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February 5, 2012

2012 Copa Libertadores, Second Stage (32 teams) – featuring the Cup Holders, Santos FC of Brazil; and 2011 South American Footballer of the Year: Neymar.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 11:12 pm

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2012 Copa Libertadores Second Stage map (32 teams/group stage)


After the First Stage has eliminated 6 of the 12 clubs involved in that preliminary round, the 2012 Copa Libertadores Second Stage now begins, with 32 teams in eight groups of four (playing the other teams in the group home and away, for a total of 6 games each). Group winners and 2nd place finishers in each group advance to the Round of 16. On the map page, at the upper right-hand corner, the 8 groups are listed, with each club’s national flag shown. Second Stage matches begin on 7 February, 2012, and will go on until 19 April, 2012 – group standings and fixtures and results can be seen at the following link – ‘2012 Copa Libertadores Second Stage‘ (en.wikipedia.org).

Here is Copa Libertadores – Standings, Fixtures, and Results (soccerway.com).

From Mirror Football.co.uk, from 4 February 2012, by Euan Marshall, ‘Can Neymar emulate Pele and help Santos retain the Copa Libertadores?’.

Port of Santos, Brazil…
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Photo credit above – seastarpandi.com/ports.

….

Santos Futebol Clube. Estádio Urbano Caldeira [aka Vila Belmiro], in the Vila Belmiro neighborhood of Santos, São Pauloi State, Brazil.
Honors:
19 Campeonato Paulista titles (last in 2010 and 2011).
1 Copa do Brasil Title (2010).
8 Campeonato Série A Titles (last in 2004).
3 Copa Libertadores Titles (last in 2011).
santos-fc_estadio-urbano-caldeira_vila-belmiro_e.gif
Photo credits for above – Photo of Estádio Urbano Caldeira (aka Vila Belmiro) from lancenet.com.br. Aerial photo from santos.sp.gov.br.

2011 Copa Libertadores Finals, 1st Leg, Peñarol 0-0 Santos / 2nd Leg, Santos 2-1 Peñarol (Santos win 2-1 on aggregate).
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Photo credits above – Rodolfo Buhrer/Getty Images Europe via goal.blog.nytimes.com. santosfc.com.b, via goal.com. Getty Images via uefa.com. whoateallthepies.tv. soccerphotosbase.com.

Neymar…
Neymar turned 20 years old on 5 February, 2012. Neymar was born Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, on 5 February, 1992, in the suburban city of Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo State. Mogi das Cruges, with a population of around 341,000 (2010 figure}, is 40 km. (24 miles) east of the city of São Paulo and 40km. north of the city of Santos. Neymar is a Brazil International, and is often in the starting line-up these days, with 15 appearances and 8 goals [inclusive to Feb.2012]. A Santos FC youth team player from the age of 11, Neymar’s first-team debut for Santos FC was at the age of 17, in March 2009. In league games, Neymar has scored 40 goals in 85 appearances, all as a teenager. Neymar led Santos to the 2010 Copa do Brasil title. He led Santos to the 2011 Copa Libertadores title, scoring 6 goals in 13 games including the go-ahead goal in the 2nd leg of the final versus Peñarol (of Uruguay), in São Paulo on 22 July 2011 at Estádio do Pacembu. This was Santos FC’s third Copa Libertadores title and the club’s first since back-to-back Copa Libertadores titles in 1962 and 1963. It is expected that Neymar will soon sign with a European giant like FC Barcelona. It is also expected (by millions of Brazilians) that Neymar will figure prominently in the Brazil squad in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Neymar was voted South American Footballer of the Year (2011), by the newspaper El Pais, of Uruguay.

From ESPN Soccernet, from 4 January 2012, by Sam Kelly, ‘South America’s new king‘.

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Photo credits for above – Jamie McDonald/Getty Images Europe via zimbio.com. Youtube.com video uploaded by 666FinalGoal1. Official Neymar site/Multimídia.

Highlight videos,

youtube.com, ‘Santos – Peñarol 2-1 Final Copa Libertadores 2011‘ [5:46 video, with full highlights of 2nd Leg of 2011 Copa Libertadores final, Santos 2-1 Peñarol, w/ goals at 0:10 of video, Neymar goal in 47th minute (Santos 1-0 Peñarol)); at 1:50 of video, Danilo goal in the 69th minute (Santos 2-0 Peãrol); at 3:15 of video, Santos own goal (Santos 2-1 Peñarol); at 5:29 of video the now-traditional-post-match-fight breaks out between Santos and Peñarol players.] (video uploaded by mRgab90).

youtube.com, ‘Neymar Amazing Goal – Santos FC Vs Flamengo 4 x 5 – 27/07/2011 Santos 4-5‘ [note, nutmeg at top of penalty circle shown again at 0:45 of video] (1:27 video uploaded by InsaneDubstepUK).

youtube.com, ‘Neymar – Goals & Skills 2011/2012‘ (4:06 video uploaded by EzzeKriz).
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2012 Copa Libertadores‘.
Thanks to this site – enbsports.blogspot.com for 2011 Copa Libertadores player statistics.

