Football Journey

The big international championship of 1979 was Copa America – the oldest continental championship. For a second time it was organized without a host – the 10 countries were divided into three groups and the winners went to the ½ finals. Plus the champions of the previous tournament – Peru – which entered the competition directly in the ½ finals. Home and away matches were more difficult to stage and the competition took quite a long time – from July 18 until December 11. Even before any match was played there was something strange: Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay were the traditional powers, winning almost all tournaments and therefore – the constant favourites. But Uruguay was in decline during the 1970s. Argentina on the other hand were fresh world champions. Under normal circumstances, they and Brazil should have been the finalists and winner – one of them, Argentina more likely. There was no way for such final – Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia were together in Group 2. One was to be eliminated early, opening the road to easy victory to the other. However, the tournament was traditional mystery to outsiders – the relative strength of the smaller countries was entirely unknown. The big three often used players little known outside South America, so routinely their squads appeared experimental. Occasionally, it appeared that the favourites were not very interested – judging by the players they used. Copa America had little coverage outside the continent, but still – there was Brazil, and there was Argentina – the former vividly remembered from 1978 when they won the world championship, and the latter – eager to get revenge and prove better, for Brazil ended without losing a match at the World Cup and felt wronged by the suspect Argentinian victory over Peru, which eliminated Brazil. That much was calculated and expected… and it was not to be really.

Group 1 – Chile, Colombia, and Venezuela. Easy to predict group… Venezuela was the outsider, Colombia – not strong enough, Chile – on a slight ascent. All depended on Chile – if they played well, no problem. If they did not, may be Colombia had a chance. Colombia had no stars… the only recognizable name was their coach: the Yugoslavian Blagoje Vidinic, once upon a time a famous goalkeeper, known for coaching Morocco and Zaire at the World finals in 1970 and 1974. Nothing surprising happened – Venezuela tied her home games, thus leaving things as they were expected to be: the clash between Chile and Colombia was decisive. Colombia won at home against Chile – 1-0. The last three matches were simple to calculate: both favourites had to win big against Venezuela and Chile had to win somehow their home match against Colombia. Very likely goal-difference would to be decisive factor. Chile had small advantage: they hosted Venezuela after Colombia and the last match of the group was also in Santiago. Colombia won 4-0 against the outsiders. Chile, knowing already how much they had to score , won 7-0. Now they had to beat Colombia in Santiago – and they did: 2-0.

1. Chile 4 5 2 1 1 10-2

2. Colombia 4 5 2 1 1 5-2

3. Venezuela 4 2 0 2 2 1-12

Chile won the group phase.

Group 2 – Uruguay, Paraguay, and Ecuador. With Uruguay in bad shape, there was a chance for Paraguay, Ecuador been the outsider. So, similar situation to Group 1. Ecuador hosted the opening matches. The similarities with Group 1 ended right here: Paraguay clinched 2-1 victory in Quito. Uruguay had the slight advantage, knowing the result, and, therefore, knowing what to play for – a victory. It was 2-0 before the 10th minute of the match… but not for Uruguay. They eventually scored from a penalty – in the 79th minute – but Ecuador missed a penalty meantime. Clearly, Uruguay were in bad shape – it was not just unfortunate day. They needed to win all following matches after such start – Paraguay already had a 2-point lead. And they increased it to 4 points after easy 2-0 victory at home against Ecuador. Then Uruguay hosted Ecuador – and won, but with difficulties: 2-1. The direct clash between the neighbours was to decide everything… Uruguay had a bit of advantage: the first match was in Asuncion. It went well… Paraguay played with 10 men since the 35th minute, when Ovelar was sent off. No team managed to score, but the tie favoured Uruguay – they needed a home win. But Paraguay had their own ambitions, they scored first in Montevideo and the hosts struggled for a long time. The last ten minutes were dramatic – Uruguay finally got the lead. They equalized from a penalty in the 53rd minute, and in the 83rd Paz scored a second goal. 2-1 and only seven minutes in front of home crowd – the chances of Paraguay were slim. If any… In the 88th minute Morel equalized, turning the wheel again and this time Uruguay had only a tiny chance: 2 minutes to go and they had to score. They did not. Eugenio Morel was the hero – he scored both goals for his country and qualified Paraguay.

1. Paraguay 4 6 2 2 0 6-3

2. Uruguay 4 4 1 2 1 5-5

3. Ecuador 4 2 1 0 3 4-7

Paraguay to the ½ finals.

Group 2 was to be the big clash and drama, perhaps the final before the final, for the battle between Brazil and Argentina most likely would have precluded the championship. And a drama it was… Bolivia hosted Argentina and won 2-1. It was strange Argentina… only Passarella, Diaz, and Lopez were from the team winning the World Cup a year earlier. Most players were entirely unknown – Vidalle, Saporiti, Gaspari, Larraquy, Fortunato, Castro, Gaitan, Coscia… looked like Menotti gave a break not only to his champions, but to their reserves too. Did not appear as trying some new players as a part of developing the winning squad – it looked like sheer arrogance, a victory so certain, there was no need even to field half-good players. Brazil visited La Paz next – the approach of Claudio Coutinho was very different from Menotti’s: Brazil had some new players, but it was not rag-tag squad. Zico was not in the team, but Paulo Cesar Carpeggiani was back. The new – and unknown – names were only three: Pedrinho, Nilton Santos, and Juan. The rest of the team were either well established stars like Leao and Roberto Dinamite, or rising stars like Ze Sergio, blended with regulars from 1978. Like Argentina, they scored first. And like the match against Argentina, Bolivia did not give up, equalized, and then scored second and winning goal.

Turning point: Aragones beats Leao from a penalty in the 36th minute – 6 minutes after Roberto Dinamite gave the lead to Brazil also from a penalty. Not only a big upset, but complete destruction of the expected: suddenly modest Bolivia was leading with 4 points. Entirely unknown Bolivian player beat the reigning world champions and the team with most world titles in history. Perhaps the best known name of the Bolivian team was the coach – Ramiro Blacutt. Back in the early 1960s, he had successful playing career, including a season with Bayern (Munich). A historic name – if not the first South American to play in West Germany, certainly he was the first Bolivian to play there. But there was more, much more – he was a regular of the Bolivian squad which won Copa America in 1963! They disturbed the eternal status quo of South America for the first time since 1953. Five countries won the championship until then, but Bolivia was the only pariah to ever win it – so far. It looked like a second miracle happening again with Blacutt in the centre of it. Bolivia had good schedule too – the next match was between Argentina and Brazil, then they played their two away matches, and the last match of the group was the 2nd meeting of arch-enemies. One thing was sure: scheming was impossible between Argentina and Brazil – even if one of them was already gone and the other needed points to prevail over Bolivia, there would be no favours. Brazil vs Argentina at Maracana – time for revenge! Brazil fielded stronger team – Zico was back, but the troubles of the attacking line were easy to see. Coutinho chamged all strikers from the ill-fated visit to La Paz. Instead of Renato, Roberto Dinamite, and Ze Sergio – Tita, Zico, and Palinha. Menotti made only one significant change – Maradona was on the field. The team was still very weird, but jumping ahead, it was the team Menotti chose to use for this tournament. Hard to tell why – the world champions of 1978 were not only far from old, but most of them were the key players at the next world finals in 1982. It did not look like building a new squad – almost none of those used in 1979 became a long-lasting Argentine national team player. Actually, these boys left no trace. Yet, even if they were third-rate, Brazil is enough motivation for an Argentine , and the team fought – Brazil scored first, then Coscia equalized. But that was all… Tita scored a second goal early in the 2nd half and Brazil won 2-1. Only if every remaining match ended with victory of the host country Argentina had a chance to win the group on goal-difference. Most likely the world champions were already eliminated…

