Copa Libertadores. It was part of the problems with the Intercontinental Cup. The tournament finished in August, a few months after the Europeans wrapped their old and just before they were starting a new one. But South American football had its own problems with schedules, weather, and sheer geography to be able to accommodate the Europeans. Anyhow, before Copa Libertadores ended the focus was on it and the Europeans – out of mind. As ever, 5 groups of 4 teams each consisted the first round. The current holders qualified directly to the second stage of the tournament. Only the group winners went ahead. Each group was made of the participants of two countries – 2 of each.
Group A opposed Argentines to Peruvians. The Peruvian clubs were not a problem at all, but first place was: Velez Sarsfield and River Plate finished with almost identical records – 2 wins and 2 ties. Velez had 10-2 goal-difference and River Plate – 10-3. A play-off was staged to determine the group winner – it ended 1-1 and at the end goal-difference placed Velez Sarsfield on the first place. The play-off was a curiousity: the same problem occurred in another group and there the goal-difference rule was applied right away.
1. Velez Sarsfield (Buenos Aires)4 2 0 10-2 8
2. River Plate (Buenos Aires) 4 2 0 10-3 8
3. Sporting Cristal (Lima) 1 1 4 5-8 3
4. Atletico Chalaco (Callao) 0 1 5 2-14 1
Group 2. Bolivia and Uruguay. No contest really. The Strongest (La Paz) tried to put a fight and won their home match against Nacional 3-0, but the Uruguayans won all other fixtures.
1. Nacional (Montevideo) 5 0 1 14-3 10
2. The Strongest (La Paz) 3 1 2 9-6 7
3. Defensor (Montevideo) 1 2 3 3-8 4
4. Oriente Petrolero (Santa Cruz) 1 1 4 5-13 3
Group 3. Brazil and Venezuela – no need to guess. Tachira not only did not get a point, but did not score even a goal.
1. Internacional (Porto Alegre) 4 1 1 10-3 9
2. Vasco da Gama (Rio de Janeiro) 3 2 1 7-2 8
3. Deportivo Galicia (Caracas) 3 1 2 4-7 7
4. Tachira (San Cristobal) 0 0 6 0-9 0
Group 4. Colombia and Ecuador – the Colombians had the edge, particularly America.
1. America (Cali) 4 1 1 11-7 9
2. Universidad Catolica (Quito) 3 0 3 10-5 6
3. Independiente Santa Fe (Bogota) 2 1 3 5-5 5
4. Emelec (Guayaquil) 2 0 4 5-14 4
Group 5. Chile and Paraguay. Heavily contested clash without a favourite – all teams finished with 6 points and goal-difference decided the winner. Unlike Group 1, no play-offs here.
1. O’Higgins (Rancagua) 2 2 2 8-6 6
2. Cerro Porteno (Asuncion) 2 2 2 8-7 6
3. Colo Colo (Santiago) 2 2 2 11-11 6
4. Sol de America (Asuncion) 2 2 2 6-9 6
Olimpia (Asuncion) qualified directly to the second stage in which the 6 teams were divided into 2 semi-final groups of 3 teams each. At the stage finally an outsider really emerged, but the most curious was the campaign of the Colombian America – they were unbeaten and did not allow even a goal in their net. They also did not win any match and failed to score even once. Thus, they stepped down unbeaten.
Group 1.
1. Internacional 2 2 0 4-1 6
2. America 0 4 0 0-0 4
3. Velez Sarsfield 0 2 2 1-4 2
Group 2. The Chileans were clearly below the other teams, so the contest was only between Nacional and Olimpia. It was decided in Asuncion, where Nacional clinched vital 1-0 away victory. In the next leg they preserved a 1-1 tie at home and Olimpia was practically out before the last round was played.
1. Nacional 3 1 0 5-1 7
2. Olimpia 2 1 1 4-2 5
3. O’Higgins 0 0 4 0-6 0
And at the end it was Internacional (Porto Alegre), one of the strongest Brazilian clubs in the 1970s, and Nacional (Montevideo), a famous club, but having difficult decade. Nacional won Libertadores once and lost another final – Internacional never reached the final. South American finals were traditionally grittier than the European once, and often a third match had to be scheduled to decide the winner. Scoring had been low almost the whole 1970s. And this final was no different, although it did not go a third match.
