The 1984 Intercontinental Cup was an

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 between

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 popul ...

of England and Independiente of Argentina on 9 December 1984 at 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 ...

Tokyo 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 ...

, Japan, the annual Intercontinental Cup contested between the winners of the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

and

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. Independiente were appearing in their sixth Intercontinental Cup, they had won the competition once in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

and lost the other four. Liverpool were making their second appearance in the competition, after their loss in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. The teams had qualified for the competition by winning their continent's primary cup competition. Independiente qualified by winning the primary South American cup competition, the

. They won the 1984 Copa Libertadores by defeating Brazilian team Grêmio 3–1 on points in the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. Liverpool qualified by winning the primary European cup competition, the

. They won the

1983–84 European Cup The 1983–84 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for a fourth time by Liverpool in a penalty shootout in the final against Roma. The game had finished 1–1. Phil Neal had scored for Liverpool and Roberto Pruzzo for Roma ...

by beating Italian team

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

4–2 in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

after the match finished 1–1. Watched by a crowd of 62,000, Independiente took the lead in the sixth minute when José Percudani scored. Liverpool had the better of the possession during the match, but they were unable to convert their chances and the match finished in a 1–0 victory to Independiente. The win was the Argentine club's second triumph in the competition and the fifth in a row by the South American team.

Background

Independiente qualified for the Intercontinental Cup as the reigning Copa Libertadores winners. They won the 1984 Copa Libertadores by beating Grêmio 3–1 on points over two legs in the

. It would be Independiente's sixth appearance in the competition. Their previous five appearances had resulted in one win in

and four defeats in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. Liverpool had qualified for the Intercontinental Cup as a result of winning the

. They beat Roma 4–2 in a

after the match finished 1–1 to win their fourth European Cup. Liverpool were appearing in their second Intercontinental Cup. Their appearance in

resulted in a 3–0 defeat against

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

. Liverpool were scheduled to appear in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and 1978 but did not compete. They declined to play in 1977 and were replaced by runners-up

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

, while in 1978, Liverpool and

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

declined to play each other. Liverpool's last match before the Intercontinental cup was against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

in the 1984–85 Football League First Division. They won 3–1 courtesy of two goals from

John Wark John Wark (born 4 August 1957) is a Scottish former footballer who spent most of his playing time with Ipswich Town. He won a record four Player of the Year awards before becoming one of the four inaugural members of the club's Hall of Fame. W ...

and one from

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a t ...

. The last match Independiente played before the Intercontinental Cup was against

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...

in the 1984 Argentine Primera División, which they lost 1–0.

Match

Summary

Before the match, Liverpool lost defender

Mark Lawrenson Mark Thomas Lawrenson (born 2 June 1957) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool, among others, during the 1970s and 1980s. After a short career as a manager, he then became a radio, television and internet pu ...

who had injured his hamstring in training.

Gary Gillespie Gary Thompson Gillespie (born 5 July 1960) is a Scottish former professional football defender who played for Coventry City and later Liverpool, through much of the 1980s. Liverpool His three goals in that double winning season all came in th ...

was his replacement. Liverpool kicked off the match and the first few exchanges saw a number of rash tackles. Independiente defender

Carlos Enrique Carlos Alberto Enrique (born 12 December 1963 in Adrogué) is a former Argentine football defender who won the Copa América 1991 with Argentina. At club level he won the Copa Libertadores and Copa Intercontinental with Club Atlético Indepen ...

tackled

Craig Johnston Craig Peter Johnston (born 25 June 1960) is a South African-born Australian former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder in the English Football League between 1977 and 1988, winning the European Cup, five league titles and an FA Cu ...

robustly, but the referee indicated to play on. Moments later Liverpool midfielder

Jan Mølby Jan Mølby (; born 4 July 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1982 to 1998. After starting his career with Kolding, he moved on to Ajax before spending twelve years playing in Engl ...

tackled Enrique late, which prompted the referee to award 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 offence ...

