Football Journey

The championship of Brazil, or Taca de Ouro, meandered step by step to its last stages of direct elimination. Rules should be mentioned: from the 1/8 on, if there was no winner after both legs, away goals or penalty-shoot out did not decide the winner, but the team with better record at the previous stage qualified. Strange rule. It benefited Ponte Preta against Vasco da Gama in the ¼ finals, when both matches ended 0-0. Flamengo was also eliminated at this stage, but Botafogo beat them without the help of the rule. But the semi-finals were decided only on that rule: Botafogo won their home match against Sao Paulo 1-0 and lost the second leg 2-3. Sao Paulo qualified, thanks to better ¼ final record. Ponte Preta lost at home to Gremio 2-3 and won the away match 1-0 , but Gremio had better ¼ fina; record than them. The final, deciding the 1981 champion of Brazil opposed Botafogo and Gremio.

So far, there were teams with various degrees of luck and form – the structure of the Brazilian championship hardly gave a clear picture of the real strength or weakness of many a club. In the so-called final table Londrina ended 42nd of 44 teams.

Londrina (Londrina) still won their state championship, but on national stage they finished very low – as it was expected. Similar clubs had similar fate:

River (Teresina) ended 40th.

Joinville (Joinville – 39th. But some big clubs had either terrible year or tremendously bad luck.

Palmeiras ended 31st – it was no longer the mighty team they had not long ago, but that bad? Or were they just unlucky? Palmeiras did not even reach the second stage of the long championship.

Corinthians moved ahead for awhile, but may be they were the biggest disappointment at the end.

Paulo Cesar Caju, Ze Maria, Zenon, Biro-Biro, Gomes… and the new genius, already becoming a world class superstar, Socrates. 26th at the end…

It was the other way around for some clubs – the ‘second tier’ Brazilian clubs performed well this year – no miracles and not going very far, but at least maintaining the level they were supposed to be on. Nautico, Bahia, Santa Cruz, Portugueza, even Bangu. Perhaps CSA (Maceio) were most pleasant surprise.

Like Londrina, they earned promotion to First level by reaching the final of Second level in 1980. But unlike Londrina, they played very well in 1981 – and finished 13th. Yet, they were unable to go beyond the 1/8 finals. The only other smaller clubs at this stage were Ponte Preta and Operario. Both moved ahead.

Operario (Campo Grande) did very well this year, but they face Gremio in the ¼ finals and lost both matches. No shame in it – Zico’s Flamengo was eliminated at this point too.

Gremio was the bad luck for the small teams – after eliminating Operario, they met Ponte Preta. Gremio depended on their record against Operario to eliminate Ponte Preta, but that was the rule, and the fantastic run of Ponte Preta finished at the semi-finals.

Fantastic season: they were second in the Sao Paulo championship and semi-finalists in the national championship! Standing from left: Zé Mário, Nenê, Carlos, Juninho, Odirlei, Toninho Oliveira;

Crouching: Édson, Marco Aurélio, Chicão, Dicá, Osvaldo.

Not a bad team, but let’s face it: Ponte Preta (Campinas) hardly is the name coming to mind, when one thinks of Sao Paulo football. But they did much better than the best clubs – better than Sao Paulo, Santos, Portuguesa. Corinthians, with all their great players, was eliminated long, long ago – Ponte Preta was eliminated only by the rules, not on the pitch!

Botafogo (Rio de Janeiro) also cannot be blamed – they were eliminated by the rules too. A case to be sorry, not angry. May be not even sorry, for there was a sweet moment at the ¼ finals: they eliminated Flamengo, which counts highly in Rio de Janeiro – often to beat a rival is better than winning a title.

And at last the first leg of the final was played on April 30. Gremio hosted and won 2-1 after 2 goals by Paulo Isidoro. Serginho scored for Sao Paulo and kept the dream alive – one goal difference is not much when the most important match is at home. So is the usual wisdom. Sao Paulo did not score at all on May 31, but Gremio did, thanks to Baltazar. A second victory and the title was theirs.

Sao Paulo ended with silver – which, for them, translates ‘ended empty handed’. How good or bad they were? Hard to tell, for Brazilian football – unlike the European – rarely concentrated all superstars in 2-3 teams. Typically, a strong Brazilian team had 5-6 great players – and the competition had the same number. Sao Paulo was typical – Renato, Francisco Marinho Chagas, Oscar, Valdir Peres, Serginho. Corinthians had that many – and look where they ended. Flamengo had that many, so a few other teams, including the champions.

Gremio (Porto Alegre) – champions of Brazil! What could be better? First national title – not only great by itself, but also restoring Gremio among the top clubs of the country. Porto Alegre was leading Brazilian football during the 1970s, but it was thanks to the rivals, Internacional. Now Gremio bested all and Inter was nowhere to be seen. True, the arch-enemy had more titles, but the present – and perhaps the future – belonged to Gremio. Leao, Paulo Isidoro, Baltazar, the Uruguayan star De Leon… Gremio had the usual for a Brazilian team number of stars – may be even a bit fewer and on lower scale than other clubs, but the chemistry worked and they won. And a bit of football trivia and irony: the bad boy Emerson Leao, who quarelled with everybody, and was unable to stay in one club for long because of his temper, was already twice Brazilian champion (three times, if the unofficial 1969 championship is counted) – Zico was champion only once, Socrates – not at all, Pele – plain zero. Yes, Leao was the best goalkeeper of the 1970s and early 80s, but there were much bigger stars who won nothing on national scale. Anyway, it was no Leao’s victory, but of the whole team.

