Copa Libertadores. The winners of the five qualification groups and the reigning holder, Independiente (Avallaneda), go to the semi-finals – two groups of 3 teams each. The usual draw of countries – no clubs – made a cruel joke this year: Brazil and Argentina were paired together, arguably, the strongest clubs, and so the weakest: Bolivia and Venezuela.
Group 1. Argentina and Brazil. On the surface, there was no contest – Fluminense and Vasco da Gama against Ferro Carril Oeste and Argentinos Juniors. Two of the most famous Brazilian clubs vs two second – if not even third – rate Argentinian clubs. And nothing suggested what will really happen after the opening games: Fluminense and Vasco da Gama ended 3-3 and Argentinos Juniors lost the home leg against Ferro Carril Oeste 0-1. Original predictions ended right then and there – first, Fluminense was awarded a win, because Vasco da Gama fielded illegible substitute player, Gersinho. And, as if to confirm how stupid Vasco da Gama was, this Gersinho never played for Vasco again. Second, the Brazilian clubs immediately lost ground, it was an Argentine race for the coveted first place, in which there was no winner: Argentinos Juniors won all their remaining matches, save for a home tie against Vasco da Gama. Ferro Carril Oeste lost at home the Argentinos, but won all other matches, except the away match against Fluminense – 0-0. At the end, the Argentine clubs were on top, but equal in points and goal difference:
1.Argentinos Juniors (Bs. Aires) 6 4 1 1 9- 5 9
Ferro Carril Oeste (Bs. Aires) 6 4 1 1 7- 3 9
3.Fluminense (Rio de Janeiro) 6 1 2 3 3- 6 4
4.Vasco da Gama (Rio de Janeiro) 6 0 2 4 6-11 2
A play-off for the first place was staged and this time Argentinos Juniors won 3-2 against Ferro Carril Oeste.
Group 2. Bolivia and Venezuela. No drama here – the Bolivians were much stronger and Blooming – the better of them.
1.Blooming (Santa Cruz) 6 5 1 0 20- 4 11
2.Oriente Petrolero (Santa Cruz) 6 3 2 1 11- 6 8
3.Táchira (San Cristóbal) 6 1 2 3 9-12 4
4.Dep. Italia (Caracas) 6 0 1 5 2-20 1
Group 3. Colombia and Paraguay. This group did not deviate from expectations – a battle between two clubs, but not from the same country. Not surprisingly, America (Cali) topped all.
1.América (Cali) 6 2 4 0 5- 2 8
2.Cerro Porteño (Asunción) 6 2 3 1 5- 3 7
3.Millonarios (Bogotá) 6 1 3 2 5- 5 5
4.Guaraní (Asunción) 6 1 2 3 6-11 4
Group 4. Chile and Uruguay. Perhaps more dramatic battle was expected, but Penarol (Montevideo) dominated.
1.Peñarol (Montevideo) 6 5 1 0 10- 3 11
2.Colo Colo (Santiago) 6 3 0 3 10- 8 6
3.Magallanes (Santiago) 6 2 1 3 5- 8 5
4.Bella Vista (Montevideo) 6 1 0 5 3- 9 2
Group 5. Ecuador and Peru. Theoretically, the Peruvians should have been the leaders, but – no. Not only El Nacional (Quito) was supreme, but 2 games in this groups were not played at all: Nueve de Octubre (Milagro) failed to appear for 2 games in Peru – actually, the actual reasons remain unknown, but nobody was bothered ever: the final table was fine just without the those games. Strange, but apparently not in South America. So, in the final table only one team played its all games and Nueve de Octubre finished with 4.
1.El Nacional (Quito) 6 5 1 0 13- 4 11
2.Universitario (Lima) 5 2 1 2 8- 6 5
3.Nueve de Octubre (Milagro) 4 2 0 2 6- 4 4
4.Sport Boys (Callao) 5 0 0 5 1-14 0
Semi-finals. Winners of each groups go the final.
