing, from left: Rosemiro, Gilmar, Beto Fuscão, Ivo, Polozzi, Soter.

Crouching: Amilton Rocha, Jorge Mendonça, Toninho, Pires, Nei.

One of the best Brazilian clubs of the 1970s, traditional powerhouse – to a point, Palmeiras still stayed very strong. Rosemiro, Gilmar, Beto Fuscao, Polozzi – all national team material. Jorge Mendonca – the big star of the team and one who made strong impression at the 1978 World Cup. Strong, good, but somehow not as strong as the squad of two-three years back. The stars were not exactly first class stars – unlike the champions of the previous team. Football is unfair and unpredictable, but judging by the team, Palmeiras was just good to reach the semi-finals and no more. Fair, it seems.

The final was also two-legged affair – opening on December 20, 1979 in Rio de Janeiro. It was the end… for the hosts. Chico Spina scored twice for Inter, the home team achieved nothing. It was hardly possible to imagine Vasco overcoming the odds… they did not. Inter won the second leg too – 2-1. Jair and Falcao scored for Inter; Wilsinho – the only goal Vasco managed. It was great to win the title in front of the home crowd .

Standing, from left: Orlando, Leao, Gaucho, Iva, Paulinho, Paulo Cesar.

First row: Catinha,Paulo Roberto,Roberto Dinamite,Zé Mário,Wilsinho.

Close close to winning the title and no more. With Roberto Dinamite and Leao, Vasco seemed strong enough and they did not lose a match before the final. Then again perhaps there squad was the reason for losing – two big stars and nothing much. Perhaps a prime example of making of Brazilian club at the time: players moved often. Instead of careful building of a strong team, most clubs preferred to sign a big star, hoping that a single man would produce a miracle. As a result, even the best players were scattered among many clubs – none really strong, for the rest of the squad was not great. Vasco da Gama had two great players – and difficult, moody Leao certainly was not going to last, as he did not in his previous clubs – and that was good enough to propel them to the final, yet, not winning it. Others did less – Flamengo with Zico finished 12th. Corinthians, having the new Brazilian magician Socrates, did not even play in the national championship.

As for the champions, life was sweet – unbeaten champions of Brazil. They played a total of 23 matches – more than any other participating club – of which they won 16 and tied 7. Scored 40 goals and allowed only 13 in their net. It was their third Brazilian title, which made them the most successful club on national level so far. Back in 1971, when the national championship was organized for the first time at least outside Brazil no one would imagine Inter so successful – Santos, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, Sao Paulo, Vasco da Gama were the grand names. May be Corinthians, may be Palmeiras, may be even Gremio … but not Inter. And so far Inter had more titles than the trully big names combined. And more recent success than their rival Palmeiras -they won their 2 titles in 1972 and 73. Inter – 1975, 76, and now 79. Their first two came under the coaching of Rubens Minelli – so far, the most successful coach on national level with three consecutive titles (1975,76, and 1977 coaching Sao Paulo) . Their third was won under the guidance of 61-years old Enio Andrade – hardly an innovator at that age, but strategic-minded coach. The team was impressive: Valdomiro, Batista, Mario Sergio, Mauro Galvao, Jair… they had valuable imported goalkeeper – the 27-years old Paraguayan Jose de la Cruz Benitez, who already was twice champion with Olimpia (Asuncion). But the greatest of all was younger player the world did not hear much about yet: Falcao. He was already great – and scored three goals in the semi-finals and the finals. Unlike the rest of the new generation of great Brazilian players like Socrates, Falcao was winning. The secret of Inter was collectivity – unlike almost any other Brazilian club, Inter was building a team to last and did not depend on fly-by-night superstars. It was noticed at the time, although not exactly as a positive example: Inter was found lacking fantasy and playing bland tactical and disciplined football – too European for Brazil’s taste. But it was successful brand of football and it was the cradle of Brazilian football – Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, or Belo Horizonte – but the distant Southern city of Porto Alegre triumphing as the the most successful in the country crazy about the game. Internacional had excellent season by all accounts. Rio Grande do Sul ruled. And still does: to this very day Inter is the only club winning the title undefeated. Most likely an eternal record.