The Second National Level championship – Taca de Prata – had 48 participants, divided into 6 groups of 8 teams each. Standard league championship was played in each group and the winners qualified to the semi-finals. Peculiar structure, typical for Brazil: the numbers were not suited for the familiar next stages of direct elimination, but never mind. The championship meandered eventually to the semi-finals. During the rounds some well known clubs failed:

Bahia (Salvador) was one of the failures, along with many clubs of, let us say, ‘the second stringers’: America (Rio de Janeiro), Americano (Campos), America (Belo Horizonte), Coritiba (Curitiba), Nautico (Recife).

And many of even lesser fame, like:

Ceara,

Atletico (Goiania),

Treze (Campina Grande),

Central (Caruaru).

Maranhao (Sao Luis)

Comercial (Ribeirao Preto)

America (Sao Jose)

Gremio (Maringa)

Leonico (Salvador)

Comercial (Campo Grande), Guarani (Campinas), Remo (Belem), and Anapolina (Anapolis) reached the semi-finals. Guarani won both legs against Comercial – 2-1 and 3-0 – and Anapolina did the same against Remo – 3-2 and 4-2. On March 21st, 1981 the first leg of the final was played in Anapolis and hosts Anapolina lost 2-4. The second leg was more or less a formality and Guarani just kept the tie at home – 1-1.

Anapolina (Anapolis) had a strong season, but lost the final. They were the underdog anyway and unable to produce a miracle. But it was not so bad – reaching the final qualified them to Level A for the next season.

The winners: second row from left: Birigui, Miranda, Edson, Almeida, Edmar, Edson Magalhães.

First row: Lúcio, Angelo, Careca, Jorge Mendonça, Capitão.

Guarani won Taca de Prata, which was great – a trophy plus going up to Level A. Where they belonged at least by name. And not just by name – Jorge Mendonça played for Brazil in the 1978 World Cup. His much younger teammate Careca was on his way of becoming world-famous striker. Even in Brazil star players belong to top level, not to the lower one.

Brazil. The national championship celebrated its 10th season – still the messy, long, confusing championship. 44 teams participated in the top national level – Taca de Ouro. The teams were selected by record on previous state championship, depending on the berths every state had. Plus the top two teams of the 1980 second level championship or Taca de Prata. With time, the national championship gained authority, but it was still competing with the individual state championships. A lot of football, a lot of trophies, to each their own, for not every team had a chance to play in the national championships. Internationally, such teams were entirely out of sight – naturally, some clubs were unknown anyway, but some were fairly well known. Occasionally, some well known names were lost in the vast Brazilian football universe – old stars, playing in the local state leagues by now, or future stars, making their first steps in professional football. Like Walter Casagrande, playing for Caldense this year.

Casagrande was only 18 years old, playing his second professional season, but Caldense played only state level football this season. For them and many, many other clubs, the only chance of getting national exposure was winning locally. Some clubs were unheard of – like Penapolense.

No matter what, most Brazilian teams were best described by the word ‘exotic’ and Penapolense (Penapolis) is a typical example. Standing from right: Claercio, Caseli, Jonas, Piva, Romero, Quico.

First row: Ribinha, Betinho, Morangueira, Waldir, Luciano.

Some others were barely known, largely because they played now and then in the national championship.

Gama (Brasilia) is one of those – depending on how they performed locally, they had a chance of getting better known. But for that a team had to win its state championship at least and Gama did not.

Taguatinga won the Distrito Federal championship in 1981. Still, exotica…

Moto Clube, the champions of the state of Maranhao, were also one of those somewhat known clubs – the state had one berth in the national championship, so winning the state championship was very important and even in a state like Maranhao there was competition: on national level, it was represented by Sampaio Correa in 1981. A team similar to Moto Clube in terms of fame. It was easier for the ‘bigger’ clubs in the weaker states – in the centre of Brazilian football was much tougher and some quite famous clubs suffered from fierce competition.

Rio Branco was a good example of such unlucky clubs – with the changing focus from state championship to the national, the left out clubs were often losing fame.

Well, slowly Brazil was arriving to the point when the national championship mattered most. Yet, the final table at the end of the season meant absolutely nothing – there was no relegation to fear. Instead, the next year participants were to be selected again by combined criteria: something depended on their 1981 performance and something on the berths their state had. But promotion happened and the second national level had every reason to look up. Since the top football states had the most well clubs, the second level had a big number of clubs more famous than perhaps half of those playing the first level. And for those clubs – strong enough, but having no real chance to compete with, say, Vasco da Gama or Sao Paulo, winning Taca de Prata was the only chance to play top level football.

Campeonato Nacional, structured like a cup tournament, gave chances to smaller, unheard of clubs, scattered in provincial Argentina. Like Loma Negra (Olavarria).

Standing from left: profesor Jorge Habbeger, Norberto Desanzo (DT), Carlos Casamayor, Horacio Ferrero, Luis Barbieri, Osvaldo Gutiérrez, Jorge Vázquez, Carlos Magistral, Eduardo Draghi, Giménez.

First row: Néstor Rivera, Ricardo Lazbal, Mario Husillos, Carlos Carrió, Carlos Squeo, Aldo Varales, Juan José Urrutia.

Very rarely such clubs had famous veterans in their squad – Carlos Squeo, on this occasion, who was in the1974 World cup Argentine selection. For teams like Loma Negra qualifying to the group stage of Campeonato Nacional was the big, brave achievement – they had no chances there. Others, however, were in better position – well known clubs, down on their luck for one or another reason, and not playing in 1st or 2nd Metropolitano league. Clubs like Belgrano (Cordoba).

Sometimes they played surprisingly strong football and even moved ahead – Belgrano did not this year, but Gimnasia y Esgrima (Jujuy) did: they finished 2nd in Group 1 and qualified to the quarterfinals. The other winners at this stage were:

Rosario Central, 1st in Group A – 2 points ahead of Gimnasia y Esgrima, and record scorers at this stage with 32 goals. Standing from left: Bauza, Carnevali, Sperandio, Craiyacich, Ghielmetti, Riquelme. Crouching: Iglesias, Gaitan, Marchetti, Chazarreta, Magallanes.