Argentina won easy 3-0 over Bolivia, Passarella scoring in the 1st minute, and Maradona scoring the last goal. Brazil had to win too, but not by much – they did: 2-0. It was just perfect for Argentina 1-0 until the last minute, when Zico scored the second goal. No miracle – Bolivia finished their campaign with 2 wins and 2 losses and negative goal-difference. Brazil was leading the group before the last match, but Argentina still had a chance – they hosted direct clash and needed a victory. Any victory… There was no Maradona among the starters, but this time a current star – the biggest Argentine star at the time perhaps – was included: Bochini. Brazil responded in kind – Socrates, the rapidly rising genius was on the field for the first time in this championship. Falcao, another new talent, came out as a substitute. The new Brazlian attacking line – Zico, Socrates, Ze Sergio – proved to be really dangerous at last: Brazil got the lead twice, Socrates scoring both goals. Argentina managed only to equalize – Passarella restored the equilibrium in the 38th minute, and Diaz equalized again in the 71st. The world champions were not able for anything else… 2-2. They were out, Brazil went ahead.

1. Brazil 4 5 2 1 1 7-5

2. Bolivia 4 4 2 0 2 4-7

3. Argentina 4 3 1 1 2 7-6

 

Venezuela had two big news in 1979: new champion and second level championship. Eight clubs participated in the first second level tournament, but there was no promotion yet. Just for the record, the participants: Aragua FC, Atlético Portuguesa, Endeca-Lara, Falcón FC, Industriales de Oriente, Petroleros del Zulia, Polisport-Lara, Unión Deportiva Valera. The first division remained closed league, so it hardly mattered who won the second level.

The professional first division had the typical for South America tw0stage formula: standard league championship at first, and then the top 6 clubs proceeded to the second stage mini-league. Nothing was carried over from the first stage, not even bonus points – there was third stage: a play-off between the champions of the first two championships. The only surprise to outsiders was Portuguesa FC, the champions of the previous 4 years: they barely qualified for the second round, having just a point more than Deportivo Italia, which finished 7th. The the reason for the sudden decline became clear: Portuguesa FC had financial difficulties and owed money to the Venezuelan Football Federation. Unable to pay its due, the club was disqualified and Deportivo Italia went to play the final stage instead of Portuguesa FC. The league was more or less equal – at least 8 of the members. After them was Deportivo Portugues, neither here, nor there – they fell behind the top 8, yet, were much stronger the bottom three, leaving Valencia FC 5 points behind. Three outsiders – Valencia FC , 10th with 16 points, the forgotten by now Miranda-Canarias (Los Teques) – 11th with 11 points, and the absolute outsider Atletico Falcon (Coro) last with only 8 points. So much for the bottom of the league, which finished the season early.

On the top single point divided positions and Deportivo Tachira clinched the first place with 29 points. ULA Merida was 2nd with 28, Deportivo Galicia – 3rd with 27 points. Deportivo Tachira was a surprise, but first stage meant only qualification for the final, so they were not expected to play very hard in the second phase.

The battle in the second stage went between the above mentioned three teams, Deportivo Italia, replacing Portuguesa FC, Atletico Zamora , and Estudiantes (Merida). Most likely, Deportivo Tachira and Deportivo Italia were expected to be the weaker teams at the final, but it was not so: Estudiantes (Merida) were.

Estudiantes did not win even a match in the second stage: they lost five games and tied the other five, thus finishing last with 5 points. Atletico Zamora were barely better than Estudiantes – and also entirely out of the race for first place: they earned 6 points, but won 2 matches.

The rest of the final group were pretty much equal in strength – 2 points divided 1st from 4th at the end, and head-to-head record determined the winner. Deportivo Italia competed well, but finished 4th with 11 points. ULA Merida was 3rd with 12 points. Deportivo Tachira and Deportivo Galicia finished with 13 points.

Deportivo Galicia, with the help of Peruvian imports, had the best goal-difference in the mini-league: 17-7. Yet, they finished 2nd… head-to-head record benefited Deportivo Tachira. Both clubs had exactly the same records otherwise: 6 wins, 1 tie, 3 losses. Tachira had 15-7 goal-difference and elsewhere would be 2nd placed team, but local rule made them winners. Since they won both stages, there was no final play-off – Deportivo Tachira won the title.

The champions were not overwhelming victors: they won the first stage by a point and only head-to-head record gave them 1st place over Deportivo Galicia in the second stage. One can say the boys just fought well and wit ha bit of luck came on top by tiny margin. Mat be not great winners, but instant legends, for this was the very first title the club won.

At the time, their log had no 5 stars included, of course – they just got their first. They also continued the dominance of young clubs in the national championship – since 1975, the Venezuelan champions were very, very young clubs. Deportivo Tachira was founded in 1974 – a bit later than Portuguesa FC, who won 4 titles in a row, starting in 1975. It took only 5 years of existence for the club from San Cristobal to triumph. The credit goes to their founder: in 1970 Italian immigrant Gaetano Greco founded amateur club in San Cristobal – Juventus, named after the famous club from Turin. The original colours followed the name – black and white. Greco noticed that not only the city, but the whole province had no professional team and swiftly changed things by founding a new club in January 1974– Deportivo Tachira. It was new club, yet… not entirely new, for it was based on Juventus – players were moved to the new club, named at first Deportivo San Cristobal. The colours were blue and white – the colours of Italy. This did not last long – in January 1975 the club was renamed Deportivo Tachira – so to represent not just the city, but the whole province, and the colours changed to yellow and black. The new colours also represented the province, but additionally they were preferred by the Uruguayan coach Jose ‘Pocho’ Gil – a Penarol (Montevideo) fan. The changes proved to be final – name and colours remain. The beginning was on grand and ambitious scale and only few years after foundation the young club won its first title. Thus, they got – and deserved it too – the nickname El equipo que nació grande ( the club which was born big). As a final note, this was their only second season playing oficially under the name Deportivo Tachira – the club was renamed in 1975, but played in first division as Deportivo San Cristobal until 1978.