Group 1. America (Cali), Penarol (Montevideo), and El Nacional (Quito). Looked like America and Penarol would clash for the top place, but it proved dramatic and unpredictable group and the winner was decided in the very last match. America started rather weakly, earning just 1 point from its two opening games, but before the last two matches every team had a chance for going to the final: El Nacional had 2 points, Penarol – 3, and America – also 3 points. El Nacional hosted Penarol and won 2-0. Thus, Penarol was out. America and El Nacional was to decide the first finalist and the match was in Cali – America rolled over El Nacional: 5-0.
1.América (Cali) 4 2 1 1 10- 3 5
2.El Nacional (Quito) 4 2 0 2 4- 7 4
3.Peñarol (Montevideo) 4 1 1 2 3- 7 3
Group 2. Depending on point of view… Argentinos Juniors again found itself in the toughest group – playing against Brazilian giants in the preliminary group; now – against the current Cup holder and the most successful club of South America – Independiente (Avellaneda). Blooming (Santa Cruz) was the outsider. And just like in the first phase, Argentinos Juniors looked without a chance after their two opening games: 2 ties. But in the next match Independiente was unable to beat the Bolivians in Santa Cruz and all teams were with 2 points. The next two games only eliminated Blooming – they had to play away games in Argentina, losing both. The last match between Independiente and Argentinos Juniors was decisive and Independiente had home advantage. Whatever that means, for Avellaneda is part of Buenos Aires anyway. Now Juniors won 2-1 – quite a surprise, especially outside Argentina.
The final. America (Cali) vs Argentinos Juniors (Buenos Aires). A favourite? Most likely, none… Juniors was at its best and so was America. America was much more experienced team on international stage, but Juniors played more exciting football. Ambition drove both teams, of course.
The first leg of the final was played in Buenos Aires, on Monumental stadium, instead on the small Argentinos Juniors home base.
The quality of football was not the prime concern – victory was, and Juniors eventually prevailed by a single goal. Commiso scored it in the 40th minute and Juniors ended with tiny lead before the second leg in Cali. 1-0.
The second leg was decided even earlier – Willington Ortiz scored in the 3rd minute and the result was preserved to the final whistle: 1-0 America and as many times before, a third match had to be staged on neutral ground, in Asuncion, Paraguay. As far as fans were concerned, it may have been advantageous for Juniors, for Paraguay was closer and easier to travel to for them. But Juniors did not have all that many fans to begin with.
As for the game, it did not decide anything. Commisso opened the result for Juniors in the 27th minute and in the 41th fellow Argentine Ricardo Gareca equalized.
The crucial moment happened in the very last minute: America got a penalty, but Vidalle saved Marangoni’s shot. 1-1 at the final whistle and penalty shoot-out followed. And there was no winner… Olguin, Batista, Pavoni, and Borghi scored for Juniors. Gareca, Cabanas, Herrera, and Gonzalo Soto – for America. The last were Videla for Juniors and de Avila, who replaced in the last minutes of the regular time Willington Ortiz. Videla scored. De Avila missed – or rather goalkeeper Vidalle saved. 5-4 Argentinos Juniors!
The second of joy and grief, depending on shirt colour.
Happy Juniors,
happier with Copa Libertadores in their hands.
Going home with the Cup,
showing the Cup to their fans in Buenos Aires, the winners cherished duties.
America (Cali) lost and may be deserved to lose – after all, who missed a penalty in the last minute? Standing from left: Henry Viafara, Julio Cesar Falcioni, Hugo Valencia, Gabriel Chaparro, Gonzalo Soto, Pedro Sarmiento. First row: Roberto Cabanas, Gerardo Gonzalez Aquino, Willington Ortiz, Ricardo Gareca, Juan Manuel Battaglia. This was the first time America reached Copa Libertadores final, so the loss really hurt. Their emblematic goalkeeper Falcioni felt the loss undeserved, America should have been the winner. It was the greatest vintage, the strongest team of America – and to him, in the whole continent. He was right – to a point. The squad – and Colombian squads never lacked foreign stars – was quite something: the Paraguayan star Cabanas joined them from New York Cosmos. Gareca was till an Argentine national team player. Falcioni himself was Argentine. Two more Paraguayans, both national team players – Battaglia and Aquino. Willington Ortiz was not just a Colombian star – according to Falcioni, he was the driving force of America and its anchor as well. Falcioni spent 10 years with America, he was already a veteran of the team and witnessed all the changes and improvements – he felt America was stronger than Argentinos Juniors. If it was some of the big South American names perhaps losing was acceptable, but losing to some small club… Falcioni can tell his version of the events, of course, but result speaks against him. America did not outplay Juniors, the opponents were perhaps equal. Missing a penalty in the last minute, though… this was more than unlucky moment. With so much at stake, the penalty should have been scored – a really winning team does not miss any chances.
