Intercontinental Cup on football

In modern football, there is a large number of various trophies, for which teams compete at various levels. In club football, the most prestigious tournament is the Champions League, while the teams compete most actively among themselves in the World Cup. However, these two tournaments are not limited to football, there are many more diversified trophies that the team can get. And in this case we will talk about the Intercontinental Cup. You will learn about how long it has been held, what its essence is, and who more often won it. In addition, you will find out what the Intercontinental Cup in beach football is and how great its differences are.

What it is

The intercontinental cup is a tournament that was held between 1960 and 2004 between two clubs. One of them was the winner of the European Champions League, which was already mentioned above, and the other - the winner of the Copa Libertadores. The Libertadores Cup is an analogue of the Champions League in South America, in which it is determined which of the clubs is the strongest on the territory of this continent. Thus, the Intercontinental Cup is a small tournament consisting of one match, and within the framework of this tournament it is decided which football is stronger in a particular year, South American or European.

Tournament history

The Intercontinental Cup has been held since 1960, but it should be noted that for the first twenty years it consisted of two matches, but since 1980 the format of the tournament has been changed, and the teams began to hold not two but one match. The first champion in 1960 was Madrid "Real", who beat the Uruguayan "Penarol" with a total score of 5: 1. Already next year, the imperfection of the system became noticeable. In the first match of the "Penyar" won the Portuguese "Benfica", but in the second match won the Uruguayan club. As a result, I had to play the third, decisive match, in which the Uruguayans snatched the victory. However, three matches in the tournament, which is far from the most prestigious - it was too, so the format did not last that long. The first club that won the trophy in 1980 in a new format was the Uruguayan National, which beat English Nottingham Forest.

The last owner of the Intercontinental Cup was the Portuguese club "Porto", which in 2004 on penalties overcame the Colombian club "Once Caldas". The most titled clubs in this tournament are three South American and two European representatives. We are talking about the Argentine club Boca Juniors, the Uruguayan teams Penarol and Nacional, as well as the Italian Milan and the Spanish Real. All these teams for the history of the tournament three times won the cup.

End of the Cup

Already in 2000 it became clear that the Intercontinental Cup on football was losing its popularity and moving towards its decline. Then for the first time the Club World Cup was held, which included representatives of not only the two strongest continental confederations. As a result, it was this tournament that gained popularity, and the Intercontinental Cup ceased to exist. However, as already mentioned above, this tournament is held not only in classical football. Has such a tournament and beach football. The intercontinental cup is there - it's a little different competition, and it's worth telling about it separately.

Trophy in beach football

What makes this tournament different when it comes to beach football? The intercontinental cup in this case is completely different. Firstly, it is conducted not between clubs, but between national teams. Secondly, it is not so insignificant. On the contrary, he is considered the second most prestigious after the World Cup. Here are some special features of beach football. Intercontinental Cup is a relatively young tournament, it is held only in 2011. Thus, it was played only five times.

Who is the strongest in this tournament, which is famous for beach football? The intercontinental cup was won by the Brazilian national team for the first time, defeating the Iranian national team. At the second tournament in the finals faced teams of Russia and Tahiti, and the Russians came out victorious. They showed that they are one of the best nations playing beach soccer. The intercontinental cup was then won again by Brazil, and then by Iran. Both times in the final teams played against the Russians, who could not repeat the achievement of 2012. However, Russia really knows how to play beach football - the Intercontinental Cup in the next two years was won by this team. And both times the Brazilian national team was defeated. As you can see, the Intercontinental Cup in beach football is very different from what is held in big football.