 

Ecuador had the smallest league in South America – 10 teams. Yet, they played more games than the members of the West German Bundesliga: 36 vs 34. Like everywhere else, the championship had two separate stages, with a twist: both stages were played as standard league championship and the top 3 teams of each tournament went to play a final mini-league stage deciding the champion. But the bottom 2 clubs of each stage were relegated immediately, so the last 2 of the first stage were replaced by 2 promoted clubs for the second stage. The teams on the top got bonus points, with which they entered the last decisive tournament – the stage winners – 3 points, the 2nd placed – 2, and the 3rd placed – 1 point. This formula made more sense than any other variation used in South America. Half of the league members were from Quito – exactly 5 clubs. After 18 rounds, the final table of the first stage was may be curious for Ecuadorians, but foreign observers were hardly able to make much sense of it – Ecuadorian football was unknown outside South America.

Bonita Banana (Machala) finished last and was relegated – the club does not exist for so long, it hardly left even traces of information about itself. People perhaps are familiar with the name just because they bye bananas – the fruits still carry little stickers with this very name of the producing company and very likely the club represented this very company, but did not last long. Down they went to oblivion, along with a stronger club – El Nacional (Quito) finished 9th. Two better known to foreigners clubs – Emelec and Barcelona – had weak first stage, finishing 5th and 7th. The top three places were occupied by Universidad Catolica (Quito) – 3rd, LDU (Quito) – 2nd, and Deportivo Cuenca (Cuenca) – 1st, and perhaps surprise winners. The trio qualified for the final stage and the second stage was not very appealing to them: the only question was one of relegation – the three clubs had only to play good enough to avoid the relegation spots.

Manta (Manta) and Aucas (Quito) were promoted and played in the second stage. Evidently, Quito was the big football center of the country and no matter what, half of the league consisted of Quito clubs – one went down, but immediately another went up. Newcomers usually are not expected to shake a league, but there was a bit of surprise this year: Aucas was the more famous of the two promoted, but it was not them changing the status quo. In fact, Aucas were what was expected a newcomer to be: weak. They tried their best, but finished 9th – and down they went as soon as they joined first division. Last in the second stage was Deportivo Quito – this was a surprise, for Deportivo had strong first stage, missing qualification spot only on worse goal-difference. They were 4th and expected to be strong again and try to go to the final. But they simply collapsed in the second stage, earning just 9 points – the worst team performance this year.

Deportivo Quito – instead of trying to win the title, they were relegated.

Up the table, the winners of the first stage predictably played only to stay above relegation zone – they took 6th, 7th, and 8th places, saving strength for the final stage. It was not good year for Barcelona – once again they finished in mid-table. The little known newcomers Manta were the big surprise of the stage – they finished 3rd. Brave performance and sudden chance to win even the title. It was also the only club going tot he final stage with negative goal-difference – a mere curiosity, for the finalist carried only bonus points to the final. Tecnico Universitario (Ambato) finished 2nd and Emelec waa very strong this time – they were first, with record 25 points: the best record of both preliminary stages.

The final mini-league had awards for two teams – the title, of course, was most important, but 2nd place was too, for whoever took it represented Ecuador in Copa Libertadores. Deportivo Cuenca apparently exhausted itself in the first stage of the championship – they were weak in the second stage and even weaker at the finals: dead last, 2 points behind the 5th team, even with their 3 bonus points. Actually, only two clubs competed for the title.

LDU finished 5th. 10 points was really nothing.

Tecnico Universitario finshed 4th, also with 10 points, but better goal-difference than LDU.

Manta was great – they finished 3rd, with 3rd best performance at the final stage – they earned 10 points, 2 more than LDU and Tecnico Universitario. Their bonus point moved them above the rivals, entering the stage with 2 bonus points. Manta was not a title contender at all, but still it was fantastic season – they were not even in the league when the opening stage of the championship started, and finished with bronze.

The battle for the title was Quito rivalry: Emelec vs Universidad Catolica. Seemingly, both clubs played careful strategy so far – Universidad Catolica was satisfied with qualifying for the finals in the first stage, which Emelec practically missed, concentrating on the second stage. Both teams gave their best at the final stage and Universidad Catolica was a bit better than Emelec – they won 15 points to the 14 of their rivals. But… bonus points were favoring Emelec and Universidad Catolica finished 2nd.

Heavy price paid for careful overture: Universidad Catolica perhaps saved their strength for the final stage, but not excelling earlier cost them the title.

Emelec triumphed thanks to winning the second stage – the 3 bonus points gave the title, but it was not undeserved. Emelec had strong second and final stage, a bit different approach than the minimal one of Universidad Catolica.

5th title for Emelec and their first since 1972. Great year for one of the most popular Ecuadorian clubs. Once upon a time workers from Ecuador Electric Company – Empresa Electrica del Ecuador – formed a little club of heir own. They named it after their employer – EmElec. Nothing much at first, but soon things changed, not without help from the company. The club became popular and professional, one of the strongest in the country. But they had difficulties winning – they routinely came close, yuet, losing at the end, earning the nickname ‘Los Eternos Vicecampeones’ – eternally second. Which naturally irritates fans. Winning a championship perhaps meant more for the club and the fans than to others – and 5th title was great success, coming after long wait.

 

 

The ½ finals were even better geographically – both were local derbies: in Santa Cruz Oriente Petrolero seemingly overcome their city rivals Blooming 4-2 and 1-2. Goal-difference did not count at this stage, though. In La Paz The Strongest and Bolivar were entirely tied – both matches ended 1-1. The finalists had to be decided in one more meeting. This time Oriente Petrolero won 2-1 and The Strongest prevailed at last – 3-1.

No luck for Bolivar – the first two matches against The Strongest did not prove they were weaker. Standing, from left: Carlos Conrado Jiménez, Ricardo Troncoso, Waldino Palacios, Jesús Reynaldo, Ramiro Vargas, Edwin Céspedes.

First row: Carlos Espínola, Carlos Aragonés, Luis Gregorio Gallo, Carlos Borja, Miguel Aguilar.

Blooming tried their best, but they were a bit weaker than Oriente Petrolero during the whole season.

Championship final at last. Two-leg final. At home, The Strongest won 2-0. Oriente Petrolero took revenge when they hosted the second leg – also 2-0. Drama to the end – like the semi-finals, two matches were not enough. Decisive play-off was played on neutral ground – in Cochabamba – and Oriente Petrolero extracted minimal victory: 2-1.

Strong, but not the strongest this year. The Strongest finished second.

