Football cup competition
Football tournament
The
Copa Argentina
(English:
Argentine Cup
), officially known as the "
Copa Argentina AXION energy
" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official
football cup competition
organized by the
Argentine Football Association
(AFA).
The first editions of the championship were contested by teams playing in
Primera Division
that did not earn eligibility to participate in the Copa Libertadores of the following year, and the best placed clubs playing in
regional leagues
.
The tournament was re-launched in 2011, with teams of all divisions that form the
Argentine football league system
taking part of the championship.
[1]
[2]
The winner of Copa Argentina qualifies for the
Supercopa Argentina
against the reigning champions of
Primera Division
.
Boca Juniors
is the most successful team with four titles won, the latest in
2019?20
.
History
[
edit
]
Background
[
edit
]
The "Campeonato de la Republica" (or
Copa General Pedro Ramirez
[3]
) had been the first Argentine cup contested by clubs playing not only in Primera Division but in
regional leagues
as well, with a total of 35 teams in the first edition.
[4]
[5]
The cup was held from 1943 to 1945.
A new international competition, "
Copa Ganadores de Copa
(also known as "Recopa Sudamericana"), organised by
CONMEBOL
in 1970 as a
South American
counterpart of
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
, served as inspiration to the Argentine Association to create a new competition, with the winner team being eligible to play the 1970 edition of Copa Ganadores de Copa.
First edition: 1969
[
edit
]
The original trophy of Copa Argentina, awarded in 1969 and 1970. When the competition was relaunched in 2011, a new cup was designed for the occasion
The competition was contested by 32 teams using a two-legged elimination format. Two points were awarded for winning a leg, one for a draw and null for a loss. The teams having more points would qualify to the next round. If both teams had the same number of points, it would be determined by the total number of goals, total number of goals conceded, and
penalty shootout
accordingly.
All teams in the
Primera Division Argentina
participated in the competition with some top teams from the regional leagues, except teams that had already qualified to the Copa Libertadores, namely,
Velez Sarsfield
and
River Plate
, the winners and runners-up of
1968 Nacional
respectively, and
Estudiantes (LP)
, the champions of
1968 Copa Libertadores
.
[6]
Boca Juniors
and
Atlanta
entered the final. Boca won the tournament by defeating Atlanta 3?2 on aggregate after two matches were played.
However, as Boca later won the
1969 Nacional
and qualified to the
1970 Copa Libertadores
, Atlanta qualified to the 1970 "Copa Ganadores de Copa" as the runner-up.
[6]
Second edition: 1970
[
edit
]
Apart from teams that had got the Copa Libertadores eligibility, namely
Boca Juniors
and
River Plate
, the champions and runners-up of
Nacional
1969, and
Estudiantes (LP)
, who won the
Copa Libertadores 1969
, all clubs in the
Primera Division Argentina
participated this competition. The champions of
Primera B
,
Ferro
, also took part in the tournament, along with 13 top clubs from regional leagues.
[7]
Copa Argentina 1970 never finished. 32 teams played the competition and
San Lorenzo
and
Velez Sarsfield
entered the final. The tournament had been lasting for a long period in that year. Starting in March 1970, the first leg of the final was played in March 1971. At that time, the Copa Ganadores de Copa, which the winner of Copa Argentina would be qualifying for, had already started. Moreover, as
Huracan Buceo
and
Deportes Concepcion
, the two other team in the same group with the Argentine representative in the Copa Ganadores de Copa, had not confirmed their participation, so the organizer announced the Copa Ganadores de Copa would become a friendly tournament.
[8]
Therefore, after the first leg of the Copa Argentina final was held, which the teams drew 2?2, the second leg was never played. No Argentine teams participated in the Copa Ganadores de Copa 1971.
Relaunch
[
edit
]
The rescheduling of the Copa Argentina, officialized in 2011,
[9]
included 186 teams of 7 divisions of the
Argentine football league system
in a knock-out system competition. All the matches were disputed in neutral locations. The teams of the first division were included in rounds of 32. The champion of the tournament qualified for the next edition of
Copa Sudamericana
.
For the relaunching of the tournament, a new trophy was designed. The cup, made of aluminium, was manufactured at the Norberto Ambrosetti factory of
Lobos, Buenos Aires
.
[10]
The 2012 final between Boca and Racing was scheduled many times due to fixture congestion. The match was finally played on August 8, 2012, at the Estadio del Bicentenario in
San Juan
.
[11]
Boca Juniors won its second trophy after defeating
Racing Club
by 2?1.
[12]
The
2012?13 Copa Argentina
was scheduled to begin October 23, 2012 in a new two-phase knock-out competition.
[13]
Arsenal
defeated
San Lorenzo
and won its first trophy of this competition.
Champions
[
edit
]
The following is the list of Copa Argentina winners with the finals played:
[14]
Notes:
- ^
Two-legged format, Boca Juniors won 3?2 on goal difference.
- ^
Venue for both matches.
- ^
The competition was abandoned as the second leg between
San Lorenzo
and
Velez Sarsfield
was never played. In the first leg, both teams had tied 2?2
Titles by club
[
edit
]
Top Scorers
[
edit
]
Source:
[15]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Confirmaron el lanzamiento de la Copa Argentina"
,
El Cronista
, 18 May 2011
- ^
"Presentaron la Copa Argentina"
Archived
2012-12-29 at
archive.today
,
Diario Uno
, 19 May 2011
- ^
Asociacion del Futbol Argentino: Memoria y Balance General 1943
, p. 135-137
, AFA Library
- ^
1943 Campeonato de la Republica
- ^
Copa General Pedro Ramirez by Jose Carluccio
- ^
a
b
1969 Copa Argentina ? RSSSF
- ^
1970 Copa Argentina ? RSSSF
- ^
Recopa Sudamericana de Clubes 1971
- ^
"En medio de las polemicas, Grondona lanzo la Copa Argentina"
, Notio, 2011-05-19
- ^
"
"Concluyo la realizacion en alumnio de la Copa Argentina", Lobos News, 14 May 2012"
. Archived from
the original
on 14 July 2014
. Retrieved
24 June
2014
.
- ^
2012 fixture
Archived
2012-06-19 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Boca se saco la espina y pego el grito de campeon"
,
Clarin
, 8 August 2012
- ^
"Se larga la segunda edicion"
Archived
2012-10-26 at the
Wayback Machine
, 18 October 2012
- ^
Campeones (Primera Division y Copas Nacionales)
Archived
2015-06-17 at the
Wayback Machine
on AFA website
- ^
Argentina ? List of Topscorers ? Domestic Cups
by Pablo Kersevan and Pablo Ciullini on the RSSSF
External links
[
edit
]