January 19, 2012

2012 Copa Libertadores, map of the 38 clubs in the competition.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 5:00 pm

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2012 Copa Libertadores


Copa Libertadores – scores, schedule, and standings (ESPN Soccernet).
First Stage – 2012 Copa Libertadores preliminary round matches begin on 24 and 25 January; second-leg matches from 31 Jan. to 2 Feb.
The 32-team Second Stage – The 8 4-team groups begin their 6-games-per-team schedules on 8 February, ‘2012 Copa Libertadores/schedule’ (en.wikipedia.org).

The 2012 Copa Libertadotes is the 53rd edition of South America’s most prestigious professional football competition. 2011 winners were Santos FC of Brazil, who, led by the young footballing wizard Neymar, defeated Peñarol (of Uruguay) 2-1 in aggregate to claim their third Copa Libertadores title, and the club’s first since 1963, when the club featured Pelé.

The competetion, run by CONMEBOL, features qualifying clubs from the 10 South American nations under CONMEBOL’s jurisdiction, plus, since 1998, clubs from Mexico (despite the fact that Mexican football is under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF). 9 of the 11 countries involved are allotted 3 qualifying spots, while Argentina and Brazil get 5 spots. The Holder gets an automatic spot, so Brazil has 6 spots in this tournament. The football associations of each country involved have different criteria for awarding their Copa Libertadores spots, and you can see those details here {‘Copa Libertadores/Format/Qualification’ (en.wikipedia.org)}. In general terms, each country’s most recent champion or champions will qualify, plus the best-placed non-champions. In Brazil’s case, the 5 qualifiers are first place through 4th place in the previous year’s Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (Corinthians were champions in 2011), plus the current Copa do Brasil winner (Vasco da Gama were the cup winners in 2011). In Argentina’s case, the qualifiers are the previous year’s Clausura champion (Vélez Sarsfield won it in May, 2011), the previous year’s Apertura champion (Boca Juniors won it in December, 2011), and the next best-placed non-qualifiers via aggregate of the previous Clausura season and Apertura season (Lanús and Godoy Cruz qualified this way); plus the Copa Sudamericana spot. Arsenal de Sarandí qualified this way, as best performance [Semifinalist] in the 2011 Copa Sudamericana not already qualified. Since 2010, the Argentine Football Association has had the winner, or best-placed non-qualified Argentine team, from the Copa Sudamericana also get into the next year’s Copa Libertadores, as the 5th-seeded Argentine team. [The Copa Sudamericana is analogous to the UEFA Europa League tournament in Europe, and features clubs who won national cups or who placed in the 2nd-to-14th-place range in their respective leagues].

The current format, which has been in place since 2005, has 38 teams in it, but 12 of those teams must play in a preliminary round (involving a two-legged tie), called the First Stage, in order to get to the 32-team group stage, which is called the Second Stage. The Second Stage is comprised of 8 groups of 4, and the top 2 in each group advances to the Round of 16.

On the map page, a list of the match-ups for the First Stage (aka preliminary round) is just below the top banner, at the upper right-hand corner. Or you can see the matchups at this link…’2012 Copa Libertadores/First Stage‘.

The map page features a location-map of the 38 clubs, and profiles boxes for the clubs arranged by country. Each club’s profile box features…the club’s crest and home kit; their stadium(s) and location; how the club qualified for the tournament; the club’s total national professional titles (and the year of their most recent title); the club’s total Copa Libertadores appearances (and how the club fared in their most recent Copa Libertadores appearanace); and the club’s Copa Libertadores titles (and the year of most recent title).

After the First Stage is completed, I will post another map of the 32-team Second Stage.


Records and statistics of the Copa Libertadores/by club‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
Below is a chart I put together which lists the 38 qualified clubs by all-time Copa Liberrtadores appearances. Copa Libertadores titles are listed at the far left.
(You can click on the image below to get the chart on a separate page.)
2012-copa-libertadores_qualified-teams_list-of-all-time_titles_appearances_e.gif

Thanks to FootieMap.com, for finding stadium-locations of various clubs, http://www.footiemap.com/.
Thanks to RSSSF – I used this list for all-time Copa Libertadores appearances chart, ‘Copa Libertadores 1960-2010 Club Histories’ at rsssf.com .
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2012 Copa Libertadores‘.

April 24, 2011

2011 Copa Libertadores, Round of 16.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 5:01 pm

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2011 Copa Libertadores, Round of 16

Round of 16/1st Leg matches are scheduled for 26th April to 28th April. 2nd Leg matches are set for the following week, from 3rd May to 5th May.
2011 Copa Libertadores Round of 16 Bracket [and match-ups]‘ (en.wikipedia.org)

For Argentina, 3 of it’s 5 teams in the group phase have been eliminated. Compare this to Brazil, where all 5 of it’s teams in the group phase have advanced – and none play each other in the Round of 16. This means there is a chance for 5 of the 8 teams in the Quarterfinals to be from Brazil.

The clubs that qualified for the Round of 16 are…
5 teams from Brazil (Cruzeiro, Fluminense, Gremio, Internacional, Santos). 2 teams from Argentina (Estudiantes, Vélez Sarsfield). 2 teams from Colombia (Junior [Baranquilla], Once Caldas). 2 teams from Mexico (Club América, Jaguares de Chiapas). 2 teams from Paraguay (Cerro Porteño, Club Libertad). 1 team from Chile (Universidad Católica). 1 team from Ecuador (LDU Quito). 1 team from Uruguay (Peñarol).

