The 1981 football season is Clube de Regatas do Flamengo's 86th year of existence, their 70th football season, and their 69th season in the top division of the Campeonato Carioca, the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

state football league. In addition, it is their 11th in the top division of the Brazilian national football league, having never been relegated from either. Internationally, Flamengo participated in the 1981 Copa Libertadores, qualifying through winning the 1980 Brazilian Série A Championship. The 1981 season is regarded as the most successful and iconic season in Flamengo's history, in which they captured their first ever Copa Libertadores championship and defeated European Cup champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

by a score of 3 – 0 in the Intercontinental Cup in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. The team accomplished the feat of winning three trophies (the Copa Libertadores final, the Campeonato Carioca final, and the Intercontinental Cup) in a span of 21 days. This made Zico's Flamengo only the second Brazilian club to win a ''Mundial'' (world championship), after Pelé's Santos.

Friendlies

National friendly

Flamengo played one pre-season match against

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

before the start of the national league season.

Copa Punta del Este

The 1981 Copa Punta del Este was a friendly invitational tournament contested by Flamengo, Grêmio,

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and the ''Seleção'' of Maldonado, the state capital near Punta del Este, Uruguay. It was played in a single-elimination format with semi-finals and a final. Both Brazilian clubs eliminated the Uruguayan squads in the semi-finals in February 1981. Following that, heavy rain in Uruguay and diminished interest from the organizers in a final without Peñarol delayed the final between Grêmio and Flamengo for nearly three months. It was ultimately played outside of Uruguay, at the Estádio Olímpico, in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

. Scheduled to be played at 21:00, The match was further delayed an hour and a half due to a power outage. At nearly 1:00 the following morning the match was decided by

coin toss A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

: president Dunshee de Abranches selected 'heads' and the tournament was awarded to Flamengo.

Torneio João Havelange

The 1981 João Havelange Tournament was a three-team interstate friendly competition hosted by Democrata of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

and named in honor of

João Havelange Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, athlete and centenarian who served as the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the ...

, the Brazilian president of FIFA. Flamengo's state rivals Vasco da Gama won the tournament after defeating Democrata (3 - 2) and Flamengo (1 – 0). At this time, Zico and Júnior of Flamengo were at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

representing the ''Seleção'' against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, with Zico scoring the lone goal in a 1 – 0 win.

Torneio Internacional de Nápoles

In the middle of their

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The original meaning of the term is controversial, maybe from Tupi language "''kari' oka''", meaning "white house" as the whitewashed stone ...

campaign, Zico and Flamengo traveled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for a pair of friendlies in the Naples International Tournament. Flamengo, Avellino, and

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

club Linfield were hosted by

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

at the

Stadio San Paolo Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (formerly known as Stadio San Paolo) is a stadium in the western Fuorigrotta suburb of Naples, Italy. It is the third largest football stadium in Italy, after Milan's San Siro and Rome's Stadio Olimpico, as well as ...

. In front of a crowd of 80,000 Zico impressed against

Ruud Krol Rudolf ("Ruud" or "Rudi") Jozef Krol (; born 24 March 1949) is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax, and he became a coach ...

and third-place

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

team Napoli, scoring a hat trick. It would be the first time many Italians saw the Brazilian, before the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and his eventual move to Udinense in 1983.

Paulo César Carpegiani testimonial

During the Campeonato Carioca, and with one eye looking ahead to the Copa Libertadores semi-final stage in October, Flamengo scheduled a match with Argentine giants Boca Juniors and their rising superstar

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

. Both teams rested their starters in preceding matches before this friendly at the Maracanã in front of 65,000 and broadcast on live television. The "Taça da Raça" match served as a farewell to Flamengo midfielder

Paulo César Carpegiani Paulo César Carpegiani (born 7 February 1949, in Erechim) is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a midfielder. Playing career Carpegiani began his professional career at Sport Club Internacional of Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Su ...