Excellent season for Oriente Petrolero – they won their 2nd title. It was not an easy victory, but at the end they prevailed. For a young club – they were founded in 1955 – not bad at all. Originally, they were just a workers club, named after their neighbourhood – Oriente – and their prime employment – The Bolivian oil company (YPFB). Clubs with such modest beginnings rarely go up, but this guys did, evolving into professional club. Counting titles is difficult in the Bolivian case, for there were different championships – at first, the championship of La Paz, itself moving from amateur to semi-professional status; then championship including three provinces (Torneo Integrado, including La Paz, Cochabamba, and Oruro); then national semi-professional league – and the first title in 1971 was in this tournament. Because of the many changes, even the club counts 1979 as their first national title. Yet, Bolivia lists championships – and winners – since 1914 and no matter what qualifications are given, the list is steady. According to it, Oriente Petrolero was Bolivian champion once before and this was there second title. Complicated story, but one thing was sure: Oriente Petrolero established itself among the top Bolivian clubs – and remains among them to this very day.

Bolivia had strange championship even by South American standards – it went through 3 stages before the final play-offs, and in the 3rd phase 2 clubs not members of first division were added. The season itself was the third since the Bolivian federation organized professional league. Like many other countries, professionalism did not mean introduction of or even legalizing those who played for money – professional players were nothing new and all foreigners were strictly professionals – but rather structural and other requirements: professional league made of professional clubs. Yet, it was not a classic league. It was made of 15 clubs this season, divided into 2 groups for the opening phase of the championship. One team was relegated – seemingly, combined record of 2 or more seasons determined the unfortunate club. Standard league tournament was played at first and the top 5 clubs of each group proceeded to the second stage. At the end of this phase, two things deserved notice: the first was the weak season of the one of the best known Bolivian clubs – Jorge Wilstermann finished 6th in Group A.

The boys from Cochabamba exited early the championship – a surprise.

The second note is also about a club from Cochabamba: Bata.

If the name and the logo appear familiar, it was not coincidence – it was founded in 1941 by the famous Czechoslovakian show-making firm. A factory club with various sections. Almost to the end of the 1950s Czechs were club Presidents. One may think that the fate of the company, which had to close operations at home and owners, engineers, and workers fled from Czechoslovakia when the Communists took power, would close the club in distant Bolivia – but it was not so. Bata was never leading club and even rarely played top league football, but exists to this very day. As for location, it is a bit confusing: the club is often listed representing Cochabamba. But there is not only a city, but also a province with the same name… Bata was founded and located in Quillacollo, where the shoe factory was. This city today is part of Greater Cochabamba and may be already was in the 1970s. The pride of Quillacollo made it to first division, as they did for awhile in the 1960s, but seemingly survival was their only aim. Here is the confusing part: Bata finished 5th in Group B and proceeded to the second phase. Normally, this should be the end of the story: relegation should concern the lowest 5 clubs eliminated in the first phase. But Bata was relegated… unless a combined record of the last 2 or 3 season determined relegation, nothing explains why Bata went down. Anyhow, world-famous shows do not mean strong football team.

The Bolivian league in general represented 6 cities – La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz had 4 league members each and Sucre, Potosi, and Oruro had a single team each. Small, but not unusual geography – the big clubs and their local and inter-city rivalries were concentrated in those places from the early days of the game in Bolivia. It was familiar picture, which seasonal strength varied a bit. Along with Jorge Wilstermann, San Jose (Oruro) and Always Ready (La Paz) exited the championship after the first phase. Always Ready was in a decline since the beginning of the 1970s, gradually losing their historic position. In Group B the eliminated were also old clubs – Stormers (Sucre) and Aurora (Cochabamba). The shift of power was taking place since the late 1960s: younger clubs, tied to the oil industry were pushing back historically strong clubs – Oriente Petrolero (Santa Crus) and Petrolero (Cochabamba). Both were at the top of Group A. Along with them, traditional big clubs kept their positions – The Strongest, Bolivar, and Municipal, all from La Paz, and Blooming (Santa Cruz). The rest of the best during the first phase may be just had a good season – Real (Santa Cruz), Independiente Unificada (Potosi), and Guabira (Santa Cruz). Bata was the 10th team going ahead. The group winners of the first phase got 2 bonus points to start the second phase with, and those taking 2nd and 3rd place – 1 point.

The second phase was also played in 2 groups in a standard league format. The top two teams of each group moved to the third phase . Bonus points played no role in Group A – The Strongest and Oriente Petrolero took the top places anyway. Even with their bonus point Petrolero (Cochabamba) was still only 3rd. Guabira and Bata were hopeless outsiders, Bata ending last with 3 points.

This was not the year for the teams from Cochabamba – Petrolero was the strongest, but this stage was the end of the road.

Group B was more dramatic – only Real (Santa Cruz) was out of the race, the other 4 clubs fought bitterly for the coveted top spots. Two finished with 9 points and two – with 10. Here bonus points played a role – Municipal stayed competitive thanks to their bonus point – yet, finished 4th because of worse goal-difference. Independiente Unificada were the second strongest team in the group – only they and Bolivar earned 9 points during this stage. But they had no bonus points and finished 3rd. Blooming finished 2nd thanks to their 2 bonus points. As for Bolivar, they took 1st place thanks to their bonus point, but would have qualified for the next stage even without the bonus: on goal-difference. They were the only team in the group with positive goal-difference.

Third phase next… again 2 groups of 3 teams each. Four teams going ahead to… the semi-finals.

Well, 4 clubs already went through two phases. The other two were not members of first division and were included at this stage. Strange rules. No doubt, the newcomers went through many stages to reach this level, but competing with all other clubs of the country did not automatically mean they deserved to have a chance to win the national title: the question is a simple one – what was the point of having first division when some obscure team, playing against weaker teams can win the championship?

The newcomers were both from La Paz –

Ferroviario and

31 de Octubre. Smaller clubs, to be sure, but at this stage everything was possible in theory. At least geographically there was no trouble: at this stage, the competition was reduced to 2 cities – 4 clubs from La Paz and 2 from Santa Cruz. Easy on the pocket… Bolivian clubs were not rich, travel in South America was considerable expense. As for strength, the newcomers proved to be no threat – both were just punching bags. They managed a combined record of 2 ties, scored 3 goals, and received 22. Evidently, there was no point of including such teams in the late stage of the national championship – the theoretical threat to first division was only theoretical, but why placing such teams so high anyway? There presence had nothing to do with competitive football – this phase was entirely redundant: the best four of the previous phase went to the semi-finals.

 

Torneo Finalizacion was much more complicated: at first, something close to regular league was played – 14 teams played 21 rounds. The top 8 teams moved to the second stage. Few surprises here: Tolima was still at the bottom and out – 13th. The worst team was however Deportivo Independiente Meddelin…

Standing, from left: Mario Gutiérrez, José Velásquez, Leone, Zárate, Escobar.

Crouching: Mauricio Salazar, Pérez, Londero, Hugo Sotil, Ponciano Castro, Mejía.

DIM at the very bottom. Hugo Sotil too… only three years ago Catalunians demanded from the brass of their beloved Barcelona to include Sotil in starters… in 1979 such demand seemed meaningless.