Ferro Carril Oeste won Group 2, followed by River Plate. Ferro Carril were confident winners, but the battle for the second place showed the peculiar logic of cup formats: River Plate qualified thanks to better goal-difference. The unlucky team was the already mentioned nobodies from Loma Negra. A whole bunch of current world champions no stronger than tiny club.

In Group 3 four points were deducted from the record of Atletico Racing (Cordoba) and that was the only reason Velez Sarsfield took the 2nd place and qualified.

Once again a big club was roughened by practically unknown small club. Standing from left: Ischia, Hugo Ismael López, Bartero, Moralejo, Osvaldo Piazza, Larraquy.

First row: Bujedo, Castro, Carlos Bianchi, Juan Domingo Cabrera, Dante Sanabria.

Osvaldo Piazza and Carlos Bianchi were back form years in France and they helped – but time changed and the headline makers were younger players. Still, Velez Sarsfield was just lucky to qualify to the next stage. Unlike Independiente – they won the group comfortably.

Standing from left: Goyén, Olguín, Clausen, Trossero, Zimmermann, Mario Killer.

Crouching: Alzamendi, Giusti, Brailovski, Bochini, Sandoval.

No longer the formidable squad of the early 1970s, even a bit shaky and not a factor transitional team – but the seeds of recovery were present: Olguin, Giusti, Clausen, Trossero – the world was going to here of them. For the moment they were young hopefuls and the big figure was Bochini – not enough for success.

Boca Juniors easily won Group 4. No problem, when Diego Maradona plays for the side, right? Back row from left: Roberto Mouzo, Hugo Alves, Abel Alves, Oscar Ruggeri, Ariel Krasouski, Carlos Alberto Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel Brindisi.

Front: Osvaldo Escudero, Diego Maradona, Hugo Perotti, Carlos Córdoba.

Behind them finished Instituto (Cordoba) thanks to a single goal – they had a tiny bit better goal-difference than Estudiantes (La Plate).

The quarterfinals had a lucky draw for Ferro Carril Oeste – their opponent was perhaps the weakest of the qualified teams: Gimnasia y Esgrima (Jujuy). Ferro won both legs 1-0. Independiente eliminated Instituto 2-1 and 0-0, and River Plate replicated the same results against Rosario Central. No miracles so far, but the last pair was something else: Velez Sarsfield vs Boca Juniors. Nothing much at first… Boca was visiting and won the opening match on the hostile stadium 2-1. Well, Maradona wins always – the second leg seemed a mere protocol. Boca scored a goal alright, but Velez scored 3! Maradona out, the old feet of Bianchi and Piazza marching ahead. But not for long…

Velez Sarsfield had the easiest opponent among the semi-finalists – Ferro Carril Oeste – and lost 1-2 and 1-1. Meantime River Plate and Independiente produced no winner – both legs ended in a tie, but River scored a goal in Avellaneda and qualified thanks to the away goal rule.

In the final River Plate won both legs, but a close look suggest pretty equal matches and tough opposition: River won twice 1-0.

Modest Ferro Carril did it again – they were the most consistent team this year, finishing second twice in two differently structured championships. This was not just luck – the boys obviously were determined, tough, and consistent. They deserved praise. They also deserved closer attention – this happened to be the best period in the history of the club and Ferro was to be really heard of yet.

When there are two championships in a single year and the club wons one, the fiasco in the other is easily forgotten – but, really! Passarella, Kempes, Fillol, Tarantini, Gallego, Alonso, Diaz, Lopez, Commisso, Olarticoechea (in this version)… Boca Juniors with Maradona pales in comparison and there is no even point of mentioning others. Yet, River Plate suffered and was not dominant winner.

 

First Division – Campeonato Metropolitano – had one hopeless outsider and two teams competing for the title. Colon (Santa Fe) was the outsider – they finished last with 21 points. Apart from Colon, the struggle for survival was fierce – in the final table 6 points separated 7th from 17th place.

San Lorenzo de Almagro (Buenos Aires) lost the battle by a point and finished 17th with 28 points. Along with Colon, one of the strongest teams in the early 1970s was relegated.

Other clubs in bad shape were: Argentinos Juniors, which without Maradona immediately dropped from title contender to just trying to escape relegation – they finished 16th with 29 points.

Talleres (Cordoba) finished also with 29 points, but better goal-difference placed the 15th.

Estudiantes (La Plata) were 14th. Velez Sarsfield was 11th. These the clubs in bad shape this year. The opposite way took two teams.

Sarmiento (Junin) finished 13th. Nothing special, at first glance, but they were debutantes and prime candidates for relegation. But the modest newcomers fought to the end and ensured at least one more season among the best.

The second team was a pleasant surprise and, if we move the focus from Maradona, the most interesting thing in Argentine football this year. About them – in a moment.

Huracan finished 8th – nothing much, really, but they distinguished themselves in unusual way: Centurion’s goal sent San Lorenzo to Second Division. Standing from left: Turco García, Pogany, Jorge Gutiérrez, el Negro Longo, Clide Díaz, Toledo.

First row: Cheves, Agüero, Daniel Cano, Carlos Babington, Centurión.

Racing Club had a relatively good season – they finished 5th, ahead of local rivals Independiente. Not a bad squad, but just a promising one at the moment. Hugo Barbas was the veteran star, playing back in Argentina after many years in France, Van Tuyne was the current star player, and Calderon and Olarticoechea were fresh upstarts, still unknown far and wide. Standing from left: Olarticoechea, Van Tuyne, Osvaldo Pérez, Vivalda, Berta, Leroyer.

