1981 Copa Interamericana

1981 Copa Interamericana

Event	Copa Interamericana
UNAM Nacional 6 5
on aggregate, after play-off
First leg
UNAM Nacional 3 1
Date	25 March 1981 (1981-03-25)
Venue	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City
Referee	Rómulo Méndez (Guatemala)
Attendance	52,229
Second leg
Nacional UNAM 3 1
Date	8 April 1981 (1981-04-08)
Venue	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
Referee	José Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Attendance	40,000
Play-off
Nacional UNAM 1 2
Date	31 May 1981 (1981-05-31)
Venue	Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Referee	José Roberto Wright (Brazil)
Attendance	15,000

The 1981 Copa Interamericana was the 8th edition of the Copa Interamericana, the football competition co-organized by CONCACAF and CONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major club tournaments in the Americas, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and the Copa Libertadores.

The competition was contested in two-legged home-and-away format and a play-off between Mexican team UNAM, the 1980 CONCACAF Champions' Cup champions, and Uruguayan team Nacional, the 1980 Copa Libertadores champions. The first leg was hosted by UNAM on 25 March 1981 at Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City, the second leg was hosted by Nacional on 8 April 1981 at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, while the play-off was hosted at a neutral site on 13 May 1981 at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.

UNAM defeated Nacional 6–5 on aggregate to win their first Copa Interamericana title.^[1][2][3]

Teams

Team	Qualification	Previous participations (bold indicates winners)
UNAM	Winners of the 1980 CONCACAF Champions' Cup	None
Nacional	Winners of the 1980 Copa Libertadores	1 (1971)

Format

The Copa Interamericana is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the Copa Libertadores champions hosting the second leg. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, and a play-off match would be played. If still tied after the play-off match, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winners.^[4]

Venues

1st leg	2nd leg	Play-off
Mexico City	Montevideo	Los Angeles
Estadio Olímpico Universitario	Estadio Centenario	Memorial Coliseum
Capacity: 69,000	Capacity: 60,235	Capacity: 93,607

Matches

First leg

Summary

In the 5th minute, Hugo Sánchez opened the scoring for UNAM. In the second half, Nacional fought back and found an equaliser from Víctor Espárrago, scored in the 57th minute. Ricardo Ferretti then restored UNAM's lead, to make the score 2–1 in the 60th minute. Hugo Sánchez got his second goal of the match in the 85th minute.^[1]

Details

25 March 1981 (1981-03-25)

UNAM	3–1	Nacional
Sánchez 5', 85' Ferretti 60'	Report	Espárrago 57'

Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Rómulo Méndez (Guatemala)

Second leg

Summary

The game was goalless until the 70th minute mark, when Wilmar Cabrera put Nacional ahead, in the 77th José Cabrera scored to make it 2–0, then Wilmar Cabrera in the 81st minute scored his second of the match to make it 3–0. However, the game was to end at 3–1 after Gustavo Vargas with three minutes to go scored for UNAM, forcing a play-off.

Details

8 April 1981 (1981-04-08)

Nacional	3–1	UNAM
W. Cabrera 70', 81' J. Cabrera 77'	Report	Vargas 87'

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: José Roberto Wright (Brazil)

Play-off

Summary

The play-off leg finally went ahead after a month with Los Angeles as the neutral site. Nacional opened the scoring at the 17th minute from José Cabrera. Ricardo Ferretti equalised at the 69th minute. In the 89th minute, Gustavo Vargas scored the winning goal for UNAM.

Details

13 May 1981 (1981-05-13)

UNAM	2–1	Nacional
Ferretti 69' Vargas 89'	Report	J. Cabrera 62'

Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: José Roberto Wright (Brazil)

UNAM

Nacional

GK Jorge Espinoza DF Rafael Amador DF Gustavo Vargas DF Jorge Paolino DF Pablo Luna MF Enrique López Zarza MF José Luis López MF Manuel Manzo MF Manuel Negrete FW Hugo Sánchez FW Ricardo Ferretti Manager: Bora Milutinović

GK Rodolfo Rodríguez DF José H. Moreira DF Aguirre DF Juan C. Blanco DF Wilmar Cabrera MF Víctor Espárrago MF Arsenio Luzardo  84' MF José R. Cabrera FW Alberto Bica FW Eduardo de la Peña FW Julio C. Morales Substitutes: FW Denis Milar  84' Manager: Juan Mujica

References

1. "Copa Interamericana 1980: Pumas Unam Campeón". Fútbol en América. 3 April 2015. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
2. Gustavo Vargas: "El título más importante que ha ganado Pumas" by Karla Uzeta on Record, 13 May 2020
3. Los Pumas ante el gran objetivo^{[dead link‍]} on Fifa.com, 5 Apr 2005
4. Ricardo Ferretti ya fue campeón continental con Pumas (in Spanish), AS, 5 August 2015, retrieved 5 August 2015