1964 Copa Libertadores

1964 Copa de Campeones de América
Tournament details
DatesApril 3 - August 12
Teams11 (from 10 confederations)
Final positions
Champions Independiente (1st title)
Runners-up Nacional
Tournament statistics
Matches played26
Goals scored88 (3.38 per match)
Top scorer(s) Mario Rodríguez
Celino Mora
(6 goals each)
1963
1965

The 1964 Copa de Campeones de América was the fifth edition of South America's premier club football tournament. For the first time since its inception, every member of CONMEBOL was represented in the competition. Deportivo Italia became the first club from Venezuela to participate, providing an unexpectedly impressive performance after eliminating Bahia of Brazil in the preliminary round and beating Barcelona in Guayaquil.

Building up on Boca Juniors' great showing in the last season, Argentine football managed to put themselves on the international map as Independiente won Argentina's first title. El Diablo Rojo, or Red Devil, eliminated the powerful Santos, which played without the main stars of its attack (Dorval, Mengálvio, Coutinho and an injured Pelé didn't play, and Pepe played just the first match of the semifinal).[1] After winning both matches of their semifinal series, the Argentines dispatched Nacional in the finals. Mario Rodríguez was a key factor in Independiente's triumph and was the top scorer of the tournament with 6 goals.

Qualified teams

Country Team Qualification method
CONMEBOL
1 berth
Santos 1963 Copa Libertadores de América winners
Argentina
1 berth
Independiente 1963 Primera División champion
 Bolivia
1 berth
Aurora 1963 Copa Simón Bolívar champion
Brazil
1 berth
Bahia 1963 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up
 Chile
1 berth
Colo-Colo 1963 Primera División champion
 Colombia
1 berth
Millonarios 1963 Campeonato Profesional champion
 Ecuador
1 berth
Barcelona 1963 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol champion
Paraguay
1 berth
Cerro Porteño 1963 Primera División champion
 Peru
1 berth
Alianza Lima 1963 Primera División champion
 Uruguay
1 berth
Nacional 1963 Primera División champion
 Venezuela
1 berth
Deportivo Italia 1963 Venezuelan Primera División champion

Tie-breaking criteria

This edition saw a first round, with three groups containing three teams each; the preliminary round from the 1961 edition was reintroduced. The format for the semifinals and the finals remained unchanged.

At each stage of the tournament teams receive 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and no points for a loss. If two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria will be applied to determine the ranking in the group stage:

  1. a one-game playoff;
  2. superior goal difference;
  3. draw of lots.

Preliminary round

Owing to the uneven number of teams in the competition, a preliminary round was created to determine who joined the other 9 teams in the competition. As a predominated "weak" side, Venezuela has its representative face off against Brazil's second representative. The winner of the series would advance into the First round. Both matches took place in Caracas.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Deportivo Italia 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 3
Bahía 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1 1
April 3, 1964 Deportivo Italia 0 – 0 Bahía Estadio Olímpico, Caracas
Referee: Olten Aires de Abreu (Brazil)
April 8, 1964 Bahía 1 – 2 Deportivo Italia Estadio Olímpico, Caracas
Vevé 54' Jaime 52'
Iranildo 60'
Referee: Olten Aires de Abreu (Brazil)

First round

Nine teams were drawn into groups of three. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top team in each group advanced to the Semifinals. Santos, the title holders, had a bye to the next round.

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Nacional 4 3 1 0 9 2 7 7
Cerro Porteño 4 1 2 1 11 6 5 4
Aurora 4 0 1 3 2 14 -12 1
April 12, 1964 Aurora 2 – 2 Cerro Porteño Félix Capriles, Cochabamba
Herbas 39'
García 59'
Mora 78'
B. Rojas 85'
Referee: Miguel Comesaña (Argentina)
April 19, 1964 Nacional 2 – 0 Aurora Centenario, Montevideo
Abeledo 40', 67' Referee: Eunápio de Queiroz (Brazil)
April 26, 1964 Cerro Porteño 2 – 2 Nacional Puerto Sajonia, Asunción
Mora 46', 50' Méndez 36'
Oyarbide 55'
Referee: Adolfo Reginatto (Chile)
May 3, 1964 Aurora 0 – 3 Nacional Félix Capriles, Cochabamba
Bergara 51'
Pérez 87'
Acosta 88'
Referee: Alberto Tejada (Peru)
May 10, 1964 Nacional 2 – 0 Cerro Porteño Centenario, Montevideo
Bergara 17'
Pérez 69'
Referee: Ángel Coerezza (Argentina)
May 17, 1964 Cerro Porteño 7 – 0 Aurora Puerto Sajonia, Asunción
Báez 32' (pen.)
Monges 41'
Mora 50', 69', 77'
B. Rojas 76'
J.C. Rojas 83'
Referee: Miguel Comesaña (Argentina)