Here are the leading scorers after the 2011 Copa Libertadores Second Stage (after 6 games played by all the teams of the players below, with the exception of Roberto Nanni of Cerro Porteño – Cerro Porteño has played 8 games in the competition so far, because they had to play in the First Stage [Nanni scored 2 goals in Cerro's 2 First Stage matches]. Listed are the players’ number of goals scored, their home country, and their club.
Note: click on images below to see them in a separate, enlargeable page.
copa-libertadores2011_leading-scorers-after-2nd-stage_top8_d.gif
Photo credits -
Roberto Nanni photo: clubcerro.mforos.com/. Wallyson photo: correiodeuberlandia.com.br/. Franco Niell photo: sports.yahoo.com/soccer/gallery/. Esteban Paredes photo: fifa.com . Nicolás Pavlovich photo:golazatropical.com . Lucas Pratto photo: cooperativa.cl . Wason Renteria photo from AP Photo, via indiatimes.com. Thiago Ribeiro photo: football.easybranches.com .

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011 Copa Libertadores‘.
Thanks to Tim Vickery. Tim Vickery’s blog at BBC.co.uk.

February 8, 2011

2011 Copa Libertadores, Second Stage – 32 clubs, including Cup Holder SC Internacional and 2011 South American Footballer of the Year: Andrés d’Alessandro.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 8:30 am

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2011 Copa Libertadores Second Stage


The 6 losing clubs from the First Stage are gone, among them Corinthians, which makes them the first Brazilian club to be eliminated in the First Stage (this is the seventh year that a preliminary-round/first stage has existed). Corinthians, whose squad included the fading Ronaldo, failed to score in either leg against Deportes Tolima, a club making their fifth appearance in the tournament and with just one Colombian title to their name (in 2003-II). Corinthians lost 2-0 in Ibagué, Colombia on 2nd February – video highlights of Deportes Tolima 2-0 Corinthians, here (LUFCloaded.com}.

For the Second Stage, the 32 clubs have been split into 8 groups of 4.
Matches for the 2nd stage begin on 9 February. Clubs play the other 3 clubs in their group home and away (6 matches). Each club’s matches are scheduled every 2-3 weeks until 20th April. Clubs that finish in first and second place in the 8 groups advance to the Round of 16.
Groups for Second Stage of 2011 Copa Libertadores, with tables, fixtures, results (Soccerway.com).
2011 Copa Libertadores Second Stage‘, at en.wikipedia.org.

It wouldn’t be a proper international football competition without a ‘group of death’, and in the 2011Copa Libertadores Second Stage, that would be Group 3, which is comprised of… Argentinos Juniors (Argentina’s 2010 Clausura champions), Nacional (the Uruguayan giants who are 3-time Copa Libertadores champs, and were Quarterfinalists in the 2009 Copa Libertadores), Fluminense (the 2010 Brazilian champions, who were 2008 Copa Libertadores finalists), and Club América (the massively-supported Mexican giants, who truth be told, have not won a thing in the last 6 seasons). The first two matches in this group are on 9 February, with Fluminense v. Argentinos Juniors at Engenhão in Rio de Janeiro; and on 15 February, with América v. Nacional at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
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    2010 Copa Libertadores champion – SC Internacional, and Andrés D’Alessandro – 2010 South American Footballer of the Year

Andrés D’Alessandro emerged as the chief catalyst for Internacional’s successful 2010 Copa Libertadores campaign. The attacking left-footed midfielder, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1981, began his career with River Plate, where he scored 31 goals in 80 games from 1998-2003, including this one v. Gimnasia La Plata at River Plate’s El Monumental {Youtube, video by Riverplatecom, here}. D’Alessandro earned his first international cap with Argentina in 2002, and he was a part of the Argentina team’s winning of the gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens (scoring 1 goal in 6 games). Before that, though, his pro career saw him off to Europe with a then-club-record transfer of 9 million Euros – to Germany’s Wolfsburg. After two and a half seasons there, D’Alessandro went on loan in January 2006 to then-bottom-of-the-table Premier League club Portsmouth, where he played a crucial role in helping Portsmouth avoid relegation that year. He scored 4 goals in 13 games for Pompey, and his dead-ball skills, dibbling prowess, and playmaking abilities led to several other goals, and contributed to the South Coast side’s general improvement in form. From Daily Mail.co.uk, from 11 Jan., 2011, by Emma Reynolds, ‘The Friday Five: Loan stars who hit the heights in the Premier League‘.
Fom Youtube, video by passionargentina, goal by Andrés D’Alessandro, Charlton v. Portsmouth, 2006.

However, then-Portsmouth-manager Harry Redknapp was unable to secure a full-time deal, with D’Alessandro opting to realize his long-held desire to play in La Liga. So the Argentine moved on to the Spanish Cup-specialist club Real Zaragoza in 2006-07. It did not work out well there, as D’Alessandro clashed with management, despite putting up solid numbers for a midfielder, with 15 goals in 36 games. So he returned back home to Argentina in 2008 to be reunited with his former River Plate manager Ramón Diaz at San Lorenzo. He was part of San Lorenzo’s strong run in the 2008 Copa Libertadores, where the club made it to the Quarterfinals. However, as per the extreme fluidity of managerial shifts in South America, Diaz left soon after, to join Mexican giants Club América, and soon after that, D’Alessandro also sought greener pastures…to Sport Club Internacional, from Brazil’s southernmost metropolis of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state.