, who had already retired from play and was serving as Flamengo's manager (eventually leading the club to a first

Libertadores ''Libertadores'' (, "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence from Spain and of the movement in support of Brazilian independence from Portugal. They are named that way in contrast with the ''Conquistad ...

title and

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in a matter of months). The two icons, Zico (28 years old) and Maradona (20), had not yet met on the field and fans were clamoring to watch the two face each other. Zico scored both goals of the match, and Maradona had a scoring chance at the end of the first half. The two would meet again representing their nations in the

, with Zico scoring and Maradona being sent off.

Campeonato Brasileiro (Taça de Ouro)

Flamengo qualified for the 1981 Brazilian Championship (officially the ''Taça de Ouro'' or "Gold Cup") through finishing 3rd in the

1980 Campeonato Carioca The 1980 edition of the Campeonato Carioca kicked off on August 17, 1980 and ended on November 30, 1980. It is the official tournament organized by FFERJ (Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, or Rio de Janeiro State Football Federa ...

. Grêmio were ultimately champions of the league with Flamengo finishing 6th overall out of 44 total participating teams.

First phase

Group D

Second phase

Group L

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Campeonato Carioca

The important Rio de Janeiro state league schedule coincided with Flamengo's Copa Libertadores matches of the same year.

was a player and occasional starter for Flamengo in the first round of the Carioca, also serving as Dino Sani's assistant and eventually taking over as manager for the Carioca second round. After finishing top in the first round ''Taça Guanabara'' and qualifying for the final, Flamengo turned their focus to the Libertadores group stage during the second round, which Vasco da Gama went on to win. In the third round, Flamengo's 6 – 0 thrashing of rival

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood ('' bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of ...

was historic, and avenged their match in 1972 with the reverse scoreline. Flamengo captured the third round with their most wins, and the most goals scored and best

goal differential Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

of the competition. Flamengo entered the final against Vasco with two rounds won (compared to Vasco's one round) and the most overall points across the three rounds. At a single match final in the Maracanã, a draw would be sufficient for Flamengo to become state champions. If Flamengo lost, a rematch would be a played and a draw would again give the title to Flamengo. A loss would force a third and final match. Days before the final, tragedy struck Flamengo as former manager

Cláudio Coutinho Cláudio Pêcego de Moraes Coutinho (5 January 1939 – 27 November 1981) was a Brazilian football manager who coached Brazil from 1977 to 1980 and Los Angeles Aztecs in 1981. He died as a result of a scuba diving accident at Rio de Janeiro. Mi ...

died while scuba diving the

Ilhas Cagarras The Ilhas Cagarras (Cagarras Islands) are an uninhabited archipelago located off Ipanema, a major beach of the southern coast of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They have been designated a federal natural monument since 2010. Location The ar ...

archipelago near Rio de Janeiro. Vasco were victorious in the match, 2 – 0, both goals scored by

Roberto Dinamite Carlos Roberto de Oliveira, known as Roberto Dinamite (born 13 April 1954) is a Brazilian former footballer and politician. He was born in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state. With a career as centre forward spanning over twenty years, Rober ...

. In the second match, Flamengo supporters cite rainy weather as the reason for their team's poor performance, losing again to Vasco by a final-minute goal from Dinamite. On December 6, Flamengo won the decisive match with first half goals from Adílio and Nunes. Ticão scored for Vasco late in the second half, and as the team attempted to mount a comeback and force extra time, a Flamengo-supporter bricklayer invaded the pitch and started a confrontation with a Vasco player. Play was stopped for eight minutes as Nunes separated the bricklayer. Flamengo held on to win and earn their 21st Rio de Janeiro state championship.