 

So difficult to measure success and fame – of course, many Brazilian clubs were traditional powerhouses in their native states and also participated regularly in the national championship, alas, barely noticed. Yet, sometimes they performed stronger than famous clubs… but in the vast river of Brazilian football that meant almost nothing…

Colorado – strong in their state, but ranked 31st in the national championship this season.

Brasilia – hailing from weak part in terms of football, 73rd in the national championship, but compared to famous Santos, not even playing at national level?

Gama – champions of Distrito Federal. Coming straight from the capital of Brazil, yet a club which was internationally kind of heard of years later – in the 1990s. 48th in the 1979 national championship.

Ferroviario – once again champions of Ceara. 69th in the national championship.

It is impossible to measure what was more important – local success or national one. One thing was to win the championship of, say, Distrito Federal, but quite another to win the Paulista championship. Yet, they were championships on equal level. It could be said that famous clubs often put more effort in their state championship and neglected the national one. Or compensated weak national performance with local success – or the other way around.

Bahia – five consecutive titles at home. 50th in the national championship.

And what about Gremio?

Winners of the tough Gaucho championship, full of stars: Paulo Cesar Lima, Dirceu, Ancheta, Baltazar, Tarciso, Vantuir… Eder on his way to become a world famous star… ever present Manga adding one more title to his name… certainly a strong team, stronger than most. 22nd in the national championship… in any other country such place meant second division… in Brazil it meant Gremio was much weaker than Uberlandia, 9th, a club nobody heard of… or so it seems. The failure on national scale was pushed aside… the importance of winning Gaucho championship emphasized… and may be rightly.

Like Amazon River, Brazilian football is humongous, difficult to navigate, overwhelming, defying understanding and description, easy to get lost, treacherous, dominant. The championship of Brazil was also called Copa Brazil – the 5th issue of the tournament. There was no league, the championship went throw meandering stages and teams played vastly different number of games – from 3 to 23 – but there was nevertheless a final table. In which points meant absolutely nothing. There was no promotion and relegation – clubs participated by invitation. But this was not the only championship and it is doubtful it was the most important too. There were the state leagues, inter-state rivalries, various other tournaments – domestic and international. Even players are difficult to trace, since most are nicknamed and often the same name appears again and again in the squads of many clubs. Politics, influence, and corruption played major roles – like piranhas and anacondas in the Amazon. The championship was getting larger every year – 94 clubs played in 1979. Even listing them is difficult, yet, those were hardly a large percentage of the total number of existing clubs. Countless more were outside and not only small fry. Santos did not participate in Copa Brasil – perhaps the most famous club out. Also Bangu. Nor Corinthians.

Corinthians with sensational Socrates did not play in the national championship. Too weak? Not invited? Not wanting? However, the question mark would be on the championship itself – surely a barely known club would be worse than this team here.

Lesser known – but known! – clubs were also out. Like Taubate.

Taubate still won a trophy this year – champions not playing on national scale.

Of course, most of the ‘missing’ clubs were never heard of outside of Brazil and even there their fame was local. Here is a glimpse of the unknown:

Capivariano – curiously blond-looking team: standing from left: Wilson, Ze Guilherme, Sergio, Milo, Alemao, ?

First row: Toninho, Brecho, Moises, Miro, Mauro.

Palmeiras Blumenau, Amazonas state. Standing, from left: Valmir, Nilson, Pedrão, Dito-Cola, Saulo, Valmir.

First row: Miltinho, Márcio, Braúlio, Kituta, Ednei.

Flamengo Varginha, Sao Paulo.

America Sao Jose Rio Preto, Sao Paulo – note the fans on the stands. Quite many for unheard-of club.

One more from Paulista championhsips – Palmeiras Sao Joao da Boa Vista. Champions of something.

Two former Botafogo players here.

Careful with those names… too often they are the same. This is Vitoria – but not the well known from Salvador, Bahia. This one is from Vitoria, Espirito Santo.

