 The trophy awarded to champions | |
| Organiser(s) |  AFA AUF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1913 |
| Abolished | 1955; 70 years ago (1955) |
| Region | Buenos Aires,Argentina Montevideo,Uruguay |
| Teams | 2 |
| Related competitions | Copa Campeonato del Río de la Plata |
| Last champions | River Plate (1947) |
| Most championships | River Plate (5 titles) |
TheCopa Ricardo Aldao (English:Ricardo Aldao Cup), popularly calledCampeonato Rioplatense andCopa Río de La Plata, was an officialAFA-AUFfootball club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions ofArgentina andUruguay. The trophy was donated by Argentine football executive Ricardo Aldao (1863–1956), who would later become president of theArgentine Football Association.
The cup is one of several inter-South American club competitions that have been organised on the continent. The first competition was scheduled for the 1913 season (although it was never played) and the last in 1955 (actually played in 1959, no champions proclaimed). The Copa Ricardo Aldao is seen today as the first stepping-stone toward the creation of theCopa Libertadores.[1] In 2009, when theIFFHS proclaimedPeñarol ofMontevideo as the best South American team of the 20th century, they took into consideration the Copa Aldao and other international club tournaments played in South America before the beginning of Copa Libertadores in 1960.[2]
In August 2015, aCONMEBOL's article described Aldao Cup as one of the first international professional football cups in South America.[3]
Many important footballers played in the competitions such as the ArgentinesJose Manuel Moreno,Angel Labruna,Guillermo Stabile,Alfredo Di Stefano,Adolfo Pedernera,Amadeo Carrizo,Carlos Peucelle,Felix Loustau,Nestor Rossi,Antonio Sastre,Bernardo Gandulla, theItalian-bornRenato Cesarini, the UruguayansRoque Máspoli,Ángel Romano,Obdulio Varela,Hector Scarone,Juan Alberto Schiaffino,Anibal Paz,Severino Varela, and Paraguayan legendArsenio Erico, among others.
Friendly matches were common between clubs from Argentina and Uruguay in the early 1900s due to the close proximity of the nations. Inevitably, a match to decide which national champions were the best formulated; the trophy of the competition was donated by Ricardo Aldao, then president of both, clubGimnasia y Esgrima (BA) and dissident association "Federación Argentina de Football". As such, the competition was named after his donation. The first edition, organized in 1913, was to be contested betweenEstudiantes from Argentina andRiver Plate from Uruguay. However, the match was suspended due to heavy rain and never rescheduled.[4] The first champion of the competition was not crowned until 1916, whenNacional of Montevideo beatRacing de Avellaneda 2–1.
Originally, a single-legged format was adopted, with the match played in Argentina and Uruguay in alternative year.[4] But in 1940,Boca Juniors left the field when the match, played at Montevideo, was at a draw of 2–2 and headed for extra-time. The title was awarded toNacional at first, yet later on both associations did not defined clearly the champions of this year.[4]Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol (AUF) andArgentine Football Association (AFA) studied the situation on 22 January 1941, and announced that a two-legged format would be adopted in the following seasons.[4] The finals should be disputed before the beginning of the next season. Only players that had been part of the domestic champion squads could be included.[5] Since then, the competition was played two-legged exception made of the 1942 edition, when the second leg was not played and the trophy was not awarded.
Schedule problems forced teams of both countries to quit the Aldao Cup during the 1950s,[3] thus the competition was discontinued until 1959. One last attempt was made to rekindle the championship in 1955 in a match betweenNacional andRiver Plate. However, the final was not disputed until four years later and the second leg was never played; therefore, the title was not officially proclaimed.[4] As a result, to the schedule congestion of the growing national leagues (as well as the creation of the new continental club tournament, theCopa Libertadores de América) the Copa Aldao became redundant and was never played again.
Below is a list with all the finals played. Since 1941, it was ruled that the cup would be defined intwo legs.[4]
| Ed. | Year | Champion | Runner-up | 1st Leg | Venue | 2nd Leg | Venue | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1913 | (abandoned)[note 1] | |||||||
2 | 1916 | Nacional(1) | Racing | 2–1 | GEBA | – | |||
3 | 1917 | Racing(1) | Nacional | 2–2 | Parque Pereira | 2–1[note 2] | GEBA | 2–1 | |
4 | 1918 | Racing(2) | Peñarol | 2–1 | GEBA | – | |||
5 | 1919 | Nacional(2) | Boca Juniors | 3–0 | Parque Central | – | |||
6 | 1920 | Nacional(3) | Boca Juniors | 2–1 | Sp. Barracas | – | |||
– | 1923 | (not held)[note 3] | |||||||
7 | 1927 | San Lorenzo(1) | Rampla Juniors | 1–0 | Parque Central | – | |||
8 | 1928 | Peñarol(1) | Huracán | 3–0 | River Plate | – | |||
9 | 1936 | River Plate(1) | Peñarol | 5–1 | Centenario | – | |||
10 | 1937 | River Plate(2) | Peñarol | 5–2 | San Lorenzo | – | |||
11 | 1938 | Independiente(1) | Peñarol | 3–1 | Centenario | – | |||
12 | 1939 | Independiente(2) | Nacional | 5–0 | San Lorenzo | – | |||
13 | 1940 | (no champion crowned)[note 4] | 2–2 | Centenario | (not played) | ||||
14 | 1941 | River Plate(3) | Nacional | 6–1 | San Lorenzo | 1–1 | Centenario | 2–1 | |
15 | 1942 | (no champion crowned)[note 5] | 4–0 | Centenario | (not played) | ||||
16 | 1945 | River Plate(4) | Peñarol | 2–1 | Centenario | 3–2 | San Lorenzo | 4–0 | |
– | 1946 | (not held)[note 6] | |||||||
17 | 1947 | River Plate(5) | Nacional | 4–3 | Centenario | 3–1 | San Lorenzo | 4–0 | |
18 | 1957 | (no champion crowned)[note 7] | 2–1 | Centenario | (not played) | ||||
| Team | Titles | Years won |
|---|---|---|
| River Plate | 5 | 1936, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1947 |
| Nacional | 3 | 1916, 1919, 1920 |
| Independiente | 2 | 1938, 1939 |
| Racing | 2 | 1917, 1918 |
| Peñarol | 1 | 1928 |
| San Lorenzo | 1 | 1927 |
| Country | Titles | Winner teams |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 10 | River Plate (5),Racing (2),Independiente (2),San Lorenzo (1) |
| Uruguay | 4 | Nacional (3),Peñarol (1) |
| Player | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Ángel Labruna | 12 | River Plate |
| Atilio García | 8 | Nacional |
| Adolfo Pedernera | 4 | River Plate |
 Arsenio Erico | 4 | Independiente |
| Ángel Romano | 4 | Nacional |
| Hugo Reyes | 4 | River Plate |
Atilio García (won 2),Anibal Paz (won 2)Hector Scarone (won 4),José Manuel Moreno (won 4)Angel Labruna (won 3),Alfredo Foglino (won3),Ricardo Vaghi (won 3),Adolfo Pedernera (won 3),Felix Loustau (won 3),Angel Romano (won 3),Roberto Porta (won 1),Alberto Marcovecchio (won 3),Carlos Peucelle (won 3),Carlos Scarone (won 2),Hector Castro (won 1),Severino Varela (won 0)