1981 Copa Interamericana
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.
| Event | Copa Interamericana | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| on aggregate, after play-off | |||||||
| First leg | |||||||
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| Date | 25 March 1981 | ||||||
| Venue | Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City | ||||||
| Referee | Rómulo Méndez (Guatemala) | ||||||
| Attendance | 52,229 | ||||||
| Second leg | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 8 April 1981 | ||||||
| Venue | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo | ||||||
| Referee | José Roberto Wright (Brazil) | ||||||
| Attendance | 40,000 | ||||||
| Play-off | |||||||
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| Date | 31 May 1981 | ||||||
| Venue | Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles | ||||||
| Referee | José Roberto Wright (Brazil) | ||||||
| Attendance | 15,000 | ||||||
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 |
 |
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Matches
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]
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
| Nacional | 3–1 | UNAM |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
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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
      UNAM
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     Nacional
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References
- "Copa Interamericana 1980: Pumas Unam Campeón". Fútbol en América. 3 April 2015. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- Gustavo Vargas: "El título más importante que ha ganado Pumas" by Karla Uzeta on Record, 13 May 2020
- Los Pumas ante el gran objetivo on Fifa.com, 5 Apr 2005
- Ricardo Ferretti ya fue campeón continental con Pumas (in Spanish), AS, retrieved 5 August 2015