One more club not even known, yet with a trophy – international one this time: Vitoria won the 9th President Park Chung-Hee Cup in South Korea. Today the tournament is known as Korea Cup, Vitoria is still unknown.

 

Campeonato Nacional General Don José de San Martín – the second and differently organized Argentine championship – involved clubs of the whole country, playing preliminary tournaments which winners joined various top clubs in the later stage of 4 7-team each round-robin groups. A bit of mystery veils the structure: 7 teams, playing against each other twice makes for a total of 12 games – but every club played 14! Here small clubs, hardly heard of, had a chance of competing with the grand clubs of Argentine football – clubs like Kimberley (Mar del Plata).

Standing from left: Miguel Benítez, Basigalup, Lucarno, Jesús Martínez, Davino , Roberto Acosta. Crouching: Agonil Alfredo Veira, Corró, Eresuma, Valdez.

Kimberley finished 6th in Group B – small clubs had no chance against the big ones. Alianza Juventud Pringles and Atletico Ledesma were last in Group A. Independiente Rivadavia and Altos Hornos Zapla – last in Group C. Cipolletti – last in Group D. But that was the ‘exotica’. The top 2 clubs of each group qualified to the next stage. Once again Boca Juniors disappointed.

A version of the team playing in El Nacional – they fought and were among the 4 teams losing the least matches in the first phase – 2 – but finished a point short from qualification in Group D. There were some surprise winners, however. Velez Sarsfield and Colon (Santa Fe) topped Group A. Independiente was the big loser here – 5th. In Group B Newell’s Old Boys dropped to 4th place. River Plate clinched 2nd place, but the winners were Talleres (Cordoba) – a second division club. Another brave, but unsuccessful tournament for Diego Maradona – Argentinos Juniors finished 3rd in Group C. Racing Club won the group on goal-difference, but behind them a club not playing neither in Primera A, nor in Primera B: Atletico Tucuman. The lowliest club to qualify, beating Argentinos Juniors by 2 points. Group D was perhaps the toughest and most unpredictable – Boca Juniors, Estudiantes (La Plata), San Lorenzo de Almagro, and Rosario Central. None of them won the group – Instituto (Cordoba), another club outside the first two divisions of Argentine football finished 1st thanks to better goal-difference. Rosario Central took the 2nd place.

The ¼ finals did not favour the big clubs: two pairs were big clashes: Rosario Central vs Racing Club and River Plate vs Velez Sarsfield. Racing Club was the only team losing both legs at the ¼ finals.

Standing, from left: Issa, Cejas, Ricardo Alonso, Carlos López, Cárdenas.

First row: Barú, Zavagno, Fernando Rodríguez, Oscar A. García, Roberto O. Díaz , Olarticoechea.

Faded glory… the squad was not bad, but… Rosario Central easily beat them twice.

Goal-difference decided the winners in the other three pairs, where each opponent won a match and lost the second: Atletico Tucuman eliminated Instituto by 5-3. Union clinched a difficult victory over Talleres 3-2. Talleres lost, yet gained…

Standing, from left: Binello, Guibaudo, Oviedo, Arrieta, Galván, Ocaño.

First row: Bocanelli, Cabrera, Reinaldi, Valencia, Ludueña.

With Reinaldi, Galvan, and Valencia Talleres looked stronger squad than many, but they were not members of the first two Argentine divisions. However, their performance in the El Nacional promoted them to Primera A. It was in accord with the Argentine Football Association resolution, although it is still confusing: apparently, the best performing provincial club in El Nacional not playing in Primera A was promoted. But it was Talleres… it was Atletico Tucuman. Most likely more than El Nacional play was taken into account – Talleres ranked higher in general and perhaps even this very year had stronger combined (local and national) performance than Atletico. Whatever… Talleres was promoted.

River Plate and Velez Sarsfield made the big drama – after winning 1-0 each, the opponents went into overtime. Still no winner. Eventually, River Plate prevailed at the shoot-out: 4-3.

Still no luck for big boys in the ½ finals – Union played against Atletico Tucuman, so River Plate met Rosario Central. No difficulties for River Plate this time – they won both legs.