. Liverpool controlled the opening exchanges of the match, but could not work the ball into the Independiente penalty area. However, it was Independiente who opened the scoring,

Claudio Marangoni Claudio Oscar Marangoni (born 17 November 1954 in Rosario) is an Argentina, Argentine former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He played club football in Argentina and England and played for the Argentina national footb ...

sent a ball over the Liverpool defence for striker José Percudani, whose low shot beat the advancing Liverpool goalkeeper

Bruce Grobbelaar Bruce David Grobbelaar (born 6 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most prominently for English team Liverpool between 1981 and 1994, and for the Zimbabwean national team. He is remembered fo ...

to give Independiente a 1–0 lead. Independiente tokyo 1984

Following the goal, Independiente under instruction from their manager

José Omar Pastoriza José Omar Pastoriza (23 May 1942 – 2 August 2004) was a football player and manager. A midfielder, he played for Independiente, AS Monaco, and the Argentina national team. As a manager, he managed the Venezuela national team among other te ...

, began to sit back in their own half inviting Liverpool to attack them. Their plan worked as Liverpool were unable to break down their defence, while their strikers Percudani and Alejandro Barberón counter-attacked when Independiente received the ball. The second half saw Liverpool continue to attack the Independiente goal, but to no avail. Midfielders

and Mølby tried to find a way through the Independiente defence was equal to their efforts. Wark's efforts trying to engineer an equalising goal resulted in him being substituted for

Ronnie Whelan Ronald Andrew Whelan (; born 25 September 1961) is an Irish former professional footballer player who played as a midfielder and sometimes as a defender. He played an integral role in the dominant Liverpool side that won a wealth of titles in ...

in the 76th minute, due to fatigue. Despite being the better team for the majority of the match, Liverpool were unable to beat the Independiente defence, with their shooting in front of goal being the culprit. Both sides questioned some of the referee's decisions. Liverpool believed they should have had two penalties, while Independiente felt that the assistant referee's decisions were questionable. Incidentally, the referee had served half of his two match ban handed out by the Brazilian Football Association.

Details

Post-match

Despite the defeat, Liverpool manager

Joe Fagan Joseph Francis Fagan (12 March 1921 – 30 June 2001) was an English footballer and manager. He was a coach and manager at Liverpool for twenty seven years under Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. As a manager he was the first English manager to wi ...

could not fault the effort his players had put in: "Independiente are a good defensive tactical team and we could find no way through, the weather was ideal, we were just as fit as they were. The South Americans have better ball control than we do. We were disappointed with the result but I wasn't disappointed with the display." Liverpool finished the 1984–85 Football League First Division in second place 13 points behind local rivals Everton. They also reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

1984–85 European Cup The 1984–85 season of the European Cup club football tournament was overshadowed by the Heysel Stadium disaster that happened prior to the final match. That edition was won for the first time by Juventus in a 1–0 win against defending champio ...

, which they lost 1–0 to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

. However the events of the match were overshadowed for the

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

that occurred before kick-off. Liverpool fans breached a fence separating the two groups of supporters and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a retaining wall to collapse, killing 39 people and injuring hundreds. English clubs were banned indefinitely from European competition, with a condition that when the ban was lifted, Liverpool would serve an extra three-year ban. The ban eventually lasted for five years, clubs returning to European competition in the 1990–91 season. Independiente would finish their season in the Primera Division in 14th place. Despite this, they competed in the

1985 Copa Libertadores The 1985 edition of Copa Libertadores was won by Argentinos Juniors, of Argentina for the first time, after defeating América of Colombia in a penalty shootout, following a playoff game after the two-legged final finished level. Group stage Cl ...

as the reigning champions. However, they were unable to retain their title as they exited in the semi-finals.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

FIFA Article
Archived
Match Report
at LFC History {{Club Atlético Independiente matches Intercontinental Cup Intercontinental Cup Intercontinental Cup Intercontinental Cup 1984 Intercontinental Cup 1984 Intercontinental Cup (football) Intercontinental Cup (football) matches hosted by Japan

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

Sports competitions in Tokyo Intercontinental Cup 1984 in Tokyo 1984 in association football