In 2009, with D’Alessandro controlling the midfield, Internacional just missed out on winning the Brazilian title, finishing in 2nd place, 2 points behind Flamengo. But the important thing was that Inter, after three years out, qualified for the following year’s Copa Libertadores. At that point in time, SC Internacional had only made it to South America’s most prestigious competition 7 times, but when they were there, the Colorados (the Reds) had made the most of it, winning the 2006 Copa Libertadores title by beating fellow Brazilian club São Paulo on 4-1 aggregate. Furthermore, in 3 of the other 6 times Internacional had qualified for the Copa Libertadores, the club had made it either to the Semifinals (in 1977 and 1989), or to the Finals (in 1980, when they lost to Nacional of Uruguay by 1-0 aggregate).

The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa forced the 2010 Copa Libertadores to be interrupted during the month of June, with resumption, at the Semifinal stage, in late July. In the interim, SC Internacional had sacked coach Jorge Fossati because of poor results in the Brazilian league. Internacional had started the 2010 Campeonato Serie A season in May with 4 straight losses, and a day after the fourth loss, Fossati was gone. So the 2010 Copa Libertadores reconvened with one of the 4 remaining teams having a new man at the helm. Internacional’s new manager was the extremely well-traveled 54 year old Rio Grande do Sul native Celso Roth. Besides stints as Indonesia and Qatar national coach, Roth had managed Internacional on three separate occasions (1993-1994, 1996-1998, and 2002); local rivals Grêmio three times; as well as 2 stints at Vasco da Gama; two stints at Atlético Miniero; and stints at Vitória; Sport Recife; Palmeiras; Santos; Goiás; Flamengo; and Botofogo. Notably absent from the nomadic Celso Roth’s CV, however, was a major title. That was about to change.

Internacional, to be honest, had never looked dominant in the latter stages of their 2010 Copa Libertadores title run, relying on the away-goals rule to advance in the Round of 16 (advancing by 3-3 aggregate over Argentina’s Banfield); in the Quarterfinals (advancing by 2-2 aggregate over Argentina’s Estudiantes – who were the Cup Holder); and in the Semifinals (advancing by 2-2 aggregate over São Paulo). In fact, Internacional just barely made it out of the Group Stage, only clinching advancement in the final group match, in Ecuador, versus 2008 Copa Libertadores champions LDU Quito. Besides D’Alessandro, there were several players who were instrumental in Internacional’s Copa libertadores title run… one was Anderzinho (who was player of the week in week 12, largely via the following goal, from the aforementioned match in Ecuador…here (at 0:15 of the Youtube video by CristalPteLiberta13).
Other crucial players for Inter were striker Alecsandro (in spite of being injured for the 2nd Leg in the Finals); left wingback Kléber; super-sub/MF Giuliano; Porto Alegre-born central midfielder Tinga (who had returned in 2010 for his second stint with the club); and Rio Grande do Sul-born captain and central defender Bolívar.
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Photo credits -
SwitchImageProject.com. Goal.com. Internacionaluk.blogspot.com. Alexandre Lops at Internacional.com. losblanquilos.com. Sambafoot.com. Globoesportes.Globo.com.

    2010 Copa Libertadores Finals

11 August, 2010, 2010 Copa Libertadores Final, 1st Leg at Estadio Omnilife, in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Internacional played with surprising assurance in the 1st leg of the Finals at Chivas’ new space-age-design/artificial-turf-laden 49,000-capacity Estadio Omnilife in Guadalajara before a crowd of 30,870. In the first half, Inter contolled the bulk of possession and hit the woodwork twice, but let Chivas take the lead against the run of play at 45′+2′, allowing in a looping header by Adolfa Bautista. But Guadalajara would not really threaten again in the match. Internacional lost Alecsandro to injury in the second half, but the Colorados scored the equalizer in the 72nd minute, with Kléber crossing to set up a Guilano header. Inter’s aerial domination continued – in the 76th minute center-backs Indio and Bolívar combined, with Indio heading over to set up a stooped header by Bolívar.