Final (Jul 30 & Aug 6)
Internacional Bra Nacional Uru 0-0 0-1 0-1
1st leg. Estadio Beira Rio, Porto Alegre, 30- 7-1980
Internacional – Nacional 0-0
Internacional: Gasperin, Toninho, Mauro Pastor, Mauro Galvão, André, Falcão, Batista, Tonho,
Jair, Chico Spina (Adavílson), Mario Sergio.
Nacional: R. Rodríguez, Blanco, De León, Moreira, Espárrago, W. González, Bica,
De La Peña, Victorino, Luzardo, D. Pérez.
Referee: Romero (Argentina)
Attendance: 70,000
2nd leg. Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, 6- 8-1980
Nacional – Internacional 1-0
35′ Victorino 1-0
Nacional: R. Rodríguez, Blanco, De León, Moreira, Espárrago, W. González, Bica,
De La Peña, Victorino, Luzardo, Morales.
Internacional: Gasperin, Mauro Pastor, Mauro Galvão, Toninho, Falcão, Claudio Mineiro,
Chico Spina, Batista, Adílson, Jair (Berreta), Mario Sergio.
Referee: Pérez (Peru)
Attendance: 65,000
Final (Jul 30 & Aug 6)
Internacional Bra Nacional Uru 0-0 0-1 0-1
1st leg. Estadio Beira Rio, Porto Alegre, 30- 7-1980
Internacional – Nacional 0-0
Internacional: Gasperin, Toninho, Mauro Pastor, Mauro Galvão, André, Falcão, Batista, Tonho,Jair, Chico Spina (Adavílson), Mario Sergio.
Nacional: R. Rodríguez, Blanco, De León, Moreira, Espárrago, W. González, Bica,
De La Peña, Victorino, Luzardo, D. Pérez.
Referee: Romero (Argentina)
Attendance: 70,000
2nd leg. Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, 6- 8-1980
Nacional – Internacional 1-0
35′ Victorino 1-0
Nacional: R. Rodríguez, Blanco, De León, Moreira, Espárrago, W. González, Bica,
De La Peña, Victorino, Luzardo, Morales.
Internacional: Gasperin, Mauro Pastor, Mauro Galvão, Toninho, Falcão, Claudio Mineiro,Chico Spina, Batista, Adílson, Jair (Berreta), Mario Sergio.
Referee: Pérez (Peru)
Attendance: 65,000
The single, but golden goal was scored by Waldemar Victorino in front of excited home crowd. Inter lost its first bid for winning Libertadores.
Nacional won their 2nd Libertadors Cup. Montevideo was frantic.
Nacional delighted and triumphal, showing the cup to the fans. Bearded and shirtless Hugo de Leon keeps the cup in the air, but beating Brazilians opened his way to… Brazil. Shortly after winning Libertadores with Nacional, he joined Gremio (Porto Alegre), the rival of Internacional.
Inter lost by a single goal… too bad. On the surface, they were the strongest team, having up and coming players like Falcao, Mario Sergio, and others. Yet, there was a sense that an earlier version of the team was stronger. No matter what, they lost.
Coming back after almost 10 years of frustration – Nacional won their 2nd Libertadores Cup. One goal was very little to consider this team truly great, but they not only won Libertadores – the Intercontinental Cup became theirs a few months later. Waldemar Victorino was certainly the hero, thanks to his goal, but he was not alone: the squad was good. Perhaps not great, but strong and well composed. Half of the players were current national players of Uruguay and their first victory was more than just a club victory – they brought hope to the whole country that better days are coming after very dark decade. Rodolfo Rodriguez, Waldemar Victorino, Julio Cesar Morales, Arsenio Luzardo were the new hope, but most of all Hugo de Leon – already an excellent and fearsome defender. For Victor Esparago, who suffered much humiliation during the 1970s, winning Libertadores was the end of frustration. And perhaps the happiest of them all was Juan Carlos Blanco – the only remaining player of the team who won Libertadores in 1971. The veteran full-back was also called to play for Uruguay again. Nacional was back.
It only took a second – until Victorino hit the ball to the net and the stadium erupted in the 35th minute.