Crouching: Calderón, Barbas, Villarruel, Carrasco, Muñiz.

River Plate misfired – full of great names, including Tarantini and Kempes, they finished 4th. A point ahead of Racing, missing 3rd place on goal-difference, and… not at all running for the title. 39 points – the contenders finished with much more.

Newell’s Old Boys edged River Plate from 3rd place and, to a point, the team did surprisingly well – compared to River Plate, they were nothing as names. Killer was a star, but hardly on the level of Kempes, Alonso, Passarella, and Simon… well, the world had still to wait many years before hearing of him. Third place, but far away from the title – they finished with 39 points. The silver medalists ended with 49.

Two teams competed for the title to the very end of the championship – at the end 1 point separated them. One of the leaders was expected – Boca Juniors. The acquisition of Diego Maradona made them instant favourites. The other team was a big, but pleasant surprise – a team without stars, usually modest and hardly ever making news.

Ferro Carril Oeste, long time First Division members, but one of the smaller clubs in Buenos Aires. And still nothing special, considering the squad – perhaps Garre was their best known player, and he was not exactly first-rate star. Cuper is immediately noticed today, but this is because he became famous coach – Cuper, the player, was not a star. Yet, this largely anonymous and modest squad not only left River Plate far behind, but played as equals with Boca Juniors and Maradona. They even lost fewer matches than Boca and had much better defensive record. Unfortunately, Boca won more more matches then the boys in green and white and they lost the title by a point. Looked like one time wonder, this team, but they were not.

With Diego Maradona now, Boca Juniors must have been formidable team. They were strong before his arrival, having strong run for some time – with him, they had to be almost unbeatable. Everything looked perfect: young Diego was Boca fan and was delighted to see his dream coming true. Hugo Gatti was happy to see Diego on his side instead of scoring him humiliating goals. Diego arrived and Boca immediately won Metropolitano – predictions fulfilled… but it was not an easy victory at all. And considering the rival, Boca Juniors did not seem overwhelming at all. But a title is a title.

Champions – no matter what, one cannot argue against the fact.

Argentina. The big news for the season were Diego Maradona and Mario Kempes. Maradona joined Boca Juniors, it was expected transfer, yet, it was the biggest news. Perhaps as a counter-measure, River Plate bought Mario Kempes from Valencia (Spain). It was a dubious news: yes, River got the superstar, ‘the Matador’, the hero of 1978, but he was not fit after a heavy injury and the club had no money. The lack of money was nothing new in Argentina, but it was still reckless to spend when in heavy debt. And to spend on player who was 70% fit at the best estimate. Other things were less noticeable – for instance, Carlos Bianchi returned to Velez Sarsfield in 1979 and immediately started scoring goals. Other veterans were also returning – Daniel Carnevali was in Rosario Central and Carlos Babington back in Huracan since 1979, for instance – but the focus was largely on Maradona, who delivered, and Kempes, who did not. Apart from that, it was ‘business as usual’, which means painfully familiar scandals and troubles:

River Plate going to jail… well, may be going to jail. The rest was football.

Two championships as usual – the league-format Metropolitano and the cup-format Nacional. The champions of each were going to represent Argentina in the 1982 Copa Libertadores. Metropolitano, somewhat with more weight than Nacional, involved promotions and relegation, so let start with a brief look down: Third Division.

Lanus won Primera C. Standing from left: Acuña, Perassi, De Freitas, Cerdán, Lodico, Enrique,

First row: Héctor Enrique, Nigretti, Ramón Enrique, Crespín, Attadía.

Chacarita Juniors were runner-ups. Both teams were promoted to Second Division – well done for both clubs.

They were going to replace Almagro, directly relegated, for they finished last – 22nd – in Second Division, and Villa Dalmine, 21st. Villa Dalmine was not directly relegated – they lost the relegation play-off with El Porvenir, 20th in the final table. The play-off ended scoreless – El Porvenir won the penalty shoot-out.

Up the table nothing really important – a bunch of more or less equal clubs, some fading for years, like Los Andes.

Los Andes finished 5th with 47 points – 2 less than third placed Banfield.

Banfield finished 3rd with 49 points, but promotion was out of their reach and may be even from their dreams: they were distant third finishers. The battle for the title, if not for promotion, was between two teams.

Quilmes finished 2nd. Standing from left: Fanesi, Tocalli, Milozzi, Gáspari, Fertonani, Lupo.

First row: Pavón, Bianchini, Batalla, Úbeda, Lacava Schell. Unable to win the championship, but comfortably winning promotion – they finished 6 points ahead of Banfield. This was still the quite strong team, which was successful only a few years back, so the quick return to First Division was great and may be expected.

The winners were a bit of a surprise.

Nueva Chicago played first division before, but they were one of the smaller Buenos Aires clubs and not really a club expected to be among the best. But strong they were this year and won the Second Division championship 3 points ahead of Quilmes. Standing from right: Abdala, Pedraza, Assan, Larramendi, Traverso, Cvitkovic.

First row: Armani, Loyarte, Franceschini, Carrizo, Erba.

For a modest club like Nueva Chicago trophies are rare thing, so winning the Second Division was a big success – champions deserve one more look:

Here is the full squad of the year well remembered by the fans – it is not every day Nueva Chicago ends as champions.

Nueva Chicago and Quilmes were promoted to First Division.