18 August, 2010, Copa Libertadores Final, 2nd Leg at Estadio José Pinheiro Borda [aka Beira-Rio], Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Before a capacity crowd of 56,000.
2nd Leg video highlights…{Youtube, 4:16 video by argentinofutbol13, here, (with times for goals noted below)…
(0:50 seconds into video}…Guadalajara take early command, and score first again, in the 43rd minute, on a fine play, with Bravo heading over a come back to Marco Fabian, who leaped up and backwards to swivel a sideways bicycle kick into the net. 2-2 aggregate.
(1:12 into the video}…In the 61st minute Internacional took back the aggregate lead with Kléber curling a pin-point cross from the left flank into the box, to allow FW Sobis to tap it in. 3-2 aggregate for Internacional.
(2:02 into the video)…In the 65th minute, Celso Roth again makes Guiliano a second-half substitution, and in the 73rd minute, he puts in young striker Dimão, who scores in the 86th minute, taking advantage of a poor pass by Fabian, with Dimão picking off the ball up at the half-line unmarked and open for a goal mouth sprint, shooting the ball past the Chivas ‘keeper Michel. 4-2 aggreagte for Internacional.
(2:40 into the video)…Omar Arellano of Chivas is given a straight red card in the 87th minute for a two-footed tackle on D’Alessandro.
(2:56 into the video)…One minute later (88′), Guiliano scores. He collects the ball above the center arc, then beats two Chivas defenders simultaneously with a stop-dribble/flick move that skids the ball into the box, where he then beats Michel and a another Chivas defender to the ball. 5-2 aggregate for Internacional.
(3:30 into the video)…In the 90th minute, Chivas get s one back, with Omar Bravo scoring on the rebound from Bautista’s woodwork-hitting free kick. 5-3 aggregate for Internacional, and that’s how it stood.
(3:44 into the video)…For the second straight Copa Libertadores Final, a fight breaks out after the ref’s final whistle, with Chivas Guadalajara showing some poor sportsmanship, picking fights with the celebrating Inter squadl.

From Reuters,’Brazil’s Internacional win Libertadores Cup‘.

Andrés D’Alessandro, 2010 South American Footballer of the Year, chosen byEl País, Uruguay…
From ESPN Soccernet.com, by Sam Kelly, January 9, 2011, ‘Internacional superstar‘.
Youtube video, by dshogo, ‘Andrés D’Alessandro – S.C. Internacional [PARTE 2]‘ (7:15).
Below, photo illustration of Andrés D ‘Alessandro’s career, 1998-2010…
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Photo credits – Sigamosriver.blogspot.com. Gsp.ro. Alan Walter/Daily Mail.co.uk [article: 11 Jan., 2011, by Emma Reynolds, ‘The Friday five: Loan stars who hit the heights in the Premier League‘. losblanquillos.com. Dalessandro10.com/Galerias. TheOffside.com’Libertadores. Silvia Izquierdo at MSN.Foxsports.com, here.
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘Copa Libertadores‘. ‘SC Internacional‘.
Thanks to Tim Vickery, for his article ‘Inter take Cup back to Brazil’, from the September, 2010 issue of World Soccer. WorldSoccer.com.
Tim Vickery’s Blog at BBC/football.
Thanks to CONMEBOL for this pdf of 2010 Copa Libertadoes attendances.
Thanks to the official site of SC Internacional, Internacional.com.br

January 23, 2011

2011 Copa Libertadores, map of the 38 clubs in the competition.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 3:34 pm

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2011 Copa Libertadores, all 38 clubs


From BBC/football/blogs, Tim Vickery’s Blog, from 24 Jan., ‘Crunch time for Ronaldo and Corinthians‘.
The map page shows the 38 clubs’ locations on the map. Flanking the map, grouped by their countries, are the clubs’ profile boxes. Each club’s profile box includes…home kit; crest; city location; stadium(s), and capacity; how the club qualified; national professional titles (with year of last title); total Copa Libertadores appearances (and how the club fared in their last Copa Liberrtadores appearance); and Copa Libertadores titles (with year of last title).

Copa Libertadores page at ESPN Soccernet, here.

The Copa Libertadores is South America’s premier international football tournament. It is run by CONMEBOL, and includes clubs from 10 South American nations, plus, since 1998, it has included one CONCACAF country, Mexico (basically because the television money coming from Mexico is so lucrative). The 52nd Copa Libertadores competition, the 2011 Copa Libertadores, begins with First Stage matches on 25, 26, and 27 January. 6 of the 12 teams who must play in the First Stage get eliminated. To be very general about it, First Stage is comprised of non-national champions – each country has it’s own way of selecting their qualifying clubs, and if you are curious, you can go to the Wikipedia page {here}. One innovation that I really wish UEFA would adopt is that the winner of the ‘second-tier’ competition, the Copa Sudamericana, now qualifies for the Copa Libertadores…and that is the Argentine club Independiente (who have won the most Copa Libertadores titles, with 7 {List of Copa Libertadores winners, by club, here}). From ESPN Soccernet, from 25 January, ‘Inderendiente target success‘.

First Stage was introduced in 2005, as the Preliminary Round. The preliminaries became called the First Stage in 2006. Previous to this (in 2004 and 2005) there was no preliminary stage, with 9 groups of 4 in the Group Stage – 36 teams. Before that there were 32 teams – 8 groups of 4 (from 2000 to 2003). Before that there were 20 teams – 5 groups of 4 – which was a set-up that lasted for almost three decades (from 1971 to 1999). The competition originally began in 1960, with a 7 team format, and it’s first title was won by Uruguay’s Peñarol.