Deportivo Cucuta was 12th and also out of the race.

Standing, from left: Américo Ortiz, “ Gringo” Palacios, Rodrigo Cosme, Francisco Nieto, Rando “ Tomate” Gómez, Rogante.

Crouching: “ Burrito” Gonzalez, Manuel Rosendo Magan, Victor Nicolás Cocco, Arnoldo Iguaran, Gustavo Contreras ( Kinesiologist).

Note Contreras – South Americans were either ahead of time, or used fancy names for their medical stuff. Kinesiologists came to European teams much later. Apparently, the kinesiologist did not help much.

The biggest losers of this stage were Once Caldas, who were 3rd in Apertura. Now they plummeted down to 11th place. Curiously, they finished with positive goal-difference – 34-28.

Just the opposite happened to Deportivo Pereira – they had miserable Apertura: 12th. But in the opening stage of Finalizacion they finished 3rd. The rest of top 8 teams were pretty much the same as they were in the Apertura, taking pretty much the same positions with exactly the same leaders – Deportivo Cali was 2nd with 27 points, and America – 1st with 31 points. But points mattered no more than qualifying to the second stage, where the top 8 were divided into two round-robin groups. Well, here logic leaves us… Millonarios, 8th in the first stage was out. Once Caldas was in… why is hard to tell: perhaps Apertura was taken into account.

Millonarios – the best known to Europeans Colombian club had very weak year – twice 8th and out. Was it fair, though to exclude them from the second stage after finishing higher than Once Caldas? They were not alone:

Deportes Quindio finished 6th in the first stage. True, they were only 10th in the Apertura, but played well in the beginning of Finalizacion. Yetm they were out – Independiente Santa Fe, 9th, went ahead.

It was here when the tournament started in earnest. Two teams of each group were going ahead to the third stage. In Group A America had difficulties for the first time this year. 2 wins, 2 ties, 2 losses, negative goal-difference – 6-7. Luckily, two of the rivals ended with 5 points and America took 2nd place – and qualified. Atletico Nacional and Deportivo Pereira were the unlucky ones – they missed qualification by little, but in a sense it was fair – both clubs really played well only recently, having mediocre Torneo Apertura.

Standing, from left: Raúl Ramón Navarro Paviato, Alejandro Estanislao Semenewicz, Víctor Emilio Luna Gómez, Héctor Javier Céspedes Carrillo, Francisco Antonio Maturana García, Iván Darío Castañeda Zapata.

Crouching: Pedro Enrique Sarmiento Solís, Aldo Fernando Rodríguez, Hernán Darío Herrera Ramírez, Osvaldo Marcial Palavecino, Jorge Ortíz Jiménez.

Semenewicz was out, Maturana was out, Palavecino was out… Atletico Nacional perhaps played too carefully so far and to switch to another gear was impossible. Or may be they were not in great shape to begin with. On the other hand Atletico Junior excelled – so far, they were not impressive, seemingly satisfied with just going ahead. But now the team went full ahead and finished 1st with 8 points. They lost just one match. Group B had bigger surprise. Once Caldas, going down since the beginning of Torneo Finalizacion, finished last. Deportivo Cali, so far the second strongest team in the country, finished 3rd … 1 win, 1 loss, and 4 ties – they were suddenly out.

Deportivo Cali should have been title contenders, but were out instead. Bad luck or their form dropped just when it mattered most? Union Magdalena and Independiente Santa Fe went the opposite direction – sluggish Apertura, better first stage of Finazicaion, even better second stage. Both teams seemingly had better timing, coming to the peak of their form when it was really important. Both ended with 7 points, Union took the 1st place thanks to better goal-average.

And finally the final stage – again a round-robin tournament, with double importance: the winner, if different from America, was going to the seasonal final. However, if America won Finalizacion, then the top teams in the final group were going to Copa Libertadores. Atletico Junior proved to be the outsider – apparently, their strength lasted only until they reached the final. Once here, they lost 5 of their 6 matches. They got a single point – ironically, when visiting America. The other three clubs fought equally and goal-difference decided the winner.

Union Magdalena finished with 7 points – and took 3rd place. They outscored all others, but unfortunately earned 1 point less than their rivals.

America and Independiente Santa Fe finished with 8 points each. The ending of Torneo Apertura was repeating… this time goal-difference decided the winner and it was again America.

Excellent finish for Independiente Santa Fe, but they had to be satisfied with 2nd place. Bad luck . But they secured Copa Libertadores spot.

America won Torneo Finalizacion and since they also won Torneo Apertura, there was no final play-off to decide the title – it was theirs.

Standing, from left: Wilson Américo Quiñónez, Luis Alegría Valencia, Gabriel Chaparro, Aurelio José Pascuttini, Luis Eduardo Reyes, Carlos Alfredo Gay.

First row: Horacio Ferrín, Juan Manuel Bataglia, Gerardo González, Jorge Ramón Cáceres, Alfonso Cañon.

For America it was historic year – they won their first title! It was not overwhelming victory – America was perhaps lucky to come first in both parts of championship, but first they were both times. If anything, they were consistent – except for the shaky second stage of Finalizacion, they were at top form the whole year. Scoring was not their best side – their top scorer Jorge Ramon Caseres was 8th with 19 goals: Juan Jose Irigoyen scored 36 and his Millonarios was a mediocrity, also playing fewer games than America. Defense was the much stronger side of America, but whatever it was, they won all the way. Gabriel Ochoa Uribe must be credited with the success – he arrived this very season from Millonarios and immediately won the title. True to his reputation – he already had 7 titles as a coach. And his 8th was not the last – whatever he won with Millonarios and Santa Fe, he would double with America. Great years were just beginning for the Red Devil, as America is known.

Colombia – since there were no promotion and relegation, the only change for the new season was a name. Cristal Caldas became Once Caldas. The other changes were less visible to outsiders who rarely, if at all, glanced in the direction of that country: transfers. Big names played in Colombia since the introduction of the rogue professional league in the late 1940s. Foreign players were abundant in the 1970s thanks to lax rules and easy naturalization. In 1979 two Peruvians arrived, both well known – Jose Velasquez and Hugo Sotil. If it was European transfer, it would have been first page news… but this transfer was not even noticed, despite the strong 1978 World Cup Peru had just a few months earlier. Those two joined the massive group of foreigners playing for Colombian clubs – like Alejandro Estanislao Semenewicz, the Argentinian midfielder, who won 4 Libertadores and 1 Intercontinental Cup with Independiente in the first half of the 1970s. However, Sotil, plagued by personal problems very similar to those George Best had, had disastrous time in Colombia: he was in in and out of the line-up of Deportivo Independiente Medellin (DIM), played 33 matches in which scored 8 goals, and thought of retiring. It was not the aging and fading stars who shined in Colombia, but lesser known players – the Argentine striker Oswaldo Palavecino (Atletico Nacional) was typical example: run of the mill in Argentina, he was long-lasting big star in Colombia.