Seemingly, Uruguay climbed back to the top of the world in 1981, thanks to winning Mundialito and the international success of Nacional. But at home 1981 was messy and mysterious season, consequently difficult to untangle. There are various problems: promotion-relegation mess, determining how and why Copa Libertadores participants were decided, and even pictorial mix of seasons. The last problem exists perhaps because of overlapping South American seasons, making it difficult to distinguish team photos. Plus different transfer and laxer transfer rules than those in Europe. Even today one and the same photo can be found dated 1980 and 1981. Sometimes establishing the real date is impossible. As for the other problems… the Uruguayan top division often changed its size for unknown reasons. 15 teams participated in the 1981 championship, but there were 14 in 1980 and again in 1982. Two teams were promoted in 1980 – Liverpool and Rampla Juniors. However, none in 1981… Relegation was also complicated – for some years relegation was determined by cumulative record of points earned in 4-5 seasons. Newcomers usually were in disadvantage, for they played fewer seasons than others, thus automatically having fewer total points. Some of this was evident at the end of 1981 season – Rampla Juniors, 10th in the final table, and Liverpool, 11th , played a relegation play-off. After three matches and penalty shoot-out Rampla Juniors prevailed. Liverpool was… not relegated. They were allowed to stay in first division – why a relegation play-off was staged then? Yet, there was a relegated team – the last in the final table, as normally happens around the world. Finally, a Liguilla tournament was played to determine Copa Libertadores representatives for the 1982 edition of the tournament – such mini-tournaments were typical for South America and they included teams finishing from 2nd to 5th place in the final table. However, Uruguay seemingly allowed Penarol, the champions of 1981, to play in it, for they finished 2nd in the Liquilla. Why? As champions, they had the right to represent Uruguay in Copa Libertadores… yet, they had to participate in the last qualification tournament – and by finishing 2nd there apparently earned the right to play in Copa Libertadores. Did they qualified twice? Or just because they qualified from the Liguilla? If so, what was the purpose of the championship? If not, why the champions played qualification tournament for no purpose at all? The mystery remains. It was easier in the lower levels of Uruguayan football, which was practically concentrated in Montevideo.

Platense won the Third Division. Seemingly promoted to Second Division.

El Tanque Sisley won the Second Division. So far, so good – second division champions move up, right? Well… not this year. El Tanque Sisley was not promoted – who knows why. The previous year 2 teams were promoted from Second Division, but none in 1981. Go figure.

Of course, what really mattered was the First Divison championship. 15 teams. Perhaps at the beginning of the season everything was clear, but after the end things changed…

Fenix finished last with 16 points, obviously weaker than the rest of the league – the 14th placed team, Sud America, ended with 20 points. Last finishers usually are relegated – and Fenix was, so nothing strange there. Yet, a relegation play-off took place between higher finishers than Sud America and later even the loser of this play-off was permitted to stay in the league. Sum total: Fenix was relegated, El Tanque Sisley was not promoted, the league was reduced to 14 teams for the 1982 season.

Up the table – nothing really unusual: the massive traditional dominance of Nacional and Penarol determined everything. All other clubs had one or two relatively strong years, that was all. The only problem with the final table concerned Liquilla – there was a play-off for the last participant in it. It was played because 2 teams finished with equal points – Defensor, 6th, and Miramar Misiones, 7th. This makes the Liguilla mystery bigger: how many teams played in it? Four or six? If four, who was excluded and why? Penarol played… did Nacional too? Never mind for the moment.

Defensor won the play-off with Miramar Misiones 2-1 and qualified to compete in the Liguilla. Their picture is interesting one – standing first from right is Pablo Forlan, who returned to play for Defensor after years in Brazil. He carries in his hands Diego Forlan – an early photo of one the best players in the world at the beginning of 21st century. The father was at the end of his long illustrious career, but the son was still a small child and there was no way envisioning him becoming bigger star than his famous father. Defensor will be mentioned again soon.

River Plate finished 5th. Not bad… and that was all. Standing from left: Nelson Agresta, C.Carusini, D. ‘Pecho’ Sanchez, Julio C. Rodriguez (capitan), Julio A. Rodriguez, Mario Menchaca.

First row: Carlos ‘Patito’ Aguilera, Javier Ponce, W. Villar, Leo Moura, Daniel Torres.

Bella Vista had a strong season too – they finished 4th. The text under the picture is interestingly confusing – yes, they played in the 1981 edition of Copa Libertadores, apparently earning the privilege in 1980.

Wanderers finished with bronze medals. Wonderful! But the text at the right top calls them ‘vice-champions’ – that they were in 1980. The photo may be from 1980… may be not… anyway, one thing is important: their solid play was due to a bright emerging star. Pablo Forlan was stepping down, Diego Forlan was still a small kid, but Enzo Francescoli was rapidly establishing himself as world-class midfielder.

The battle for the title was familiar – Penarol vs Nacional. As good as Frencescoli and Wanderers were, they were not contenders, but left in the dust distant bronze medalists. Nacional was at the top of the world – they just won the 1980 Copa Libertadores and at the beginning of 1981 – the Intercontinental Cup, adding the Mundialito too, for the clubs provided perhaps half of the national team, but Penarol was stronger in the championship.

With 41 points, Nacional finished 2nd. They left Wanderers 6 points behind, but… second. As for the photo… may be 1981, may be not… Hugo de Leon is missing – he left Nacional at the end of 1980 to play in Brazil, so 1981 seems right. Waldemar Victorino was the name at this time – not Pablo Forlan, not Diego Forlan, not Enzo Francescoli. But he arhc-enemy had another ace in his hands.

Penarol won the title, leaving Nacional 3 points behind. Typical champions – best attack, best defence, most win, least losses. Superior in everything.

Familiar title under the boys, but such clubs and their fans are never tired of winning. Very sweet victory too, for they bested the best team in the world! The squad was really something – Walter Olivera, Diogo, Saralegui, less known, but still stars – Clavijo and Morales, and two huge stars, coming home from playing abroad – Roberto Morena returned from Spain and Ladislao Mazurkiewicz from Chile. Born winners both – and Penarol added one more title right away. Nacional was strong, but Penarol was stronger and make no mistake about it – their success was not to be just at home.