The Copa Libertadores presently has 38 clubs from 11 countries participating. Here are the countries, their first season involved, and the total Copa Libertadores titles won by clubs from that country, and the last club to win it from that country…
Argentina, 1960 – 22 Copa Libertadores titles (last in 2009 by Estudiantes de La Plata).
Bolivia, 1960 – 0 titles.
Brazil, 1960 – 14 Copa Libertadores titles (last in 2010 by SC Internacional).
Chile, 1960 – 1 Copa Libertadores title (in 1999, by Colo-Colo).
Colombia, 1960 – 2 Copa Libertadores titles (last in 2007, by Once Caldas).
Paraguay, 1960 – 3 Copa Libertadores titles (last in 2002, by Olimpia).
Uruguay, 1960 – 8 Copa Libertadores titles (last in 1988, by Nacional de Montevideo).
Ecuador, 1961 – 1 Copa Libertadores title (in 2008, by LDU Quito).
Peru, 1962 – 0 titles.
Venezuela, 1964 – 0 titles.
Mexico, 1998 – 0 titles.

The 16 clubs in the First Stage are all the lowest-seeded clubs from each country, except for Brazil, which, has 2 First Stage clubs. This is to make room for the Cup-Holder…SC Internacional, who won last years’ 2010 Copa Libertadores. The winners of the 6 First Stage ties advance to the Second Stage. On the map page, in the upper right-hand corner are the 6 First Stage match-ups. Below is the same fixtures list, with club crests…


The Second Stage will begin on 9 February. I will post a map of the Second Stage on 8 February.
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I used this list for all-time Copa Libertadores appearances ‘Copa Libertadores 1960-2010 Club Histories’ at rsssf.com .
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2011 Copa Libertadores‘.

April 23, 2010

2010 Copa Libertadores, Second Stage, Round of 16, with top 5 leading scorers.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 11:00 am

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The map shows the 14 clubs through to the Round of 16, plus the two Mexican clubs who were allowed to pick up where they were a year ago prior to the H1N1 scare in Mexico that forced the two clubs, San Luis and Chivas Guadalajara, to pull out of the 2009 Copa Libertadores.
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Click on the gif below to see photos, with flag of the country of birth listed, for the top 5 scorers in the competition so far. [Note, I couldn't get an image inserted here...I am having a few problems with the newly installed WordPress 2.9.2 .]

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The Brazilian forward Kleber leads with 7 goals for his club Cruzeiro, who lost the 2009 Copa Libertadores final to Estudiantes. From 2003 to 08, Kleber played 65 times for Dynamo Kyiv, scoring 25 goals. He was then loaned out to Palmeiras in 2008, then signed with Belo Horizonte’s Cruzeiro in 2009, where he scored 7 league goals in 15 games and 3 in the ’09 Copa Libertadores.
Two of the players on the list below have been instrumental in propelling their under-dog status clubs into the Round of 16…Jose Carlos Fernandez of Peru’s Allianza Lima, and Rodolfo Gamarra, of Paraguay’s Libertad. One player, the Panamanian forward Luis Tejada, of Peru’s Juan Aurich, netted 6 times but his production was not enough to see his club go through. Two Peruvian clubs have made it through, though, the aforementioned Allianza Lima, and another club from the capital, Universitario. That’s an impressive showing for a country that been out of the limelight for a time, now. Sao Paulos’ Washington, born in the city of Brasilia, is a 35-year old journeyman who has played in Turkey (with Fenerbahce, scoring 10 goals in 12 games) and Japan, where he helped Urawa Reds win their first J-League title in 2006, and an Asian Champions League title in 2007. He netted 42 times in 52 games with Urawa. His prolific output has continued. He returned home in 2007, and scored 21 times in 28 games with Fluminense, before being signed by Sao Paulo, where he has scored 35 goals in 59 games, and counting.
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Credit must be given to the Brazilian contingent, all five of which advanced to the Round of 16…Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Internacional, and Sao Paulo.
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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, 2010 Copa Libertadores.
Thanks to Jeremy, at Albion Road site, for tech support… Football Clubs Guide, Albion Road.com, a fan’s guide to Football Clubs around the world.

February 14, 2010

2010 Copa Libertadores, Second Stage.

Filed under: Argentina,Copa Libertadores — admin @ 5:05 pm

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Note- I still am having a few problems with my admin. I have got a handle on inserting images via code, but I can’t figure out how to make links to other sites.

Below are two sets of images relating to the Cup-Holders, Estudiantes de La Plata…

Estudiantes de La Plata. La Plata, Buenos Aires state, Argentina. 4-time Copa Libertadores champions.

Estudiantes won 3 straight Copa Libertadores titles, in 1968, 1969, and 1970. This squad featured Juan Ramón Verón. His son, Juan Sebastián Verón, a midfielder, began at Estudiantes, where he helped the club return to the Argentinian top flight in 1995, before moving on to Boca Juniors in 1996, where he played 17 games (3 goals), and was a team-mate of Diego Maradonna. Verón had always dreamed of playing for Sheffield United (his uncle Pedro Verde played there). However, it was to Italy he went shortly after making his international debut in the summer of 1996, when he was signed by Sven-Göran Eriksson at Sampdoria. After two seasons in Genoa with Sampdoria, Verón signed with Parma, with whom Verón helped win the Coppa d’Italia and the UEFA Cup in 1998-99. Sven Goran Ericksson again sought the talents of the playmaking midfielder, and brought Verón over to Lazio. With Lazio, Verón helped the Roman side win the Double in 1999-2000 (this was Lazio’s second and last national title).

