| Event | Copa Interamericana | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| on aggregate, after play-off | |||||||
| First leg | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 25 March 1981 (1981-03-25) | ||||||
| Venue | Estadio Olímpico Universitario,Mexico City | ||||||
| Referee | Rómulo Méndez (Guatemala) | ||||||
| Attendance | 52,229 | ||||||
| Second leg | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 8 April 1981 (1981-04-08) | ||||||
| Venue | Estadio Centenario,Montevideo | ||||||
| Referee | José Roberto Wright (Brazil) | ||||||
| Attendance | 40,000 | ||||||
| Play-off | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 31 May 1981 (1981-05-31) | ||||||
| Venue | Memorial Coliseum,Los Angeles | ||||||
| Referee | José Roberto Wright (Brazil) | ||||||
| Attendance | 15,000 | ||||||
←1979 1985 → | |||||||
The1981 Copa Interamericana was the 8th edition of theCopa Interamericana, thefootball competition co-organized byCONCACAF andCONMEBOL between the winners of the previous season's two major club tournaments in theAmericas, theCONCACAF Champions' Cup and theCopa Libertadores.
The competition was contested in two-legged home-and-away format and a play-off betweenMexican teamUNAM, the1980 CONCACAF Champions' Cup champions, andUruguayan teamNacional, the1980 Copa Libertadores champions. The first leg was hosted by UNAM on 25 March 1981 atEstadio Olímpico Universitario inMexico City, the second leg was hosted by Nacional on 8 April 1981 atEstadio Centenario inMontevideo, while the play-off was hosted at a neutral site on 13 May 1981 at theMemorial Coliseum inLos Angeles.
UNAM defeated Nacional 6–5 on aggregate to win their first Copa Interamericana title.[1][2][3]
| Team | Qualification | Previous participations (bold indicates winners) |
|---|---|---|
 UNAM | Winners of the1980 CONCACAF Champions' Cup | None |
 Nacional | Winners of the1980 Copa Libertadores | 1 (1971) |
The Copa Interamericana is played on a home-and-awaytwo-legged basis, with the Copa Libertadores champions hosting the second leg. If tied on aggregate, theaway goals rule would not be used, and a play-off match would be played. If still tied after the play-off match, thepenalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winners.[4]
| 1st leg | 2nd leg | Play-off |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico City | Montevideo |  Los Angeles |
| Estadio Olímpico Universitario | Estadio Centenario | Memorial Coliseum |
| Capacity:69,000 | Capacity:60,235 | Capacity:93,607 |
 |  | .jpg) |
In the 5th minute,Hugo Sánchez opened the scoring for UNAM. In the second half, Nacional fought back and found an equaliser fromVíctor Espárrago, scored in the 57th minute.Ricardo Ferretti then restored UNAM's lead, to make the score 2–1 in the 60th minute. Hugo Sánchez got his second goal of the match in the 85th minute.[1]
The game was goalless until the 70th minute mark, whenWilmar Cabrera put Nacional ahead, in the 77th José Cabrera scored to make it 2–0, then Wilmar Cabrera in the 81st minute scored his second of the match to make it 3–0. However, the game was to end at 3–1 afterGustavo Vargas with three minutes to go scored for UNAM, forcing a play-off.
| Nacional | 3–1 | UNAM |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
The play-off leg finally went ahead after a month withLos Angeles as the neutral site. Nacional opened the scoring at the 17th minute from José Cabrera. Ricardo Ferretti equalised at the 69th minute. In the 89th minute, Gustavo Vargas scored the winning goal for UNAM.
      UNAM |      Nacional |
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