Not a bad year for Rosario Central, but no trophies.

Union had no difficulties against Atletico Tucuman either – they also won both legs, not permitting the opponent to score at all.

Atletico Tucuman lost, but had great season anyway – they were the best performing team not a member of the the Argentine top 2 divisions. Reaching the semi-finals of El Nacional was fantastic for a little known club.

And the final at last. Union (Santa Fe) vs River Plate. As names and reputations go – hardly a contest. Union did not particularly well in Metropolitano – they played in Group A and finished 6th. River Plate won the same group – and the championship after that. However, the games against Union did not end good: River Plate lost 0-2 in Santa Fe and managed only a scoreless tie at home. It was not to be an easy final.

And it was not… there was no winner. On December 19 the finalists met in Santa Fe – 1-1. The result favoured River Plate, but four days later Union managed a 0-0 tie. Looks like away-goal rule was used, benefiting River Plate – they won without no more fuss.

Unbeaten losers, standing from left: Regenhard, Hugo Lopez, Cardenas, Pumpido, Telch, Mazzoni

Crouching: Ribeca, Alberto, Paz, Pitarch, Ali.

Brave little team – only the legendary Roberto Telch is familiar name here. Telch was already 36 years old – he moved from San Lorenzo, the club he is really a legend, to Union in 1976. Apparently, too old for big clubs… but good enough to lead Union to the final in 1979. Too bad these team did not won the championship – they were not beaten. In fact, the direct record with River Plate this year was in their favour – 1 win and 3 ties. Good work by their coach Reynaldo Pedro Volken. One member of the team eventually raised to great glory – Nery Alberto Pumpido – but the goalkeeper had to wait quite a long time for that.

A double for River Plate – and 18th title. Great season, although their second victory was a bit suspect. It counts,though.

Standing, from left: Passarella, Merlo, Saporiti, Lonardi, Hector Lopez, Fillol.

First row: Ramon Diaz, Juan Jose Lopez, Luque, Alonso, Commisso.

Reigning world champions Fillol, Passarella, Luque, and Alonso and a good number of solid Argentine stars – Commisso, Hector and Juan Jose Lopez, Diaz, Pavoni. May be not extraordinary team, but with stronger squad than any other Argentine opponent. A great coaching success for one of the biggest all-time Argentine players – Angel Amadeo Labruna. Winner on the pitch and winner as a coach.

There was one more thing to be decided before the folding of the season: the second team Argentine represent in the 1980 Libertadores Cup. The runner-ups of the championships played a two-leg play-off at 27th and 30th of December. In Santa Fe the opening match between Union and Velez Sarsfield ended 0-0. At home in Buenos Aires Velez Sarsfield won 3-0 and qualified.

Campeonato Metropolitano – the first championship of Argentina – proceeded in the somewhat standard league format. Primera A consisted of its usual 20 teams, but the number had to be reduced in the next season to 19. The top division was subdivided into two groups of ten clubs each. The last two teams were to play relegation tournament and the top two – to compete for the title. Boca Juniors was perhaps viewed as favourite – not only because of tradition, but because they were the best South American team in the last two years. But they were not the outstanding leaders – the championship was competitive and the only clear thing were the outsiders. In Group A River Plate clinched victory with 24 points. The second place went to Maradona-lead Argentinos Juniors, but this did not mean they proceeded to the semi-finals: they were second only thanks to their larger number of scored goals. Apart from that, the record of Argentinos Juniors and Velez Sarsfield was exactly the same, including goal-difference. Play-off was played to decide who goes to the ½ finals – Velez Sarsfield destroyed Argentinos Juniors 4-0. The battle for the top places was tough: 5 clubs ended with almost equal points – the difference between 1st and 5th place was 2 points. It was different at the bottom: the last two clubs combined record did not even match 8th placed Huracan’s 16 points. Gimnasia y Esgrima (La Plata) was 9th with 8 points and Platense was last with 6 points. Both teams went to the relegation tournament.