Lastly, shirt adverts were coming to South America – still an early and a bit confusing stage.

Atletico Nacional and Atletico Junior ready to clash. Junior displays uniformity – except the goalkeeper. Nacional is something else… only 4 players show adds, the others play with plain shirts. Their naturalized Argentine keeper Raul Ramon Navarro Paviato plays with strange for the time shirt with number 50. Even the kit is not uniform – another Argentine, Hector ‘Palito’ Candau uses different manufacturer. Immediately to the left of the referees Oswaldo Palavecino plays with adds, the future great coach and star Colombian defender in 1979, Francisco Maturana plays with plain shirt. Simple days… or confused days… depending on opinion.

The championship itself was the usual complicated South American formula. One champion, but two separate championships… The winners of Apertura and Finalizacion, if different, met at the end to decide the champion of the year. Torneo Apertura was simple enough: classic league championship. The 14 teams played twice against each other and after 26 rounds it ended with simple final table. Well, not so simple after all…

Deportes Tolima was the outsider this year – by far. They won only 2 matches and tied 6. 10 points – the 13th had 22!

Jumping ahead, Tolima did not improve in the second championship either – there they managed 3 points more – 13 – which were good for… 13th place. Yet, the weakest had nothing to worry about – no matter how bad they were, they were members of the closed league. No relegation.

The quality of football was not high, especially when it came to scoring and winning. 42 goals were the most scored in Apertura and the record did not belong to the leading teams, but to clubs in the middle of the table:

Millonarios, who finished 8th with 26 points, and Once Caldas – 4th.

Along with Millonarios, another traditionally strong club underperformed – DIM.

Sotil is obviously out, Velasquez – standing second from left – was not enough inspiration, Deportivo Independiente Medellin finished 6th with 27 points.

Most of the league was fairly equal – the 13th placed Cucuta Deportivo finished with 22 points.

Standing, from left: Miguel Núñez , Pitula Martínez, Francisco Nieto, Arnoldo Alberto ‘el guajiro’ Iguarán Zúñiga, Romero

Crouching: Antonio Pérez, Salvador López Quiceno, Alberto ‘el chamizo’ Cañas, Manuel Rosendo Magán, Abel Dagracca, Rodrigo Cosme.

Cucuta were weak, but not much weaker than Union Magdalena, which finished 5th with 28 points – 9 of the 14 clubs were divided at the end by 6 points.

Atletico Nacional – with plain shirts here – finished 9th.

Independiente Santa Fe – 7th.

Four clubs competed for top spots – Atletico Junior finished 4th with 32 points. Once Caldas was 3rd with 33. America and Deportivo Cali both had 34 points and exactly the same goal-difference of +10 goals. The champion of Apertura had to decided by play-off. Two matches were played and both finished 0-0. Then goal-average was used as a tie-breaker – it was still popular method at the time and not at all nowadays. The goal-average usually benefits… lower scoring teams. America was 29-19, Deportivo – 37-27. America won…

Deportivo Cali – unlucky in Torneo Apertura.

America Cali – lucky winners of Apertura. That meant they ensured at least playing for the title at the end of the season.

The first division championship was a carbon copy of many, many other Uruguayan championships. The same as ever – Penarol and Nacional competed with each other and the rest of the league was bellow the grands. The enlargement of the league for a second year meant no direct relegation, but participation in the promotion/relegation play-off of the lowest team and 2nd and 3rd from second division. The question, however, was which club was the lowest… three teams finished at the bottom with 17 points: Rentistas, Liverpool, and Danubio. Goal-difference decided their final places. Danubio took 11th place.

Rentistas finished 13th and last. They tried as much as they could, but won measly 3 matches, tied 11, and lost 10. Had the worst goal record in the league: 16-36. Rentistas scored the least goals and had most ties. Nothing to be proud of – last place meant relegation… elsewhere. In Uruguay – may be. Rentistas was save for another season – Liverpool, a place above in the final table, went to the dreadful play-off and were eventually relegated.

Those three were at the bottom, but really 11 teams of the division fought largely between themselves for a better or worse position.

Huracan Buceo finished 6th which was great for them. They lost 10 matches – the most in the upper half of the table, but thanks to better goal-difference ended well. Their goal-difference was 23-23, which was the 5th best in the league: only 4 clubs finished with positive record! Scoring was not the strong point of the bulk of the league: Bella Vista, 8th in the final table, scored most goals among the bulk – 33 in 24 championship games. Only one other club managed 30 goals – Defensor.

Defensor continued their strong years. Their sensational victory in 1976 made them the 4th most successful club in Uruguay – it was Defensor’s first title, but since the first championship was organized in 1900 only 3 clubs won titles. Wanderers had a total of three, the last won in 1931. Defensor not only became the 4th title winner ever, but the most recent one disturbing the duopoly of Nacional and Penarol. Finishing 4th three years after their winning year meant the club was keeping strong team and holding their place. Kind of… they were no potential title contenders and not really above the rest of league. But steady and after the end of the season their was reward for that.

Defensor finished with 26 points, but were bested by a point by the club sharing the second-best defensive record this season: Fenix.

Bronze medals for Fenix! Excellent season for a club with such a name and colours (violet – representing eternity, and white – purity). This was perhaps their greatest season since foundation in 1916. The club from Capurro more often played second division football – and their titles to this very day are only from winning second division. By 1979 they had 4 – the most recent one was from 1977, meaning they played only a second first division season since their latest promotion. One has to appreciate the bronze medals in the light of that: Fenix, historically, were not even regular first division members. On the pitch they were hardly exciting team – their record suggest stubborn defensive approach: they shared the second-best defensive record in the league, permitting only 18 goals in their net. Not bad, since 10 clubs received 20 or more goals. As for attack… it was not their forte: 23 goals in 24 matches. Less than a goal per match average. 8 clubs scored more. Huracan Buceo scored also 23. Only the bottom three clubs scored less. Yet, Fenix won 10 matches with their brand of football – only two clubs won more games. Apart from Nacional and Penarol, Fenix was the only Uruguayan team winning two-digit number of games in 1979.

As for the 3rd most successful Uruguayan club, Wanderers finished exactly in the middle of the league – 7th.

Hardly a surprise, judging by the squad – only Krasouski is vaguely recognizable name. And he was just an young promise at the time.