Brand new champions of South America – standing from left: Jorge Olguin, Adrian Domenech, Jose Luis Pavoni, Enrique Vidalle, Carmelo Villalba, Batista. Crouching: Jose Antonio Castro, Mario Videla, Claudio Borghi, Emilio Nicolas Commisso, Carlos Ereros. The winners allright, but not the exact winners – this is the squad of the first final leg in Buenos Aires. Castro and Ereros did not play in the decisive third match – Renato Corsi and Jorge Pellegrini were starters instead. Carlos Mayor replaced Villalba in the 98th minute and M. A. Lemmet substituted Pellegrini in the 116th minute. One may think Argentinos Juniors surprised even itself, for a picture of the actual victors does not exist even on the club’s website. Tough and may be chancy victory, but significant one – Argentinos Juniors was a debutant, they participated in Copa Libertadores for the first time and won in their first appearance. Thus, they became the 5th club to do so, but what names did it earlier! Penarol (1960), Santos (1962), Estudiantes (1968), and Flamengo (1981) – humble Argentinos Juniors was not in the same league, so their success was greater. Were they really worthy winners? Depends on who is talking. Francioni did not think so, but he played for losing America. Juniors’ goalkeeper and the hero of the decisive play-off Vidalle was also cautious: he thought the final clash largely a psychological duel. Especially the penalty shoot-out – he decided to trick the opposition by plunging to the same side every time and it worked once: De Avila apparently thought the goalkeeper will change his direction at last. Yet, Vidalle considered the saved penalty and the final win just good luck – the team was small, it was tough to go the whole way with it, every mistake would be fatal. But it was also good playing team and the goalkeeper did not have much to do most of the time. The captain Adrian Domenech thinks differently: it was great team, coached by a perfect coach. Jose Yudica, who arrived in the beginning of 1985. Yudica decided not to change anything, except putting Borghi in the place of Pasculli. The change was forced by objective reason: Pasculli went to play in Italy. Juniors already played exciting football, but were considered incapable to shine on international level, where great attacking football was not a big asset. Yet, Yudica did not change the style and kept the boys humble – the team was wonderfully balanced and the players complimented each other – Domenech was proud to play with such teammates. It was not only skillful team, but ambitious as well. And strong too. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between – Argentinos Juniors was strangely made team: it was a combination of veterans well over 30 years of age (Vidalle, Olguin, Pavoni, Commisso, Lopez) and youngsters under 23, with no players at what is considered ‘prime age’ for footballers – 25-28 years. Domenech himself was the sole representative of prime-agers. Such teams are traditionally risky, for they depend on tied, constant starters – one injury could be fatal and utterly destructive. Juniors was lucky not to have anybody injured or out of form this year. The core was stable and performed well at key moments. Keeping the players humble and not burdening them with great expectations also helped – it was the perfect underdog and thus Maradona was not right when asked to asses his former club. He almost dismissed Juniors as a rather uncaring club – uncaring for football. ‘They have 25 tennis courts and not one decent football field’, he lashed. He said that for the club making him a star and continuing to bring great talent through its youth system. It was well-managed club – at least by Argentine standards: keeping in mind money, never spending much on stars, preferring to field young talent to buying big names only because they had to play international tournaments. Pasculli out – Borghi in, it was that simple. Well deserved success at the end of the day. Wonderful underdogs. Copa Libertadores was going to have a first-time winner this year anyway – it was just better that the debutantes won over rich underachievers like America (Cali).
It was great to come back to Buenos Aires with Copa Libertadores to show proudly to everyone.