Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004)

[5] At that point, the Japan Football Association was involved at a logistical level as host,[6] though it continued to be endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL.

[10] The first mention of the creation of the Intercontinental Cup and the Copa Libertadores was published by Brazilian and Spanish newspapers on 9 October 1958, referring to Havelange's announcement of the project to create such competitions, which he uttered during a UEFA meeting he attended as an invitee.

[26][27][28] It was the brainchild of UEFA president Henri Delaunay, who also helped Jules Rimet in the realisation of the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930.

[29][30] Initially played over two legs, with a third match if required in the early years (when goal difference did not count), the competition had a rather turbulent existence.

[31][32][33] After Real Madrid's victory in the first Intercontinental Cup, Barcelona newspaper Mundo Deportivo hailed the Madrid team as the first world champion club; although they pointed out that the competition "did not include Africans, Asians and other countries part to FIFA", they also expressed doubt that these regions presented football of the same quality as Europe and South America.

[39] Os Santásticos, also known as O Balé Branco ("The White Ballet"), which dazzled the world during that time and containing stars such as Gilmar, Mauro, Mengálvio, Coutinho, and Pepe, won the title after defeating Benfica 3–2 in Rio de Janeiro and thrashing the Europeans 2–5 in their Estádio da Luz.

[42][44] Milan's fierce rivals, Inter Milan, would go on to win the 1964 and 1965 Intercontinental Cups, beating Argentine club Independiente on both occasions, in 1964 after a play-off match won at Santiago Bernabéu in extra time with a goal from Mario Corso, becoming the first European team to win two times in a row the competition.

[38][50][51] However, as a result of the violence often practised in the Copa Libertadores by Argentine and Uruguayan clubs during the 1960s,[52] disagreements with CONMEBOL, the lack of financial incentives and the violent, brutal and controversial way the Brazilian national team was treated in the 1966 FIFA World Cup by European teams, Brazilian football—including its club sides—declined to participate in international competitions in the late 1960s, including the Copa Libertadores and consequently the Intercontinental Cup.

[53] Calendar problems, acts of brutality, even on the pitch, and boycotts tarnished its image, to the point of bringing into question the wisdom of organising it at all.

Estudiantes goalkeeper Alberto Poletti also punched Gianni Rivera, but the most vicious treatment was reserved for Néstor Combin, an Argentinean-born striker, who had faced accusations of being a traitor as he was on the opposite side of the intercontinental match.

The player was forced to spend a night in the cells, eventually being released after explaining he had fulfilled national service requirements as a French citizen.

The Argentinean press responded with "The English were right" – a reference to Alf Ramsey's famous description of the Argentina national football team as "animals" during the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

Argentina's president, military dictator Juan Carlos Onganía, summoned Estudiantes delegate Oscar Ferrari and demanded "the severest appropriate measures in defence of the good name of the national sport.

[67] Courte's statement was endorsed by then-FIFA president Sir Stanley Rous, who then stated that FIFA saw the Intercontinental Cup as a friendly match.

According to Rous, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation had requested in 1967 to participate in the Intercontinental Cup, which was rejected by UEFA and CONMEBOL.

[89][90][91] The team's arrival at Buenos Aires was extremely hostile: Johan Cruyff received several death threats from Independiente's local fan firms.

[92] Due to the indifference from the Argentine police, Ajax manager Ştefan Kovács appointed an organised emergency security detail for the Nederlandse meester, headed by himself and team member Barry Hulshoff, described as a big and burly man.

[90][91][94][95] Also in 1973, French newspaper L'Équipe, which helped to bring about the birth of the European Cup, volunteered to sponsor a Club World Cup contested by the champions of Europe, South America, North and Central America, and Africa, the only continental club tournaments in existence at the time; the competition was to potentially take place in Paris between September and October 1974 with an eventual final to be held at the Parc des Princes.

[98] In 1974, João Havelange was elected president of FIFA, having made the proposal, among others, of creating a multicontinental Club World Cup.

[104] In 1976, when Brazilian side Cruzeiro won the Copa Libertadores, the European champions Bayern Munich willingly participated, with the Bavarians winning 2–0 on aggregate.

[105] Argentine side Boca Juniors qualified for the 1977 and 1978 matches, for which the European champions, English club Liverpool, declined to participate on both occasions.

[103] Paraguay's Olimpia won the 1979 match against European Cup runners-up, Swedish side Malmö FF, after winning both legs.

After the 0–1 win of the South Americans in the first leg at Malmö, which saw fewer than 5,000 Swedish fans turn up, Mundo Deportivo called the Cup "a dog without an owner".

[clarification needed] It has no known owner, it depends on a strange consensus and the interested clubs are not tempted to risk much for so little money, as evidenced by the attendance at the game in Malmö, played, of course, in absence of this year's champion, Nottingham Forest, by the Swedish team, finalist in one of the most boring and worst games played to cap off the European Cup since 1956.

In that decade, the English Football Association attempted to organise a Club World Cup sponsored by promoting company West Nally, only to be shot down by UEFA.

The 2000s would see Boca Juniors win the competition twice for South America, while European victories came from Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Porto.

[79] Though "symbolic" or de facto as a club world championship,[28] the Intercontinental Cup has always been an official title at interconfederation level, with both UEFA and CONMEBOL having always considered all editions of the competition as part of their honours.

The performance of various clubs is shown in the following tables:[157][158] Pelé is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in an Intercontinental Cup match (1962 second leg, vs Benfica in Lisbon).

Some of the rough moments in the 1968 match, between Manchester United and Estudiantes LP in Old Trafford, José Medina (covering his face), being sent off after a fight with George Best
A.C. Milan 's Néstor Combin was left bloodied and unconscious after a brutal series against Estudiantes de La Plata in 1969
A moment of the Feyenoord v Estudiantes match, 9 Sep 1970
Dutch team Ajax won the 1972 series v Argentine club Independiente
Daniel Bertoni (left) and Ricardo Bochini with the Intercontinental trophy won in 1973 v Juventus
Argentine Boca Juniors played West German Borussia Mönchengladbach after European champions Liverpool declined to participate in the 1977 edition. In the image, José Luis Salinas carrying the ball
Logo of the tournament, used between 1980 and 2004
Waldemar Victorino shooting during the 1980 match, Nacional (winner) v Nottingham Forest , which was the first held in Japan
Sign at Arena do Grêmio saying " Grêmio - Campeão do Mundo" ( Grêmio - World Champion ), celebrating Grêmio's 1983 Intercontinental Cup as a world championship
Pelé is the all-time top goalscorer in Intercontinental Cup's history with 7 goals in 3 matches