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Independiente 4 3 1 0 11 3 8 7
Millonarios 4 2 0 2 6 8 -2 4
Alianza Lima 4 0 1 3 5 11 -6 1
May 7, 1964 Millonarios 3 – 2 Alianza Lima El Campín, Bogotá
Gamboa 30', 53', 86' Zegarra 8', 70' Referee: Carlos Robles (Chile)
May 31, 1964 Independiente 4 – 0 Alianza Lima Independiente, Avellaneda
Savoy 4'
Rodríguez 35'
Rolan 40'
Suárez 88'
Referee: José Dimas Larrosa (Paraguay)
June 4, 1964 Alianza Lima 2 – 2
[A]
Independiente El Cilindro, Avellaneda
León 24', 82' Savoy 42', 60' (pen.) Referee: José Dimas Larrosa (Paraguay)
June 7, 1964 Independiente 5 – 1 Millonarios Independiente, Avellaneda
Suárez 30', 47'
Rodríguez 33', 74'
Savoy 63'
Orlando 7' Referee: Carlos Robles (Chile)

Group 3

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Colo-Colo 4 3 0 1 9 7 2 6
Barcelona 4 2 0 2 9 4 5 4
Deportivo Italia 4 1 0 3 2 9 -7 2
May 3, 1964 Barcelona 0 – 1 Deportivo Italia Modelo, Guayaquil
Bezerra 83' Referee: Carlos Robles (Chile)
May 5, 1964 Colo-Colo 4 – 0 Deportivo Italia Nacional, Santiago
Valdés 53'
Álvarez 66'
Moreno 86'
Roberto 89'
Referee: Carlos Rivero (Peru)
May 13, 1964 Barcelona 2 – 3 Colo-Colo Modelo, Guayaquil
Nivaldo 64', 76' Roberto 34'
Álvarez 55'
Valdés 59'
Referee: Carlos Rivero (Peru)
May 17, 1964 Deportivo Italia 1 – 2 Colo-Colo Estadio Olímpico, Caracas
Jaime 54' Roberto 3'
Moreno 25'
Referee: Walter Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)
May 24, 1964 Deportivo Italia 0 – 3 Barcelona Estadio Olímpico, Caracas
Calderón 48'
Geninho 72'
Nivaldo 88'
Referee: Walter Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)
May 28, 1964 Colo-Colo 0 – 4 Barcelona Nacional, Santiago
Nivaldo 29', 80'
Hélio 59'
Geninho 82'
Referee: José María Codesal (Uruguay)

Semifinals

Four teams were drawn into two groups. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top team in each group advanced to the Finals.

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Independiente 2 2 0 0 5 3 +2 4
Santos 2 0 0 2 3 5 −2 0

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Nacional 2 2 0 0 8 4 +4 4
Colo-Colo 2 0 0 2 4 8 −4 0
July 15, 1964 Colo-Colo 2 – 4 Nacional Nacional, Santiago
Baeza 62' (o.g.)
Álvarez 77'
Sanfilippo 6', 72'
Leites 44'
Douksas 86'
Referee: Jim Finney (England)
August 1, 1964 Nacional 4 – 2 Colo-Colo Centenario, Montevideo
Douksas 11'
Jaburú 17', 44'
Pérez 76'
Jiménez 28'
Valdés 54'
Referee: Kevin Howley (England)

Finals

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Independiente 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 3
Nacional 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1
August 6, 1964 Nacional 0 – 0 Independiente Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Leo Horn (Netherlands)
August 12, 1964 Independiente 1 – 0 Nacional La Doble Visera, Avellaneda
Rodríguez 35' Attendance: 80,000
Referee: José Dimas Larrosa (Paraguay)

Champion

Copa Libertadores de América
1964 Champion

Independiente
First Title

Top goalscorers

Pos Player Team Goals
1 Mario Rodríguez Independiente 6
Celino Mora Cerro Porteño 6
3 Nivaldo Barcelona 5
4 Luis Eduardo Suárez Independiente 4
Raúl Armando Savoy Independiente 4
3 Delio Gamboa Millonarios 3
Francisco Valdés Colo-Colo 3
Luis Hernán Álvarez Colo-Colo 3
Roberto Frojuelo Colo-Colo 3
Domingo Pérez Nacional 3
Víctor Zegarra Alianza Lima 3

Footnotes

A. ^ Played in Avellaneda (Racing Club's stadium) due to the tragedy around the olympic qualifier between Peru and Argentina in Lima.
B. ^ Played in Bogotá (El Campin) due to the tragedy around the olympic qualifier between Peru and Argentina in Lima.
C. ^ Not played due to differences between CONMEBOL and the Colombian football federations, ADEFútbol and FEDEBOL (after Independiente refused to travel to Bogotá); points incredibly were awarded to Independiente despite refused to play (but no goals).

References

  1. ^ [1] News at journal Folha de S.Paulo on June 23, 2015, the Argentine TV brought up to light phone recordings conversations between Abel Gnecco, Argentina's representative in referee committee of Conmebol and the former president of AFA, Julio Grondona, who died in 2014 and who in 1964 was president of Independiente. In the wiretapping (recorded at May 17, 2013), Grondona praises himself for have conspired with the referee team of semifinal between Santos and Independiente, in order that Brazilian team could not qualify for the final. Transcription of the wiretape, included. (in Portuguese)
  • Barraza, Jorge (2010). Copa Libertadores 1960-2010. CONMEBOL. p. 78-87.