The 1969
Intercontinental Cup was a
two-legged
In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum o ...
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
match contested between
1968–69 European Cup
The 1968–69 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Milan, who beat Ajax 4–1 in the final, giving Milan its first European Cup title since 1963, and its second overall. A number of Eastern Bloc clubs withdrew from the f ...
champions
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and
1969 Copa Libertadores winners
Estudiantes de La Plata
Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "Students from La Plata"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata , is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, wh ...
. It was the 10th edition of the competition.
The first leg was played at the
San Siro
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...
in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, on 8 October 1969. Milan won the home game 3–0. The return leg was held two weeks later, on 22 October, at
La Bombonera
The Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Widely known as La Bombonera (; en, The chocolate box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands rou ...
in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
. Despite suffering a 2–1 defeat, Milan won the title on aggregate.
Violence on pitch
![Nestor Combin 1969](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Nestor_Combin_1969.jpeg)
Amongst other things, the tie became infamous for the violent on-pitch conduct and dirty tactics employed by Estudiantes' players in the second leg of the fixture.
Estudiantes' players used violence from the beginning, with Alberto Poletti and Ramón Aguirre Suárez throwing balls to a group of Milan players that were practising on the field prior to the match. With the game already in progress, Eduardo Manera pushed around goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, then he bit Saul Malatrasi. Aguirre Suárez (one of the most violent players) injured Néstor Combin and Pierino Prati, although he would not be expelled until another violent action against Gianni Rivera.
[
After a match which saw two Italian players badly assaulted, events took a turn for the surreal when stretcher-bound ]Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
striker Néstor Combin
Néstor Combin (born 29 December 1939) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Argentina, he spent most of his professional career in France, most notably with Lyon, and represented the France national team at int ...
was arrested by Argentine police for draft dodging
Draft evasion is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation. Illegal draft ev ...
(Combin had been born in Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
but had represented France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
at international level, having moved to Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
for his professional career). The match had immediate political ramifications, partly due to Argentina's bid for the World Cup in 1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
. Many of the team's players were arrested and goalkeeper Alberto Poletti, who had punched Milan's "golden boy" playmaker
In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...
Gianni Rivera
Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder.
Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...
, kicked Combin and had clashed with supporters after the match, was handed a life ban. Ramon Suárez, who had broken the nose of Combin, was banned from international fixtures for five years. The match is also partly to blame for a subsequent boycott of the tournament by European teams.
First leg
Match details
Second leg
Match details
See also
*1968–69 European Cup
The 1968–69 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Milan, who beat Ajax 4–1 in the final, giving Milan its first European Cup title since 1963, and its second overall. A number of Eastern Bloc clubs withdrew from the f ...
* 1969 Copa Libertadores
*A.C. Milan in European football
Associazione Calcio Milan is an Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy. The club was founded in 1899 as Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club, and has competed in the Italian football league system since 1900. They were the first Italian cl ...
References
External links
Match details and lineups
at RSSSF.com
at UEFA.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Intercontinental Cup,1969
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1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
i
Estudiantes de La Plata matches
Football in Buenos Aires
International club association football competitions hosted by Italy
International club association football competitions hosted by Argentina
October 1969 sports events in Europe
Sports competitions in Buenos Aires
Sports competitions in Milan
1969 Intercontinental Cup
The 1969 Intercontinental Cup (football), Intercontinental Cup was a Two-legged tie, two-legged association football match contested between 1969 European Cup Final, 1968–69 European Cup champions A.C. Milan, Milan and 1969 Copa Libertadores winn ...
1969 Intercontinental Cup
The 1969 Intercontinental Cup (football), Intercontinental Cup was a Two-legged tie, two-legged association football match contested between 1969 European Cup Final, 1968–69 European Cup champions A.C. Milan, Milan and 1969 Copa Libertadores winn ...
Brawls in team sports
October 1969 sports events in South America