Torneo Internacional Nocturno Rioplatense

The Torneo Internacional Nocturno Rioplatense (English: Rioplatense Night International Tournament) was a non-confederative[note 1] association football club competition contested by teams from Argentina and Uruguay.[2]

Torneo Internacional Nocturno
The trophy awarded to champions
Organising body AFA
 AUF
Founded1936
Abolished1944 (1944)
RegionArgentina, Uruguay
Number of teams10 (1944)
Related competitionsTorneos de Verano
Last championsArgentina River Plate (1944)
Most successful club(s)

The Internacional Nocturno was part of several tournaments contested by Argentine and Uruguayan clubs only (such as Tie Cup, Copa de Honor Cousenier, Copa Aldao, and Copa Escobar-Gerona, among others). It was held on four occasions during the summer recess of official competitions in Argentina and Uruguay between 1936 and 1944.[3]

Torneo Internacional Nocturno was a predecessor of Argentine Torneos de Verano, first held in 1968 and always played during January and February in Argentina,[4] with Uruguayan (and also clubs from other countries) being invited to them.[5]

Format

Participating teams played each other in a single round-robin system. The team with most points at the end of the tournament was crowned champion. That system changed in 1944 when participants were divided into two groups of five teams each, where the first of each zone qualified to play a final that decided a champion.[3]

Participating teams

Clubs that contested the International Nocturno during over the years were: Independiente, Racing, San Lorenzo, Newell's Old Boys, Peñarol, Nacional (all editions); Rosario Central (1936, 1938, 1944); Boca Juniors (1936, 1938, 1943); River Plate (1936, 1938, 1944); Estudiantes (LP) (1938, 1944); Huracán (1943, 1944)

Notable players

Although being a friendly competition, participating clubs attended the Torneo Internacional Nocturno with their senior squads so some of most notable footballers of Argentina and Uruguay of those times played in the tournament.

Some of those players were Francisco Varallo, Mario Boyé, Ernesto Lazzatti (Boca Juniors); Raimundo Orsi, Arsenio Erico, Vicente de la Mata, Antonio Sastre (Independiente), Bernabé Ferreyra, Carlos Peucelle, José Manuel Moreno, Angel Labruna (River Plate), Roque Máspoli, Severino Varela (Peñarol), Atilio García, Roberto Porta (Nacional), Rinaldo Martino (San Loernzo), René Pontoni (Newell's), Waldino Aguirre (Rosario Central), Manuel Pelegrina, Ricardo Infante (Estudiantes LP), Emilio Baldonedo (Huracán), among others.[6]

Notable matches

The match where Nacional beat Estudiantes de La Plata 2–1 played on 19 February 1938 in La Plata remains as one of the most violent matches in the history of South American football and a clear example of the strong Rioplatense rivalry. Media that covered the match stated: "a victory from Nacional had to be avoided in any way, and we feared for the Uruguayan supporters' safety" (Uruguayan newspaper El Diario). On the other hand, Argentine magazine El Gráfico wrote: "Saturday at La Plata there were two fights, 50% to the ball, 50% to the rival players. Nobody was safe, even the referee was on the verge of being beaten".[7]

It was revealed that there were armed persons at the stadium, and some of those people would have showed their guns near the lockers during the halftime. After being noticed of that, Nacional captain Ricardo Faccio encouraged his teammates to win the match "for us and for our families". Atilio García scored two goals (the second one with his shirt covered on his own blood after he had been injured) for the final win over Estudiantes. Because of that, the match (attended by 20,000) remained on records as "the match of the blooded shirts".[7][8][9]

Beyond the violence, the Huracán 8–1 Peñarol (with a hat-trick by Norberto "Tucho" Méndez) on February 25, 1943,[10] was the all-time largest win of the tournament.[3]

Editions

* Champion  

1936
Pos. Club Pts Pl W D L Gf Gc Dif
1ºArgentina Independiente 138530241014
2ºArgentina San Lorenzo 12852122175
3ºArgentina Rosario Central 10842220173
4ºArgentina River Plate 9833219190
5ºArgentina Newell's Old Boys 8824212120
6ºUruguay Nacional 68143710-4
7ºUruguay Peñarol 682241821-3
8ºArgentina Boca Juniors 581341420-6
9ºArgentina Racing 381161728-11

