Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé was a professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia", he is best known for his achievements with Real Madrid, where he was instrumental in the club's domination of the European Cup and La Liga during the 1950s and 1960s. Along with Francisco Gento and José María Zárraga, he was one of only three players to play a part in all five European Cup victories, scoring goals in each of the five finals. Di Stéfano played international football mostly for Spain after moving to Madrid, but he also played for Argentina and Colombia.
The 1993 Copa América was the 36th Copa América, CONMEBOL's football tournament for national teams. It was held in Ecuador between 15 June and 4 July. All 10 CONMEBOL members took part, but for the first time two nations from outside CONMEBOL were invited to take part in the tournament, to round out the format. Mexico and the United States, both of CONCACAF, were the invited teams for this tournament. Argentina defeated Mexico in the final 2–1 to win their record 14th continental championship, also their last senior title until 2021.
Millonarios Fútbol Club, known simply as Millonarios, is a Colombian professional football club based in Bogotá, that competes in the Categoría Primera A, top flight of football in Colombia.
The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held between 26 June and 15 July in Venezuela, which hosted the tournament for the first time.
Estadio Olímpico de la UCV is a multipurpose stadium used mainly for association football in Caracas, Venezuela, which serves the home ground of Caracas F.C., Deportivo La Guaira, Metropolitanos F.C., and Universidad Central. It has a capacity of 24,264.
The Ballet Azul is a term coined in Colombia in the 1950s to describe the Millonarios football team, during its successful period from 1949–1964, because the blue color of their uniform, the large number of titles who had won the team, and the quality of its game. The term was first used by the sportscaster Carlos Arturo Rueda.
Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera was an Argentine football player and coach. Nicknamed "El Maestro", he was widely considered to be one of the best world football players in the 1940s and one of the greatest Argentine players of all time. Pedernera was the natural conductor of both the famous River Plate team known as La Máquina, with whom he won several Argentine and South American titles, and the Millonarios team called Ballet Azul that won the Small Club World Cup in 1953 among many others Colombian titles.
The South American Championship of Champions was a football competition played in Santiago, Chile in 1948 and the first continental-wide clubs football tournament in South America. Hosted and organized by Chilean club Colo Colo with the aid of then president of CONMEBOL Luis Valenzuela, it was played between February 11 and March 17. Brazil's Vasco da Gama won the competition after earning the most points in the round-robin tournament.
La Máquina is a nickname given to the River Plate football team from 1941 to 1947, commonly referred by the media as the best Argentine team of its era and one of the best teams worldwide.
The Small World Cup was a football tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1975. In most of the occasions, the competition was played by four participants from Europe and South America. In the first period, clubs from three countries would win the tournament: Spain, Brazil and Colombia. Six clubs have won the trophy in this period: Botafogo, Real Madrid, São Paulo, Millonarios, Corinthians, and Barcelona.
The Copa Ricardo Aldao, popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official AFA-AUF football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions of Argentina and Uruguay. The trophy was donated by Argentine football executive Ricardo Aldao (1863–1956), who would later become president of the Argentine Football Association.
The 2003 season is the 81st season of competitive football in Ecuador.
The 1960 Intercontinental Cup was the inaugural edition of the matchup between the reigning European football champion and the reigning South American football champion. The idea was born of discussions between Pierre Delauney, UEFA secretary and José Ramón de Freitas, CONMEBOL secretary.
The 1955 Small Club World Cup was the fourth edition of the Small Club World Cup, a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1957, and in 1963 and in 1965. It was played by four participants, half from Europe and half from South America in double round robin format and featured players like Mario Coluna, José Águas, goalkeeper Costa Pereira for Benfica, Dino Sani, Nílton de Sordi for Sao Paulo, Dutch Faas Wilkes and Pasieguito for Valencia.
The 1956 Small Club World Cup was the fifth edition of the Small Club World Cup, a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1957, and in 1963 and in 1965. It was played by four participants, 3 from Europe and 1 from South America in double round robin format, and featured players like Alfredo Di Stéfano, Héctor Rial, Francisco Gento, Miguel Muñoz for Real Madrid, Uruguayan Alcides Ghiggia for Roma, Vavá for Vasco da Gama, Hernâni Silva, and Virgílio Mendes for Porto. This was Di Stéfano's second participation and trophy and his first with Real Madrid.
The 1953 Small Club World Cup was the third edition of the Small Club World Cup, a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1957, and in 1963 and in 1965. It was played by four participants, half from Europe and half from South America in double round robin format and featured stars like László Kubala, goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets, Estanislau Basora for Barcelona, goalkeeper Gilmar, Baltazar for Corinthians, Egisto Pandolfini and Carlo Galli for Roma. This was the 2nd tournament played in the same year; none was held in the next calendar year.
The 1953 Small Club World Cup (first tournament) was the second edition of the Small Club World Cup, a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1957, and in 1963 and in 1965. It was played by four participants, half from Europe and half from South America but deviated from its usual double round robin format and featured players such as Angel Labruna, Amadeo Carrizo, Felix Loustau for River Plate, Gerhard Hanappi, Ernst Happel for Austria Wien, Nestor Rossi, Ramón Alberto Villaverde and Alfredo Di Stefano for Millonarios who played his last matches for the club in this tournament.
The 1957 Small Club World Cup was the sixth edition of the Small Club World Cup, a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1957, and in 1963 and in 1965. It was played by four participants, half from Europe and half from South America in double round robin format, and featured star players like Didi and Garrincha for Botafogo, Uruguayan Ramón Villaverde who reappeared after the 1953 edition, goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets, Estanislau Basora, and Brazilian Evaristo for Barcelona, goalkeeper Roberto Sosa, Héctor Núñez, and Guillermo Escalada for Nacional de Montevideo, and Marcelino Campanal for Sevilla. Also, future Real Madrid defender José Santamaría was in Nacional's squad.
The 1976 Copa Interamericana was the 5th. edition of the Copa Interamericana. The final was contested by Argentine Club Atlético Independiente and Mexico's Atlético Español. The final was played under a two-leg format in August 1976. Both matches were held in Estadio Olímpico, Caracas, Venezuela.
The 1963 Small Club World Cup was the seventh edition of the Small Club World Cup, a tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1957, and in 1963 and in 1965. It was played by three participants in double round robin format, and featured players like Evaristo, Hilderaldo Bellini, Cecilio Martinez, Custódio Pinto, Francisco Gento and Ferenc Puskás.
Real Madrid (1st title)