That was all… Not quite: there was still the Liquilla. How many teams and exactly which ones remains unknown, but Penaro played and did not win the mini-league.

But Defensor won the Liguilla – Pablo Forlan bested Morena, Mazurkiewicz, Esparago, Morales, Francescoli. Diego learned by example. Defensor won its spot in Copa Libertadores… but for which season? Bella Vista played in the 1981 edition -so Defensor would play in 1982. Along with Nacional as current cup holders and Penarol as 1981 Uruguayan champions. Clear enough… and pity Wanderers and Francescoli – their strong 1980 and 1981 seasons brought them no international football.

But let’s take one more look at the champions – 37th title, no kidding. Excellent, but the mysteries continue – the photo comes from official book, made by the Uruguayan Football Federation. Note the year: Uruguayan champions, aye, but for ‘del Mundo’ Penarol had to wait until 1982. Jair was eventually added sometime during 1981 – the Brazilian, three times champion of his country with Inter (Porto Alegre) was exchanged for the Uruguayan young star Ruben Paz. Mazurkiewicz was also taking secondary position to Gustavo Fernandez. What a wealth – Penarol had perhaps more first-rate players than Nacional, but more importantly, the champions had younger stars. And, as a final touch, take a good look at their kits – on both pictures here, they use mixed shirts. Mazurkiewicz does not wear Adidas at all.

The Chilean First Division had one additional modification of rules – bonus points were given to those winning after scoring 4 or more goals in the Apertura, or ‘Copa Polla-Gol’. Colo-Colo and Audax Italiano reached the final. Colo-Colo mercilessly destroyed the pretenders 5-1 and won the opening part of the season.

For Audax Italiano this was the pinnacle of the year, but they were unequal to Colo-Colo. Standing from left: Leonardo Belmar, Carlos Zamorano, Héctor Díaz, Carlos Valenzuela, Arad Anábalon, Julio Rodríguez.

First row: Patricio Delgado, Mario Salinas, Juan Carlos Letelier, Renzo Gamboa, Ricardo Fabbianni.

Colo-Colo – winner of Apertura after superb final. This photo is interesting: Carlos Caszely is missing – a very rare absence in 1981. Colo-Colo got 2 bonus points to carry to Campeonato Oficial. Audax Italiano and the eliminated semi-finalists Everon and Union Espanola got 1 point each.

Campeonato Oficial had an absolute leaders and an outsider – only two teams competed for the title and one team was hopelessly weak. Nublense finished last with 10 points- They only won twice.

Everton played well in the Apertura and earned a bonus point, but were, perhaps surprisingly, weak when really mattered. They finished 17th – 13 points ahead of Nublense, but… second to last.

Deportes Concepcion was 16th, a point ahead of Everton. There performance was not surprising.

San Luis (Quillota) was the last team in the relegation zone. Hardly a surprise.

San Luis: Luis Espinoza, Raúl Díaz, Carlos Sandoval, Luis Martínez, Moisés Berenguela, Sergio Avallay.

First row: Patricio Yáñez, Freddy Bahamondes, Víctor Cabrera, Luisinho, Alex Martínez.

One noticeable player – Patricio Yanez – but neither he, nor Brazlian import Luisinho were able to keep the team in first division.

On the other hand, Palestino was lucky.

Palestino had a very bad year, but managed to escape relegation – San Luis finished with 25 points. Palestino had 26 and took the 11th place – Iqique also had 26 points, but worse goal-difference and finished 12th. Universidad Catolica also had miserable year – they finished 8th.

Magallanes fininished 6th, seemingly improving.

Union Espanola was 4th. With 35 points, they were on the top of the more or less equal teams, but most of the league was inferior to the favourites.

Universidad de Chile ended with bronze – with 40 points, they were far ahead of Union Espanola, but not for a moment challenged those competing for the title. The first standing from left is Manuel Pellegrini. Few knew the player, but today few don’t know the great coach.

The battle for the title was dramatic – Colo Colo and Cobreloa run shoulder to shoulder all the way and finished with equal points – 46. But Colo Colo started with 2 bonus points as winners of Apertura and these points won them the title.

Cobreloa finished 2nd, but they were sensational already.

One more title for Colo Colo – nothing new, nothing surprisng. Great season in which they won both Apertura and Campeonato Oficial, but it was familiar and expected story for their fans. Carlos Caszely was still the great leader of the team – the star missed only a handful matches and aging was not slowing him down.

But it was not over yet – two more tournaments followed. The Relegation/promotion one included the 11th and 12th placed in First division and 6th and 7th in the Second division. Palestino, Iquique, Coquimbo Unido, and Antofagasta. The first division clubs were much stronger than lower placed second level pretenders and finished first and second in the round-robin group – Palestino and Iquique preserved their places in the top league.

The last round-robin tournament concerned the second Chilean participant in Copa Libertadores – Liguilla Pre-Libertadores included the 4 teams, which finished immediately bellow the champions: Cobreloa, 2nd, Universidad de Chile, 3rd, Union Espanola, 4th, and Naval, 5th. Cobreloa stumbled only in their opening match – 3-3 against Union Espanola. They won their remaining 2 matches and finished 1st without a loss.

Wonderful season for Cobreloa (Calama), earning them the chance to compete internationally.

Colo Colo was going to play international football too, but, like winning the championship, Copa Libertadores was nothing new to them.