Group B was not so tough, although the race was also close. At the end of table were two hopeless outsiders. Chacarita Juniors took the last place with 9 points. Atlanta was 9th, also with 9 points, but better goal-difference. Atlanta distinguished themselves as the only club not winning even a match in the championship: the lost 9 games and tied also 9. They also had the worst scoring record – 10 goals. The outsiders did not troubled anybody in the subgroup – the 8th placed team finished with 15 points.

All Boys (Buenos Aires) – 8th in Group B of Primera A. Perhaps other clubs would have been disappointed, but the modest club this position meant safety: they kept a place among the best.

It was not so for other teams: San Lorenzo, one of the ‘Big 5’ of Argentine football, finished 7th.

San Lorenzo finished behind a club, which was at least supposed to finish lower:

Ferro Carril Oeste finished 6th – nothing much in the grand scheme, but not bad after all, for the club did not have many famous players: Oscar Garre was the one star Rodrigues Neto, Brazilian national team defender, was the other. To a point, it was curious to see him playing for a smallish Argentine club – after all, he was part of the Brazilian 1978 World Cup squad. Garre and Rodrigues Neto were enough for finishing above San Lorenzo, but nothing else.

Boca Juniors failed too – they finished 4th with 20 points. Estudiantes were 3rd with 22 points. Well, only two clubs going ahead… tough competition. Independiente finished 2nd with 24 points and Rosario Central topped Group B with 26.

Independiente rebuilding and remaining strong: Goyen, Olguin, Clausen, Trossero, Zimerman, Killer and crouching Alzamendi, Guisti, Brailowsky, Bochini, Percudani.

Ambitious Rosario Central – winners of Group B.

The second phase of Campeonato Metropolitano involved 8 teams. The relegation tournament was vital for survival – only the winner was avoiding relegation. But even the weakest teams in the preliminary groups were not equally weak… Atlanta won just a single match in the round-robin mini-league and finished last. Chacarita Juniors won 2 matches and lost 4 – they ended 3rd with 4 points. Much better was Gimnasia y Esgrima – 3 wins, 1 tie, and 2 losses. However, they were unable to beat Platense and finished second with 7 points.

Standing, from left: Varise, Papandrea, Guyón, Rego, Grimoldi, Gianetti.

First row: Morelli, Picerni, Pesoa, Gilé, Miguel Ángel Juárez.

Not a famous squad surely, but still head and shoulders above the the other three participants of Torneo Reducido del Metropolitano. 5 wins and 1 tie – Platense finished 4 points ahead of Gimnasia y Esgrima and escaped relegation. The rest went down.

Meantime the ½ finals of the championship went ahead: River Plate won both legs against Independiente.

The new Independiente still had a long way to go – so far, they were only able to reach ½ finals.

The other pair was produced more dramatic clash: a single goal decided the winner. Velez Sarsfield managed a goalless tie in Rosario and won 1-0 at home. Unfortunate result for Rosario Central.

Thus, Buenos Aires clubs clashed for the title: River Plate vs Velez Sarsfield. The final was like the semi-finals – two legs. River Plate won both.

Standing, from left: José Jorge González, Omar Jorge, Falcioni, Orlando Ruiz, Malaquín, Quinteros. First row: José Castro, Roldán, Ischia, Julio César Jiménez, Larraquy.

The squad perhaps reveals why Velez lost – not a single 1978 World champion here. Only Roldan was a star – decent team, but nothing exceptional. Even their curious number of coaches – three: Antonio Cielinski, Juan Carlos Montaño, Alfredo Bermúdez – did not make a difference. Reaching the final was their maximum – in the final matches Velez scored only goal. And received 7! River Plate was supreme.

Metropolitano champions standing from left: Passarella, Merlo, Saporiti, Pavoni, Héctor López, Fillol. Crouching: Pedro González, Juan J. López, Luque, Alonso, Commisso.

More than familiar names here, hardly in need of introduction. The 17th title was won with confidence: River Plate lost only 3 matches during the campaign, but all in first phase. They won every match of the ½ – finals and the final. And this was not all.