Clearly, the league was not impressive – which left the two biggest clubs to fight apart from all others. As ever… The 1970s were lean years for Uruguayan football, players were leaving the country in mass, money were short, political problems of the country affected football, yet, big club are big even when the scale is small and low. Penarol and Nacional together lost less matches than Fenix. Even if only their victories brought points they would have finished way ahead of all others. As it was, Fenix was a very distant 3rd – 11 points behind the 2nd. In short, even when Uruguayan football was in dire straits, Penarol and Nacional were still in separate category , head and shoulders above all others. In their own world, the big clubs experienced their own drama, highs and lows – the strong years of Nacional finished in 1972. After that Penarol was seemingly in much better shape, winning the titles in 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1978. And nothing changed in 1979: Nacional was still shaky and weaker. They won 17 matches, tied 4, lost 3. They shared the second-best defensive record with Fenix – 18 goals – but outscored everybody else: 53 goals. The only club scoring more than 50 goals – a signal, that they were coming back, but were not ready yet.

Silver means nothing to Nacional – only gold counts, but with a team like that silver was quite right. Two established stars, yet, not really big stars – Rodolfo Rodriguez and Denis Milar, plus two up and coming stars – Hugo de Leon and Waldemar Victorino. Compared to the players the rest of the league had, the supremacy of Nacional was obvious. But it was not exceptional squad at all and not ready yet for more.

Penarol had relatively easy year with opponent like current Nacional. 19 wins, 3 ties, and only 2 matches lost. 47 goals was the second-best offensive record in the league, but their defense was much better than any other, allowing 12 goals – 1 goal per 2 games average. All that meant one more title for Penarol, leaving Nacioanl 3 points behind.

No point of even telling the number of titles – suffice to say ‘one more title’. Standing, from left: Fernando Alvez, Walter Olivera, Victor Diogo, Nelson Marcenaro, Lorenzo Unanue, Juan V. Morales

First row: Ernesto Vargas, Mario Saralegui, Ruben Paz, Ildo Maneiro, Venancio Ramos.

And the squad tells why they were winning – it was the best in the country by far. Even without the biggest Uruguayan star of the 1970s Fernando Morena, who left the club to play in Spain for Rayo Vallecano. Alvez rivaled Rodolfo Rodriguez – neither was a truly great goalkeeper, but they were the best at the time. Walter Olivera was the big star with many years ahead of him. Diogo, Saralegui, and Paz were the younger stars, rapidly establishing themselves as leading players. Overall, stronger team than Nacional’s and more important it was relatively young, but experienced squad. If the club was able to keep the players… and succeed internationally… Penarol may have restored the tarnished reputation of Uruguayan football. But… there was immediate obstacle. Penarol were champions, yet, they were not going to represent Uruguay in Copa Libertadores. There is no clear reason for that – the only possibility is that combined record of two or more season was applied – which should have benefited Penarol too. Strangely, the Uruguayan representatives for 1980 Copa Libertadores were Nacional and Defensor. The champions were left out.

 

Uruguay had familiar season – back to normal, so to say: Penarol and Nacional competed for the title, with everybody else far behind. And as it ever was, it was Montevideo championship all the way – no provincial club in first and second divisions. The Uruguyan championship was seemingly usual league format, yet, with some peculiarities. They involved relegation-promotion and participation in Copa Libertadores. Since the first division was increasing, one team was relegated and two promoted, to make it 14-team league in the next season. Thus, the second division was spurred into action. 10-team league, with specific relegation rule: the combined record of the last two season counted. Made no difference at the end, for Uruguay Montevideo finished last on both accounts: last with 9 points in the regular season, and its combined record was also last – 19 points. Far behind than Alto Peru, which had 28 points. So Uruguay Montevideo was relegated to third division.

At the top it was more complicated. Progreso won the season with 27 points. Miramar finished second with 23 points – the same as La Luz, but with better goal-difference. No other team managed to come near – Rampla Juniors, the most famous so to say club in the second division finished 5th with 18 points.

Rampla Juniors – if names could win, they should have been champions. Alas, the old club ended in mid-table position.

Progreso appeared unquestionable champion, but… no promotion yet. Instead a play-off had to played between the winners of each half of the season – Progreso vs Miramar. Justice prevailed and Progreso won both legs: 3-1 and 3-2.

Progreso won the championship and the promotion.

Miramar had a second chance – promotion/relegation play off against La Luz, the 3rd placed second division team, and Liverpool – 12th in first division. Unless a combined two-season record determined first division relegation, there was no reason Liverpool playing here – Rentistas finished last, 13th, but they was curiously in no danger. Anyhow, Miramar and La Luz opened the mini-tournament with 1-1 draw. Then Liverpool won 2-1 against La Luz and the last match was thorough final – a win of a tie would keep Liverpool in first division. Miramar would get promotion only if they won – which they did: 2-1.

Miramar was promoted to their joy, if only at the second attempt. Miramar was founded in 1906 – most Uruguayan clubs are old and by local standards Miramar was much older one than its immediate rivals – Progreso was founded in 1917; Liverpool – in 1915; and La Luz – later. Yet, Miramar was hardly known outside the country – they were small club. Not only that, money were usually short – Miramar had to merge with Albion and played under the name Albion Miramar between 1876-78. Then the entity was deconstructed back to two clubs. In 1979 Miramar played under its original name, only to merge in June 1980 with Misiones – the logo above belongs to Miramar Misiones: this merger still remains.

At the end, Progreso and Miramar were promoted to first division and Liverpool relegated to the second.

 

 

The Championship group was a drama on another level. Not everything was dramatic, of course – something was predictable and in line with usual outcomes of such championship schemes – at least 2 clubs just went through the motions. They had no real strength to compete for the title and for them seemingly the season finished after the first stage: they managed to get into the championship group, guaranteeing themselves a place in the league for the next season.

Judging by their record in the final stage, Union Hural did not bother at all – they won 1 match, tied 4, and lost 9. With 6 points, they were far behind all other participants. Clearly, for them the championship ended with the first stage – back there, they tied 15 out of 30 matches, got 31 points – one more than poor Leon (Huanaco), and thus achieved untroubled survival.

Similarly, Deportivo Junin did not play for anything in the final stage – they were lucky to get the last spot in the group, thanks to better goal-difference than Leon (Huanuco) and just watched their rivals going down, down, down. It could have been them – but they were safe in the upper group. With nothing to play for, they ended 7th , distinguishing themselves as the club receiving the most goals in their net in the final stage.

Alfonso Ugarte (Puno) was the third club not really interested.

Standing, from left: Roberto Arrelucea, unknown, Néstor Vargas, Jorge Arrelucea, unknown.

First row: Francisco “Pancho” González, Alberto “Pulga” Peña, José Leiva, Marcelo Apaza, Cisterna, Gutiérrez.

Alfonso Ugarte finished 5th in the first stage and 5th in the second. Like Deportivo Junin and Union Huaral, they had no team to speak of. Solid performance in the first stage was seemingly all that mattered for them and once achieving their goal, they took it easy. 13 points placed them at the top of the lower, disinterested half of the final championship group.

Just bellow them finished the team making the championship dramatic. Universitario won confidently the first stage and entered the final stage with 3 bonus points. Even without all that, they were traditional contender and one of the most obvious candidates for the title. But… they had the second worst record in the final group and finished 6th.