 

Chile from the bottom up – there was difference between the formula of the top two divisions and the third level. Third Division had simpler formula: 24 clubs, divided into two groups – Northern and Southern – which played standard league championship. The top two teams of each group qualified to the second phase, where they played mini-league tournament and the top two qualified to the single match final. The winner was not only champion of Third Division, but also won the single promotion to Second Division. Super Lo Miranda (Lo Miranda) and Grand Prix (Maipu) finished at the top of the Northern Group. Laja (Laja) and Fernandez Vial (Concepcion) – at the top of the Southern Group. In the next stage the Southern teams were vastly superior and took the top spots, going to the final. In the final Fernandez Vial prevailed 1-0.

Fernandez Vial (Concepcion) – winners of Third Division and promoted to the Second. They finished behind their rival Laja (Laja) until the last decisive match, but their inferior position was a bit misleading: with equal points in every stage, Laja topped them only on better goal-difference. Until the final. Fernandez Vial was also the only vaguely familiar club playing in the Third Division.

Second and First division had the same formula – at first the Apertura was played. The semi-finalists got one point to carry to the next tournament and the winner – 2 points. Next was Campeonato Oficial – a standard league championship. The winner was the champions of the year, and at the bottom teams were relegated. Arica and Santiago Morning reached the final of Apertura and Arica won it 1-0.

Deportes Arica – winners of Apertura and earning 2 points to start Campeonato Oficial with. Santiago Morning, Trasandino, and Linares got one bonus points.

One team was relegated – the last of the 22 participants. Union San Felipe finished last with 30 points.

With 31 points Cochagua finished 21st – lucky boys.

A bunch of well known clubs were playing 2nd level football by now and some of them were continuing their downfall.

Santiago Wanderers finished 16th.

Green Cross – Temuco (Temuco), as the club was named at this time, finished 15th.

On the other hand, newcomers were moving up.

Cobresal (El Salvador) was still unknown, but it will be soon – this year they finished 10th. Above Huachipato, Lota Schwager, Green Cross-Temuco, Santiago Wanderers, Ovalle, Iberia.

At the top the race was not only for winning Second Division, but for promotions – 4 teams were promoted. At the end of the season something happened, changing the whole order of things: Aviacion (Santiago), not long ago playing First Division football, finished 3rd , thus earning promotion. But the club decided to stop running as a professional team and withdrew from the league. As a result, Union San Felipe was not relegated, but remained in the league. And the 5th placed team was promoted instead of Aviacion.

Lucky Rangers (Talca) – they were 5th only on better goal-difference and suddenly moved to top flight.

Coquimbo Unido were unlucky – they finished 6th.

Atacama (Copiapo) finished 4th and Santiago Morning (Santiago) – 2nd. If not for the bonus points, the winner of Second Division possibly had to be decided by a play-off: Santiago Morning and the champions ended with equal points and the same goal-difference. But Santiago Morning carried 1 bonus points and Arica – 2. One extra point won them the season.

The new champions of Second Division – Arica.

May be not superior to some of their rivals, but solid and consistent the whole year – winning the Apertura and Campeonato Oficial, winning all. And moving up.

Their rivals were not unhappy, though – promotion likely mattered more than just winning the league. Arica, Santiago Morning, Atacama, and Rangers were joining First Division in the 1982 season.

Since Peruvian championship had complicated formula, the World Cup qualifications affected directly the first stage – but with that, the final outcome of the championship too. One thing is easy to figure out – clubs with large number of national team players were weakened. But clubs with many national team players are normally the biggest and most influential clubs, so very likely they were compensated with ‘relaxed’ rules. Actually, right here starts the dark world of speculations and suspicions. Anyhow, the first stage of the championship, called Regional Tournament, was strange: the league was divided into 4 ‘regions’ at first – the Northern Group (3 teams), the Central Group (4 teams), and the Southern Group (3 teams) had their winners going to the Provincial Final. The top 2 teams at this stage qualified to the semi-finals of this stage.

Provincial Final

P – W – D – L – GF – GA – PTS

1. Melgar F.B.C. (Arequipa) 2 – 2 – 0 – 0 – 4 – 2 – 4 [To Semifinals]

2. Asociación Deportiva (Tarma) 2 – 0 – 1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 1 [To Semifinals]

3. Atlético Torino (Talara) 2 – 0 – 1 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 1

Melgar F.B.C. Won the Provinical final. Standing from left: Jorge Ramirez, Emilio Campana, Benigno Pérez, Julio “Guyo” Ramírez, Freddy Bustamante, Raúl Obando

Crouching: Abraham Medina, Genaro Neyra,  Ernesto Neyra, Víctor Gutiérrez, Arturo Bisetti.

Meantime the Metropolitan Group played its own tournament and here was no second stage – 6 teams played their round-robin tournament, the top two qualifying.