First round (Taça Guanabara)

Second round (Taça Ney Cidade Palmeiro)

Third round (Taça Sylvio Corrêa Pacheco)

Finals

Copa Libertadores

The 1981 edition of the Copa Libertadores was Flamengo's debut season in the tournament. Flamengo qualified as champion of 1980 Campeonato Brasileiro (

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

qualified as runners-up). Flamengo would go on to win the tournament, undefeated until the final against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an newcomers

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a Chilean football professional club based in Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. That competes in the Primera B. The club's home ground is the Estadio Zorros del ...

. In the first group stage, the Brazilian entrants were paired with both

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

an clubs:

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...

and Olimpia. Flamengo had to travel away to

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

for their last two matchdays and needed at least 3 points to catch Atlético Mineiro (only the top team in the group would advance). Former player and assistant

assumed the role of manager from

Dino Sani Dino Sani (; ; born 23 May 1932) is a Brazilian former footballer and coach. Sani was an experienced playmaking central midfielder with goalscoring prowess, and a "team player", who was well known for his ball skills, technique, accurate passi ...

after their second draw against Atlético on the 4th matchday. Flamengo were equal on points with the club from Belo Horizonte and forced a play-off at the neutral

Estádio Serra Dourada Estádio Serra Dourada is a football stadium inaugurated on March 9, 1975 in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. It was designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The stadium is owned by the Goiás state Government, ...

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

. However the match was suspended after 37 minutes as Atlético were reduced to only six eligible players (Osmar, Chicao, Palinha, Reinaldo and Eder were sent off). Per regulation, victory was awarded to Flamengo. Flamengo advanced through the semi-final group with a dominant performance: four victories in four matches. In the final, they encountered another Libertadores debutante in Cobreloa, a club that had only been founded four years prior. In the first final at the Maracanã, Flamengo prevailed (2 – 1) with two goals from Zico. In the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

the following week (not in Cobreloa's home town of Calama), the Brazilians were pressured on the field and, according to Zico, injured by Cobreloa players hiding rocks in their hands, and disadvantaged by the Uruguayan referee Ramón Barreto. Victor Merello scored the only goal of the match on a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

. Equal on goals, a third match was played at the neutral venue of the

Estadio Centenario Estadio Centenario is a stadium in the Parque Batlle of Montevideo, Uruguay, used primarily for football. The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, as well as to commemorate the centenary of Ur ...

in Montevideo. If the third match ended in a draw, extra time would be played. If still tied, the trophy would be awarded to Cobreloa based on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. Zico scored twice in the first half, sealing the game and the championship. With the match won, Anselmo of Flamengo entered on in the final minutes for the sole purpose of hurting Cobreloa captain Mario Soto in revenge. Both were sent off. Flamengo were crowned ''Champions of America'', and returned to Brazil to dispute the Rio de Janeiro state league final, with a match against

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

confirmed for December.

Group stage

Group 3

Semi-finals

Group A

Finals

Intercontinental Cup

A week after conquering the Campeonato Carioca against Vasco, Flamengo flew to

to contest the Intercontinental Cup (also branded as the '' Toyota Cup'') against European Cup champions

. A number of the key players on both squads had shared the field with each other earlier in the year, in an international friendly at Wembley in May, including Zico and Júnior of Flamengo and

Terry McDermott Terence McDermott (born 8 December 1951) is an English former football midfielder who was a member of the Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s, in which he won three European Cups and five First Division titles. He was capped 25 times ...

and

Phil Neal Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full back. He is one of the most successful English players of all time, having won seven First D ...

of Liverpool. The 1981 edition was the second such championship to be played as a single neutral-venue match in Tokyo's

. Flamengo won 3 – 0 off two goals from Nunes and one from Adílio, officially being declared world champions by FIFA. This marks Flamengo's first and only

''(as of 2018)''.

Overview

Goal scorers

Honors

References

External links

CONMEBOL Official Website: Copa Libertadores HistoryImortaisDoFutebol.com: Esquadrao Imortal - Flamengo 1980-1983
{{Intercontinental Cup winners CR Flamengo 1981 in Brazilian football