The big failure, from left: Víctor “Cacique” Bustamante, Hugo “Cantinflas” Gastulo, Fernando “Gato” Cuéllar, Germán “Cocoliche” Leguía. Ernesto “Chivo” Neyra, Freddy Cañamero, David Zuluaga, Juan José Oré, Percy Vilchez, Eduardo Aguilar, Eusebio “Chevo” Acasuzo.

Perhaps the squad reveals why played so badly – it was not a great team. Not enough class, not enough stars. May be they spent their strength in the first phase, when their rivals played economically. Universitario were a big disappointment. They won only twice in the important tournament. They lost 8 matches – only Union Huaral lost more. May be there was a grim lesson in all that: in championship organized in such format the biggest mistake is to put efforts in the first phase. It spells disaster. The bonus points did not help at all… but what is really mysterious is that at the end Universitario did not get those 3 points from the first stage – the final table tells that they got only 1 point! Why? Who knows… and may be not important, for even with 3 bonus points Universitario would be only 5th, instead of 6th. Hardly a difference.

The other dramatic disappointment was Alianza (Lima) – historically, the prime candidate for the title. Some lack of form was detected in the first phase, where the team finished 4th. Not bad, but they were distant 4th – far behind the winners, not even competing for the 2nd or 3rd place. Still favourites, expected to bloom in the important phase. They did not… once again they finished 4th. Far ahead of the lower half of the championship group, but not contenders at all. 7 tied matches of total 14 – really nothing.

Strange… Alianza had the two world class stars in their team – Cubillas and Sotil. The current most exciting Peruvian player – Cueto. Aging, but still great stars Velazquez, La Rosa. Heroes of two impressive World Cups, still the top players of Peru. The best Peruvian squad, judging by the names. Lack of form must have been the reason – temporary lack of form, not a decline. Yet, disastrous season for Alianza.

Juan Aurich capitalized on their 2 bonus points from the first stage. They kept steady, if not great form in the final phase and finished with bronze medals. Success. Yes, they were not going to play in the Libertadores Cup, but finished ahead of Alianza and Universitario. And for this smaller Peruvian club bronze medals were a big achievement. They had no real strength to run for the title – in both phases of the championship, Juan Aurich competed only for a medal – silver or bronze, either one was great.

Entangled with Juan Aurich in the fight for the second place was an unexpected team – Atletico Chalaco. The first stage did not suggest anything like that – ‘El Leon Porteno’ finished 7th. It was largely a matter of good luck they ended in the championship group and not in the relegation group. There immediate neighbors in the first phase did not bother to do much in the final stage. Atletico Chalaco surprisingly soared and finished 2nd – a point ahead of Juan Aurich, who entered the finals with 2 points advantage. The team excelled in defense – the best in the final tournament – but they were not up to competing for the title.

Surprising heroes, from left: Oscar Arizaga, Félix Suárez, Gonzalo Cayo, Víctor Matías, Víctor “Pichicho” Benavides, Pablo Muchotrigo, Luis Enrique Camacho, José Sierra, Julio Luna, Fernando Apolinario, Augusto Prado.

Atletico Chalaco is largely unknown club to the world, but they are old – founded in 1902 by students of Instituto Chalaco in Callao, hence, the name. Much older by their local rivals Sport Boys, but dwarfed by them long time ago – Sport Boys still ranks the 4th most successful Peruvian club. Atletico Chalaco is not at the same level – they were Peruvian champions twice, but so long ago, that their titles hardly come to mind. Atletico Chalaco were often found in the second level, so playing top flight was counting as success. 1979 was obviously great year for them: it would have been even without finishing that high – they played in the championship group when the enemy, Sport Boys, was in the relegation group – but finishing with silver medals was fantastic. For more they were not capable. But they got the second Peruvian spot in Copa Libertadores – a rare chance for playing big international football.

The final tournament was largely one-horse race – Sporting Cristal, perhaps fresher than all others, won confidently. They did not played large role in the first stage – just staying at the top, but may be conserving their best for the finals. They finished 3rd, not looking very interested in first place. 1 bonus point was some minimal advantage, but the club seemingly did not even need it. Sporting Cristal won 9 of their 14 final matches. They lost only once. No problems in defense, ending with the second best record, but their big strength was attack – the only team scoring more than 20 goals in the final stage. 26 in fact, almost 2 goals per game. 23 points – 4 more than the next club. Easy victory.

Champions again – 4th title and their first since 1972. Sporting Cristal was always fighting for the title, this time they won it easily. And they looked more promising team than Alianza – Chumpitaz, Mifflin, Quiroga, Navarro, Oblitas, Uribe. Alianza was a strong, but aging team. Yesterday’s team, in a sense. Sporting Cristal had great veterans too – Chumpitaz and Mifflin – but their strength was in current and future stars, particularly Uribe. They were clearly going to stay among the best Peruvian clubs, aiming at more tittles. Establishing themselves as one of the top 4 Peruvian clubs.

For they were not that in 1979: big clubs are usually old. Sporting Cristal was young… they were founded in 1955. Yet, their history is curious – before ‘Los Cerveceros’, there was a first division club from the same part of Lima – Sporting Tabacco, founded in 1926 and belonging to the tobacco growers’ union. They had more than modest existence, never won anything, and in the beginning of the 1950s were in deep economic dire straits. Then the owner of Backus and Johnston Brewery, Ricardo Bentin Mujica, bought the club and also bought a lot for a stadium in the neighborhood of La Florida. The old Sporting Tobacco was not merely renamed – instead, a new club under the name Sporting Cristal was founded on December 13, 1955. It was named after the best-known brand of the beer company – to a point, it was convenient advertisement of the company – hence, the nickname of the club – but later club and company were separated somewhat. The new boys debuted in first division immediately – in 1956, no doubt taking the place of Sporting Tobacco. The debut was grand: they won the championship. Starting with a title was impressive, but a new club, no matter how ambitious, had to build reputation. Money were not eveything – Sporting Cristal eventually won more titles, yet, they were not overwhelming. Rather, they managed to stay among the top Peruvian clubs. Their 4th title was won in 1972, and although already considered one of the best clubs in Peru, still had to wait 7 years for the next success. With it perhaps Sporting Cristal finally established itself as one of big clubs of the country – along with Alianza and Universitario. As for relation with Sporting Tobacco, it remains ambiguous – certainly half of the name is taken from the old club. But the foundation date remains 1955, maintaining that there is no connection between the two Sporting. And still it is not complete break: colours were changed in 1955 – the blue of Sporting Tobacco was replaced by sky-blue of Sporting Cristal. But… the old blue was used as home colours between 1978 and 1981 and after that – often as away colours. Of course, there was nothing to be proud of and therefore to claim from the history of Sporting Tobacco – it was much more impressive to win 5 titles in less than 30 years of existence.