Juan Sebastián Verón then tried his luck in England, but he didn’t have nearly the success he had in Italy, with tepid stints at Manchester United and Chelsea. The pace basically got the better of Verón in England. In 2004, Chelsea manager José Mourinho loaned out Verón to Internazionale, and after two years in this situation, Verón decided to return back to his and his father’s original club, in a sort of prodigal son role. Estudiantes were undergoing a giant disruption, because they were homelesss following the government ruling that banned wooden stands, and Estudiantes had 2 wooden stands at their ‘Estadio 1 y 57′ (aka Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi). A waiver on the wooden stands ruling, which would have allowed Estudiantes to continue to play in the ’1 y 57′, was overruled by the mayor of La Plata, and this started the feuding between the local government and Estudiantes over the whole stadium issue.
Meanwhile, in his first year back with Estudiantes, Verón helped the club win it’s first national championship in 23 years, as the Pincharattas (the rat-stabbers) claimed the 2006-Apertura title. In the intervening 3 years, Estudiantes have played their home matches in 3 different venues, and currently are playing at the stadium of second-level club Quilmes (who are located in the southeast of Greater Buenos Aires, which puts them around 35 kilometers away from Estudiantes’ La Plata home). In spite of all this, in early 2009 the Estudiantes squad were able to keep their composure and progress through the stages of the Copa Libertadores, and after dispatching Uruguay’s Nacional 3-1 aggregate in the semifinals, Estudiantes were set to face Cruzeiro of Belo Horizonte, Brazil in the finals. Throughout the tournament, Estudiantes were powered by the field general Verón, and the goals of striker Mauro Boselli. And it was these two who were instrumental in the outcome, when, after a nil-nil draw in the first leg in La Plata, Mauro Boselli scored the winning goal in Brazil in the 78th minute, on a header, from a corner kick by Verón. Verón won MVP for the competition, and Boselli was top scorer, with 8 goals.

The stadium had began being rebuilt in August, 2008, and as the last photo (taken in August 2009) shows, most of the main structure is up. Verón has contributed some of his own funds toward the new stadium’s construction, as well as to the club’s nice new training facilities just north of La Plata. Observers note he is positioning himself as the future president of the club, after retirement. The stadium is projected to be ready for play in a not-completely-finished state in late 2010. So soon Estudiantes will be back home, playing in a new 30,000-capacity stadium, on the site of their old and distinctive ground, with the luxurious canopy of trees which flanks the exterior still intact.

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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at es.wikipedia.org; I found the photo of the new stadium under construction there. There is also a nice blog covering the construction progress at the Estadio Tierra de Campeones’ , at estadiopincha.blogspot.com http://estadiopincha.blogspot.com/
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Thanks to Sam Kelly for help on this post. Sam’s work can be found at his excellent Hasta El Gol Siempre site, which covers the Argentinian scene (click on it at the Blogroll in the sidebar at right, at ‘hasta el gol siempre’), and at The Engache.com site (at the Blogroll on the right under ‘the engache.com’). Plus there is the Sam Kelly archive at ESPNSoccernet.com (on the Blogroll at ‘Sam Kelly @ ESPN soccernet’).

January 15, 2010

2010 Copa Libertadores, map of the 40 clubs in the competition.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 9:23 am

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Defending champions are Argentina’s Estudiantes de La Plata.  As holders,  they enter the 2010 Copa Libertadores automatically.  Two other clubs entered automatically,  the two Mexican clubs that left the 2009 tournament in the wake of the H1N1 virus scare…Chivas de Guadalajara and San Luis FC.  They will enter the tournament in the Round of 16,  so they can pick up where they left off last year,  so to speak. 

The other 37 clubs in this year’s tournament all qualified by the many and varied ways which clubs qualify…from outright champions of their domestic leagues to runners-up to winners of separate competitions such as the Primera División de México’s InterLiga competition,  which just ended Wednesday (and takes place in the USA,  in southern California and Texas).  CF Monterrey,  and the newly re-branded Estudiantes Tecos,  of Guadalajara,  were the clubs which advanced to the Copa Libertadores via this competition.

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The 51st Copa Libertadores de América will begin on January 26,  with three matches from the First stage,  Deportiva Táchira (Venezuela) v. Libertad (Paraguay); and  Colón de Santa Fe (Argentina) v. Universidad Católica (Chile).   The 12 clubs in this stage are the lowest-placed clubs in the tournament and must win a 2-legged tie to advance to the Second stage.  The first part of the Second stage,  the Group stage,  will begin on February 9.  You can see the Group Stage set-up, here.  

On the map,  as I did last year,  there are thumbnail profiles of each club in the competition.  The profiles include the club’s city and stadium(s),  their domestic and Copa Libertadores titles,  their total Copa Libertadores appearances,  and how the club qualified for the 2010 Copa Libertadores. 

This year I have added another feature,  the jerseys of each club.  I put credits at the bottom of each jersey.  The four jerseys without credits I cobbled together myself (Nacional of Uruguay,  Real Potosí of Bolivia,  Juan Aurich of Peru,  and Deportiva Italia of Venezuela), because I could not find a suitable image anywhere. 

