1948 Copa de Campeones

1948 Campeonato Sul-americano de Clubes Campeões
Tournament details
City	Santiago
Dates	February 11 to March 17
Teams	7 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Vasco da Gama (1st title)
Runner-up	River Plate
Tournament statistics
Matches played	21
Goals scored	76 (3.62 per match)

The Copa de Campeones (Portuguese: Campeonato Sul-americano de Clubes Campeões) was a football competition played in 1947. It was played between February 11th and March 17th. 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 most prestigious South American club tournament.

[edit] Background

Since the early 1910's, 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. In 1948, Don Luis Valenzuela, as president of the confederation, finally set into motion the antecedent of the Copa Libertadores: the Copa de Campeones.

[edit] Participants

• Colo Colo - Hosts and 1947 National champions
• Emelec - Invitee
• Deportivo Litoral - 1947 La Paz champions
• Deportivo Municipal - 1947 National runners-up
• Nacional - 1947 National champions
• River Plate - 1947 National champions
• Vasco da Gama - 1947 Rio de Janeiro champions

[edit] Tournament overview

Trophy of the South American Club Championship at the trophy gallery of Vasco da Gama's stadium São Januário.

FP	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vasco da Gama	6	4	2	0	12	3	+9	10
2	River Plate	6	4	1	1	12	4	+8	9
3	Nacional	6	4	0	2	16	11	+5	8
4	Deportivo Municipal	6	3	0	3	12	11	+1	6
5	Colo-Colo	6	2	2	2	11	11	0	6
6	Deportivo Litoral	6	1	0	5	9	18	-8	2
7	Emelec	6	0	1	5	8	18	-10	1

Copa de Campeones 1948 Champion
Vasco da Gama First Title

[edit] External links

• South American Club Championship 1948 by Mauro Prais at RSSSF