1951 Copa Rio

1951 Copa Rio
Palmeiras, champions
Tournament details
Host countryBrazil
Dates30 June – 22 July
Teams8 (from 7 associations)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsBrazil Palmeiras (1st title)
Runners-upItaly Juventus
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
1952

The 1951 Copa Rio, also known as Torneio Internacional de Clubes Campeões (International Champions Club Tournament, in english) was the first edition of the Copa Rio, the first intercontinental club football tournament with teams from Europe and South America, held in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo from 30 June to 22 July. Participant clubs were divided into two zones of four teams, playing each other once in a single round-robin tournament.[1]

The tournament featured players such as Vavá, Ademir of Vasco da Gama, Jair da Rosa Pinto of Palmeiras, José Santamaría, Walter Taibo, goalkeeper Anibal Paz, Luis Volpi of Nacional, Branko Stankovic, Rajko Mitic of Red Star Belgrade, Giampiero Boniperti, Danish Karl Aage Præst and John Hansen of Juventus, José Travassos of Sporting Lisbon, and Swedish Lennart Samuelsson and Antoine Bonifaci of Nice. Juventus's coach was the legendary Hungarian György Sárosi.

The final was played in a two-legged format, contested by Brazilian team Palmeiras and Italian side Juventus. Palmeiras won the series 2–1 on points, achieving their first Copa Rio trophy.[1][2]

  1. ^ a b Copa Rio de Janeiro 1951 by Ricardo Pontes on the RSSSF
  2. ^ Los antecedentes del Mundial de Clubes by Felipe Valderrama on El Cinco Cero, 16 Dec 2019