Thanks to Onion Bag.com,  for several of the jerseys [click here}.   Thanks to Futbol Mundial Kits blogspot,  for several of the jerseys {click here}.   Thanks to Subside Sports,  for several of the jerseys {click here}.  

Thanks to Junior Passion.com,  for an image of the Junior (Colombia) jersey {click here}.   Thanks to http://www.football-shirts.co.uk for an image of the Monterrey jersey {click here}.   Thanks to Big Soccer.com/Forum,  for the Estudiantes Tecos jersey {click here}.  

Thanks to World Soccer Shop.com,  for some of the jerseys {click here}.   Thanks to Soccer Shop Usa.com,  for the Morelia jersey {click here}.  Thanks to Football11.net,  for some of the jerseys {click here}.  

Thanks to El Blog de las Casacas,  for some of the jerseys {click here (set at Primera División Argentina kits, 2009)}. 

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here (2010 Copa Libertadores page)}.   Thanks to Footiemap,  for location help {click here}.

May 22, 2009

2009 Copa Libertadores, Quarterfinals (8 teams).

Filed under: Copa Libertadores — admin @ 5:10 pm

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San Luis FC and Chivas Guadalajara withdrew from the Copa L:ibertadores in the wake of the swine flu outbreak.  In fact,  Mexico has broken all ties with CONMEBOL  {see this (MSN.Foxsports.com/soccer)}.

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Uruguay’s Defensor Sporting shocked Boca Juniors, in Buenos Aires on Thursday night,  to clinch the final spot in the quarterfinals.   Here is an article from ESPN Soccernet, ‘Defensor stun Boca to reach quarter-finals’, {click here}.  Here is another article,  ’Copa Libertadores top eight’ (sportsya.com) {click here}.

There are four Brazilian teams in the quarterfinals: Cruzeiro,  Gremio Palmeiras,  and São Paulo FC;   2 Uruguayan teams:  Nacional de Montevideo,  and Defensor Sporting;  just one Argentinian team: Estudiantes de La Plata;  and for the first time in the quarterfinals, one Venezualan team,  Caracas FC.  It is amazing to consider that there is not a single team representing the capital of Argentina,  Buenos Aires.

{For the 2009 Copa Libertadores Quarterfinals Match-ups, click here }.

In the link,  you can also see the leading scorers in the 2009 Copa Libertadores,  so far.   Below is a photo gallery of the top scorers in the 2009 Copa Libertadores, through the Round of 16 .  [Note: for best viewing, click once more  on the image,  after the initial click.]

copa-libertadores_leading-scorers09_through-round-of16_segment_.gif

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here,  for the 2009 Copa Libertadores page)}.

May 2, 2009

2009 Copa Libertadores, Knockout Stage, map of the 16 teams and their home stadiums; and the third installment of the tournament map.

Filed under: Copa Libertadores,Football Stadia — admin @ 6:59 am

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The Knockout Stage begins with the round of 16.  Teams are matched up according to results in the group stage.  The two-legged match-ups will be played on May 6 and May 13.  Here are the remaining 16 teams’ seeds, the match-ups,  and the bracket {click here}.   All 5 Brazilian teams have advanced.  There are no Colombian or Bolivian teams left in the competition.

Click on the title below for the other map…

copa-libertadores09_knockout-stage_16teams_continuation-of-initial-map_.gif

The two Mexican teams have a problem on their hands.  {See this, “Swine Flu Hits Copa Libertadores”, from The Offside.com}.

Thanks to Switch Image Project site for some of the jerseys (Boca Juniors, Palmeiras,  and Chivas Guadalajara jerseys)  {click here (set at Jan. 22, 2009 Club Deportivo Guadalajara Chivas 2008-09 kits}.   Thanks to the Sport Recife fans’ site called Meusport {click here (translated)}.   Thanks to the Cruzeiro fans’ site http://crufotos.wordpress.com/ .   Thanks to the Sao Paulo FC site Tricolormania {click here (translated)}.   Thanks to MuyBoca.com,  a Boca Juniors blog (translated) {click here}.   Thanks to Caracas FC site [I was unable to get a translation] {click here}.   Thanks to Sportfactory.Mediotempo.com,  and this thread {click here (Estadios Copa Libertadores 2009)}.   Thanks to GolazTropical.com.py , a Paraguayan sports site (translated) {click here}.   Thanks to http://deportivocuenca.blogspot.com/ .   Thanks to http://www.Cuencanos.com ,  for the elusive Deportivo Cuenca 2009 jersey photo {gallery at Flickr.com,  here}.

Thanks to the nice French site Chasseuer De Stades [which Babel Fish translated as 'hunter of stages',  but it's a site about football stadiums across the globe],  {click here}.

Thanks to GaloDigital {click here}.   Thanks to Flickr.com {click here .   Thanks to Panoramio.com {click here}.  

Thanks to World Stadiums.com {click here}.   Thanks to FussballTempel.net (German site on football stadiums) {click here}.   Thanks to the Onionbag.com {click here}.   Thanks to Futebol & Negócio {click here}.   Thanks to Minube.com (travel site) {click here}.   Thanks to Skyscrapercity site,  and this thread {click here (Estadios Peruanos III)}.

Finally,  thanks to the contributors to the pages at Wikipedia {click here (set at Copa Libertadores 2009 page)}.

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