The Copa de Oro (English: ''Gold Cup'', Portuguese: ''Copa Ouro''), or Copa de Oro Nicolás Leoz, was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cup winners' cup competition contested on three occasions by the most recent winners of all CONMEBOL continental competitions. These included champions of the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

Supercopa Sudamericana The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Sudamericana, Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually be ...

Copa CONMEBOL The Copa CONMEBOL () was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contest, similar to the ...

, Supercopa Masters and Copa Masters CONMEBOL. The

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

champions did not participate. The cup is one of the many continental club competitions that have been organized by

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

. The first competition was held in 1993 featuring the 4 major continental champions of the previous season whilst the second competition in 1995 two continental champions declined to play leaving only two participants to play. In the final edition in 1996, all the continental champions accepted the invitation to play.

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, Cruzeiro and

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

were the only winners of the tournament with one title each. Brazil became the most successful nation of the competition with two victories.

History

The 1993 edition was contested by

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

(winners of the 1992 Copa CONMEBOL), Boca Juniors (winners of the 1992 Supercopa Masters), Cruzeiro (winners of the

1992 Supercopa Sudamericana The 1992 Supercopa Libertadores was the fifth season of the Supercopa Libertadores, a club football tournament for past Copa Libertadores winners. The tournament was won by Cruzeiro, who beat Racing 4–1 on aggregate in the final. This was th ...

) and São Paulo (winners of the 1992 Copa Libertadores). In the semifinals, Boca Juniors defeated

Telê Santana Telê Santana da Silva, also known as Telê Santana (July 26, 1931 – April 21, 2006) was a Brazilian football manager and former player (right winger). He was born in Itabirito, Minas Gerais. Telê was the manager responsible for putting to ...

's São Paulo in the mythical ''

La Bombonera La Bombonera (; , named after its resemblance to a chocolate box, per Viktor Sulčič), officially known as Alberto José Armando Stadium (, ; named after Alberto Armando), is an association football stadium located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

'' 1-0; the ''Paulistas

golden generation In sport, a Golden Generation, or Golden Team is an exceptionally gifted group of players of similar age, whose achievements reach or are expected to reach a level of success beyond that which their team had previously achieved. The term was firs ...

would return the dosage on the return leg and the series went into

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. Tied 1-1 on aggregate, Sergio Daniel Martínez made history as he scored the first ever ''

golden goal The golden goal is a sports rule used in association football, Australian rules football, bandy, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby league to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the ...

'' in a South American competition. In the final, Boca Juniors held Atlético Mineiro to a 0-0 tie in the

Mineirão Mineirão (; , named after its large structure), officially known as Governador Magalhães Pinto Stadium (, ; , named after Magalhães Pinto), is an association football stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Owned by the state of Minas Gerais, it ...

and win 1-0 in Buenos Aires, with the goal coming from Carlos MacAllister, to become the first ever winners of the competition. In 1994, the tournament was not played because of the scandal last year. In 1995, 1994 Copa Libertadores champion Vélez Sársfield and 1994 Supercopa Sudamericana champion Independiente declined to play. This only left the

1994 Copa CONMEBOL The 1994 Copa CONMEBOL was the third edition of CONMEBOL's annual club tournament. Teams that failed to qualify for the Copa Libertadores played in this tournament. Sixteen teams from nine South American football confederations qualified for this ...

and 1995 Supercopa Masters champions in the tournament. Cruzeiro faced São Paulo; in the first leg in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

, São Paulo won 0-1 before the game was suspended at the 47th minute due to Cruzeiro having four players sent off in the first half (they had used all the substitutions) and having one injured player leaving just six in the field for ''the Reposa''; in accordance with the regulations, the minimum number of players per team is seven. However, Cruzeiro came back from and win 0-1 in the Morumbi to eventually win the trophy on penalties. Due to scheduling conflicts, this season was played as part of the

, specifically the quarterfinal stage. The 1996 Copa de Oro was played entirely in the city of

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

and the final edition. The four teams were the champions of the 1995 Copa Libertadores, 1995 Copa CONMEBOL and 1996 Copa Masters CONMEBOL in addition to the runner-up of the 1995 Supercopa Sudamericana as the 1995 champion Independiente declined to play. In the semifinals,

defeated

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

History

Records and statistics

List of finals

Performances by club

Performances by nation

References