Conmebol's, blue ribbon football club competition, The Copa Liberadores, has been in existence since 1960. It was launched as a response to the formation of the successful European Cup, in existence since 1955. South America can claim the first ever continental champions, thanks to a "one-off" 1948 tournament organised by Chile's Colo Colo.
Having won Chile's 1947 Championship, Colo Colo invited six other teams to compete for the Copa de Campeones in order to find the best club in South America. Colo were joined by the national champions of Uruguay and Argentina; Nacional and River Plate, the Peruvian runners-up Municipal and from countries with no national champions, Litoral of Bolivia, Emelec of Ecuador and Vasco da Gama. The tournament was a round robin league opened with a 2-2 draw between Colo Colo and Emelec. It was decided when Vasco da Gama held River Plate in the last round of matches, to secure the title from the Argentinian side by one point.
The victorious Vasco line up included Albino Friaca, who would go on to score Brazil's goal in their 2-1 defeat to Uruguay in the final match of the 1950 World Cup along with Barbosa, Brazil's goalkeeper and "scapegoat" for that infamous game. Whether having been crowned the World's first ever continental made up in later years for the pain in their defeat in the "Fateful Final" is unknown, but highly unlikely.
While a success on the pitch, the Copa de Campeonas was a financial disaster and the idea was canned until UEFA proved such a tournament was workable. In 1960 Conmebol tried again when Penarol of Uruguay won the first title with a team built around Alberto Spencer, with 54 goals, which is still the all time leading Copa Liberatores scorer.
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