The Copa Ganadores de Copa, also known as Recopa Sudamericana de Clubes, was a South American football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Its first edition was held in 1970 and was won by Bolivian club Mariscal Santa Cruz. The second edition was organized in 1971, however, Group One matches have never been played and the tournament reduced to a friendly competition at the end and the winner of Group Two was crowned the champion. The competition was not held after this year.
Contents
The tournament was contested by football clubs which were the most recent winners of South American domestic cup competitions or the highest team club that did not qualify for the Copa Libertadores. The actual qualifying criteria varied across countries.
It should not be confused with Recopa Sudamericana, the competition played between the champion of Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.
Format
The competition was a round robin tournament with two groups, each group was played in a different city. The group winners qualify for the two-legged final.
Methods of qualification of different countries
Different countries used different methods of qualification.
Teams
Ultimately, Brazil and Colombia refused to enter the competition, and so there were only three teams in Group One but five teams in Group Two.
Results
Brazil and Colombia decided not to enter the competition again. The same format was adopted as the previous session.
Nonetheless, on February 25, 1971, CONMEBOL decided to reduce it into a friendly tournament and there would not be a trophy, because Deportes Concepción withdrew from the tournament and confirmation of participation had not been received from Huracán Buceo. Matches in Group One were never played and América, the winner of Group Two, was regarded as the champion of the friendly tournament. But although CONMEBOL doesn´t list the 1971 edition as an official tournament, the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) count it as an official competition to his numbers and records.
Group Two matches were played in parallel with Group Five matches of the Copa Libertadores 1971.