Metropolitan Group

P – W -SW -SL – L – GF – GA – PTS

1. Alianza Lima 10 – 6 – 1 – 0 – 3 – 13 – 10 – 20

2. Universitario de Deportes 10 – 5 – 2 – 0 – 3 – 13 – 10 – 19 [To Semifinals]

3. Deportivo Municipal 10 – 6 – 0 – 1 – 3 – 13 – 8 – 18 [To Semifinals]

4. Sport Boys (Callao) 10 – 3 – 1 – 1 – 5 – 12 – 15 – 11

5. Atlético Chalaco (Callao) 10 – 3 – 0 – 1 – 6 – 8 – 12 – 9

6. Sporting Cristal 10 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 5 – 10 – 14 – 8

And now…

Alianza (Lima) finished 1st and nothing surprising in that. But Alianza did not appear at the semi-finals – 3rd placed Deportivo Municipal played at the next stage. Why Alianza did not play at the next stage remains unknown. But they were usually one of the main suppliers of the national team – could be that Alinza withdrew, having weakened squad at the moment. Mind, Sporting Cristal, one the strongest clubs in the country and also regularly teeming with national teams players, finished last in the Metropolitan Group. The Metropolitan Group had another mystery as well: the tournament was played under different rules. The whole season, according to tradition, Peru played under the common rules at the time: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie. Only the Metropolitan Group played without draws: ties were decided by shoot-outs and the points were different: 3 points for a win in the regular time, 2 points for a shoot-out win, 1 point for a shoot-out loss. The first stage of the national championship was odd all the way: Atletico Torino (Talara) finished second in the Northern Group, but after they complained, the place to the next stage was awarded to them instead of the group winners Juan Aurich (Chiclayo). But Atletico Torino was unable to go further than the Provincial Final. In the semi-finals Deportivo Municipal, playing instead of Alianza, eliminated Asociación Deportiva (Tarma) 3-0 and 0-1, and Universitario de Deportes eliminated Melgar F.B.C. 2-0 and 0-1. The final of the opening stage of the championship was familiar duel of Lima-based clubs and took 3 matches until one of them prevailed. 0-0, 1-1, and 1-0 at last for Deportivo Municipal.

Such is life… Deportivo Municipal was not supposed to be seen after finishing 3rd in the Metropoliatn Group, but – champions of the opening part of the championship. Standing from left:Caycho, Juan José Sato, Rodolfo Gamarra, Julio Argote, Reynaldo Costa, Fernando Campos.

First row: unknown, Jaime Drago, Manuel Motta, Luis Gil, Richard Garrido.

What this victory counted for? Only to this: the Regional champion qualified to the play-off for the second Peruvian spot in the Copa Libertadores.

The second stage of the season was the real championship – Torneo Descentralizado. Standard league format, the first placed won the Peruvian title, the last in the table was relegated, and the 2nd placed was to go to the play-off for the second Peruvian Copa Libertadores spot. How much the World Cup qualifications affected the clubs is hard to tell – looks like Sporting Cristal had terrible season: after dreadful performance in the first stage of the season, they also played terribly in the second, finishing 9th. Alianza also was not at their usual level – they finished 3rd. But worst of all was the team which artificially moved ahead in the opening stage:

Atletico Torino (Talara), after 10 wins, 3 ties, and 17 losses, finished last the the league. Relegation. Going down. To Copa Peru y Segunda Division… which makes this photo questionable, for clubs never celebrate relegation, but the year given is 1981.

Union Haural was lucky to escape with 24 points – one more than Atletico Torino. Releived boys, standing from left: Hilario Bernaola, Carrillo, Marco Salguero, Luis Pau, Teodoro Wuchi, Santiago Carty.

First row: Humberto Rey Muñoz, Pedro Ruíz, Alejandro Luces, Víctor Espinoza, Carlos Leturia.

At the better side of the table Alfonso Ugarte (Puno) had very strong spell, but was a bit unlucky – they finished 4th, losing 3rd place to Alianza (Lima) on goal-difference.

Univeristario de Deportes (Lima) finished 2nd. They were bettered by a point… which made them twice losers this season. But they still had a chance to play international football – if winning the play-off for the second Libertadores spot.

The best this time was provincial club – Melgar F.B.C. They were strong in the opening part of the season, maintained their form, perhaps took advantage of whatever problems the big clubs endured, because of the national team, and triumphed at the end. It was not overwhelming victory, but consistency was enough. 16 wins, 8 ties, and 6 losses gave them one point more than Universitario’s.

Sitting from left: Ricardo Ciudad,Emilio Campana,Arnaldo”Cardiaco”Suclla,Freddy Bustamante,Raul Obando,Ysrael Quijandría,Máximo Toribio Carrazco Meza(Q.E.P.D.) Felipe Ponce(Preparador de Arqueros);

Second row:Cesar Dianderas Preparador Fisico,Alberto Alvarado,Jorge Ramirez,Abraham Medina,Victor”papas” Concha,Alfredo Benavente,Benigno Melchor Pérez,Arturo Bisetti,Utilero; Abajo Third row: Ernesto”Chivo” Neyra, Genaro Neyra,Wilson “calamina”Ramirez, Angel Gutiérrez, Julio”Don Buyo” Ramirez, Victor”vinicola”Gutierrez,Martin Gago y Hilario Payé (Kinesiélogo)

Foot Ball Club Melgar (Arequipa) is one of the oldest Peruvian clubs, founded in 1915, but ‘El Domino’ never had any success before. This was their first national title – a great triumph, no matter the circumstances. The club had no great players, compared to the bit clubs from Lima, but no matter, for the boys here became instant legend. Peru got brand new champion. Wonderful season for Melgar – their best ever – so far, no second title. Historic team and historic triumph for Arequipa.

The season ended wit the play-off for the second Copa Libertadores spot – it repeated the final of the opening part of the season: a Lima derby Deportivo Municipal vs Universitario de Deportes. Again three matches were needed to decide the winners and Deportivo Municipal clinched the victory again after 2-1, 0-1, and 3-2.

Good season for Deportivo Municipal, usually trailing in the shadow of Alianza, Sporting Cristal, and Universitario. Standing from left: José “Camote” Vásquez, Oscar Quintana, Rodolfo Quijaite, Alfredo Honores, Fernando Campos.

First row: Marcelo Apaza, Jaime Drago, Pedro Bonelli, Hugo Sotil, Julio Argote, César Avila. Hugo Sotil still making a difference. But no matter how great Deportivo Municipal were the spotlight belonged to the new champions and they deserve one more look:

The 1981 champions Melgar F.B.C. – or F.B.C.Melgar: standing from left: Jorge Ramírez, Emilio Campana, Benigno Pérez, Julio “Guyo” Ramírez, Freddy Bustamante , Raúl Obando.

First row: Abraham Medina, Genaro Neyra, Ernesto “Chivo” Neyra, Víctor Gutiérrez, Arturo Bisetti.