- South American Championship of Champions
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South American Championship of Champions Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones
Campeonato Sul-Americano de Campeões
The Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones trophy on display.Tournament details Host country 
ChileCity Santiago Dates February 11 to March 17 Teams 7 (from 1 confederation) Final positions Champions 
Vasco da GamaRunners-up 
River PlateTournament statistics Matches played 21 Goals scored 76 (3.62 per match) Attendance 830,539 (39,549 per match) The South American Championship of Champions (Spanish: Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones, Portuguese: Campeonato Sul-Americano de Campeões) was a football competition played in 1948 and the first continental-wide tournament in the history of the sport. It was played between February 11 and March 17. Vasco da Gama won the competition after earning the most points in the round-robin tournament. This tournament is seen as a precursor of the Copa Libertadores and is considered, along with the Copa Río de La Plata, as an important stepping stone towards the creation of the South American club tournament.[1]
Contents
Summary
See also: Copa Río de La Plata and History of the Copa LibertadoresSince the early 1910s, Argentine and Uruguayan clubs disputed the Copa Río de La Plata, a tournament played between the national champions of each nation's top national leagues. The great success of this tournament gave birth to the idea of a continental competition.
In 1929, the head executives of Nacional, Roberto Espil y José Usera Bermúdez, idealized a competition between the national champions of each Conmebol member. After analyzing the geographical distributions and distances, Espil devised a proyect in 1946 which also included the runners-up of every national league. However, it was Colo-Colo's head executive, Don Robinson Alvarez Marín, that first put it into practice and hatched the idea in the late 1930s.[2][3] In 1948, Don Luis Valenzuela, as president of the confederation, finally set into motion the antecedent of the Copa Libertadores: the Copa de Campeones.
Vasco da Gama, led by figures such as Augusto, Barbosa, Danilo, Friaça, Ademir and Chico, came away with the trophy after a deciding 0-0 draw against River Plate on the last round of matches. Vasco da Gama had already defeated Lítoral and Emelec 1-0 each, thumped Nacional 3-1, trashed Deportivo Municipal 4-0 and tied 1-1 with the host club Colo-Colo. The competition was as successful financially as it was on the field: the average public attendance per game was 39,549 spectators and the tournament generated a gross of CLP 9,493,483.[4]
The tournament was also the kickoff to the creation of the European Cup in Europe. French journalist Jacques Ferran, present during the competition, was covering the Championship for French newspaper L'Equipe. Ferran became fascinated with the proceedings of the tournament and took the idea to Gabriel Hanot, the editor of L'Equipe, once he returned to Europe. Hanot, in turn, took the envisioned idea to UEFA.[5]
Afterwards
Until 1996, Conmebol did not recognize the competition as an official South American tournament. Vasco da Gama, although always considered the first South American champion, had never asked recognition to the title before to Conmebol. The recognition of it was needed to give Vasco da Gama the right to compete in the Supercopa Sudamericana, a competition which brought together all the past winners of the Copa Libertadores. But in 1996, an archive was rediscovered in Conmebol telling the story of the Copa Libertadores, which stated that the torunament of 1948 was the "embryo" of the Libertadores.
The Vasco executives managed to hold a ballot for the formalization of the title in question and the title of Vasco was recognized and formalized. The vote was almost unanimous with the only dissenting vote coming from Michel Assef, then-President of arch-rivals Flamengo.
Participants
Country Team Qualification ArgentinaRiver Plate 1947 Primera División champion 
BoliviaDeportivo Litoral 1947 La Paz champion BrazilVasco da Gama 1947 Campeonato Carioca champion[B] ChileColo-Colo Host and 1947 Primera División champion 
EcuadorEmelec Invitee 
PeruDeportivo Municipal 1947 Primera División runner-up 
UruguayNacional 1947 Primera División champion Notes:
- Deportivo Municipal took part in place of the Peruvian champions Atlético Chalaco.
- As the champion of Rio de Janeiro state, Vasco da Gama represented Brazil. They were given preference over Palmeiras, the São Paulo state champion, since Rio won the 1946 Championship of State Teams and thus was considered the champion of the stronger league. No national club championship existed then.
Final standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 Vasco da Gama6 4 2 0 12 3 +9 10 2 River Plate6 4 1 1 12 4 +8 9 3 Nacional6 4 0 2 16 11 +5 8 4 Deportivo Municipal6 3 0 3 12 11 +1 6 5 Colo-Colo6 2 2 2 11 11 0 6 6 Deportivo Litoral6 1 0 5 9 18 −9 2 7 Emelec6 0 1 5 4 18 −14 1 Match results
February 11 Colo-Colo 2–2 EmelecSantiago
February 14 Vasco da Gama 2–1 LitoralSantiago
February 14 Nacional 3–2 Deportivo MunicipalSantiago
February 18 River Plate 4–0 EmelecSantiago
February 18 Vasco da Gama 4–1 NacionalSantiago
February 21 River Plate 2–0 Deportivo MunicipalSantiago
February 21 Colo-Colo 4–2 LítoralSantiago
February 25 Nacional 3–1 LitoralSantiago
February 25 Vasco da Gama 4–0 Deportivo MunicipalSantiago
February 28 Vasco da Gama 1–0 EmelecSantiago
February 28 Deportivo Municipal 3–1 Colo-ColoSantiago
March 3 Lítoral 3–1 EmelecSantiago
March 3 Nacional 3–0 River PlateSantiago
March 8 Deportivo Municipal 4–0 EmelecSantiago
March 8 Colo-Colo 1–1 Vasco da GamaSantiago
March 9 River Plate 5–1 LitoralSantiago
March 9 Colo-Colo 3–2 NacionalSantiago
March 14 Nacional 4–1 EmelecSantiago
March 14 Vasco da Gama 0–0 River PlateSantiago
March 17 Deportivo Municipal 3–1 LítoralSantiago
March 17 River Plate 1–0 Colo-ColoSantiago Footnotes
References
- ^ Carluccio, Jose (September 2, 2007). "¿Qué es la Copa Libertadores de América?" (in Spanish). Historia y Fútbol. http://historiayfutbol.obolog.com/copa-libertadores-america-25746. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
- ^ La Nación; Historia del Fútbol Chileno, 1985
- ^ Esteban Bekerman (2008). "Hace 60 años, River perdía la gran chance de ser el primer club campeón de América". In Perfil.com. http://www.perfil.com/contenidos/2008/03/13/noticia_0054.html. Retrieved May 10, 2008.
- ^ La Nación. Tomo 8, p. 15-16.
- ^ Primeira Libertadores - História (Globo Esporte 09/02/2008)
External links
- Mauro Prais: South American Club Championship 1948 RSSSF, 11 July 2008
- Campeonato Sul-Americano de Campeões 1948 Vasco.Net
- Esteban Bekerman: Hace 60 años, River perdía la gran chance de ser el primer club campeón de América Perfil, 14 March 2008
- Título sul-americano completa 60 anos GloboEsporte, 14 March 2008
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