1938
A team of Nacional (winner of the tournament) in 1938
Pos. Club Pts Pl W D L Gf Gc Dif
1ºUruguay Nacional 1497021688
2ºArgentina San Lorenzo 12960328217
3ºArgentina Boca Juniors 11951325169
4ºArgentina Newell's Old Boys 10942324195
5ºArgentina Independiente 9941422175
6ºArgentina Racing 9941421165
7ºArgentina Rosario Central 893241520-5
8ºUruguay Peñarol 793152331-8
9ºArgentina River Plate 793151321-8
10ºArgentina Estudiantes (LP) 391171533-18
Top scorers
Player Club Goals
Argentina Atilio GarcíaUruguay Nacional
12
Paraguay Arsenio EricoArgentina Independiente
11
Argentina Luis RongoArgentina River Plate
9

1943
Newell's v Nacional at Parque Independencia. Fltr: Mario Morosano, Aníbal Tejada (referee), and Roberto Porta, January 1943
Pos. Club Pts Pl W D L Gf Gc Dif
1ºArgentina Newell's Old Boys 11751119136
2ºArgentina Boca Juniors 974121569
3ºArgentina Independiente 8740322202
4ºUruguay Nacional 773131718-1
5ºArgentina Huracán 6730420182
6ºUruguay Peñarol 672231521-6
7ºArgentina Racing 572141520-5
8ºArgentina San Lorenzo 472051422-8

1944
Group A
Pos. Club Pts Pl W D L Gf Gc Dif
1ºArgentina River Plate 542111275First position playoff
1ºUruguay Nacional 54211642First position playoff
3ºArgentina Huracán 4412110100
4ºArgentina San Lorenzo 44202813-5
5ºUruguay Peñarol 2402235-2
Group B
Pos. Club Pts M W D L Gf Gc Dif
1ºArgentina Rosario Central 54211541Qualified to the final
2ºArgentina Estudiantes (LP) 44202990
3ºArgentina Newell's Old Boys 44121880
4ºArgentina Independiente 4420259-4
5ºArgentina Racing Club 34112673
Group A first place playoff

*   Winner of the series

Team 1 Team 2 Res. Venue City
Argentina River PlateUruguay Nacional
6–3
San Lorenzo StadiumBuenos Aires
Final
Team 1 Team 2 Res. Venue City
Argentina River PlateArgentina Rosario Central
2–0
San Lorenzo StadiumBuenos Aires

List of campions
Year Champion Runner-up Score
1936Argentina IndependienteArgentina San Lorenzo
– [note 2]
1938Uruguay Nacional [9]Argentina San Lorenzo
– [note 2]
1943Argentina Newell's Old Boys [11]Argentina Boca Juniors
– [note 2]
1944Argentina River PlateArgentina Rosario Central
2–0

See also

Notes
  1. The AFA never included this competition among its official tournaments, according to the Annual Reports and Balances published by the association.[1]
  2. Defined on points under a round-robin tournament format.

References
  1. List of Annual Reports and Balances on AFA website
  2. Argentina – List of friendly Tournaments by Mariano Buren on the RSSSSF
  3. Torneo Internacional Nocturno Rioplatense by Pablo Ciullini on the RSSSF
  4. Torneo de verano: Alberto J. Armando vio el negocio en 1968 by José Luis Ponsico on Nacional y Popular web (archived, 2 Feb 2017) by Jose luis Ponsico
  5. Torneos de Verano (Argentina) 1968-2004 on the RSSSF by Christian Ale
  6. Torneo Internacional Nocturno Rioplatense - match details on the RSSSF
  7. El Campeonato Nocturno Rioplatense, un torneo que tuvo su rica historia by Martín Perez - Feb 19, 2020 on Salimo.uy
  8. Contra Estudiantes: Hazaña, desazón y trampa on El Observador by Juan J. Díaz – 23 May 2018
  9. "Torneo Rioplatense Nocturno 1938" on Pueblo Tricolor (blogsite)
  10. Temporada 1943 on Globopedia
  11. "Newell's campeón del Torneo Internacional Nocturno 1943" by Leonardo Volpe on Historia del Fútbol Rosarino, 28 Feb 2011
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