1999 Copa Libertadores

The 1999 Copa Libertadores was the 40th edition of the Copa Libertadores, South America's premier club championship. It was held between February 21 and June 16. Palmeiras became the champions after beating Deportivo Cali on penalties for the first time in their history.^[2] from Brazil, after the team defeated Deportivo Cali, from Colombia, in the decisive match held at Estádio Palestra Itália, São Paulo, on June 16, 1999. The match ended 2-1 in regular time and 4-3 in a penalty shootout. The first leg of the final, played on June 2 in the Colombian city of Cali at Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero, saw Deportivo win 1-0.^[3]

1999 Copa Libertadores de América

1999 Copa Toyota Libertadores de América 1999 Copa Toyota Libertadores da América
Tournament details
Dates	21 February – 16 June
Teams	21 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Palmeiras (1st title)
Runners-up	Deportivo Cali
Tournament statistics
Matches played	90
Goals scored	257 (2.86 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Víctor Bonilla (6 goals) Fernando Baiano (6 goals) Gauchinho (6 goals) Ruberth Morán (6 goals) Rubén Sosa (6 goals) Martín Zapata (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Marcos[1]
← 1998 2000 →

This was the first Libertadores title for the São Paulo team, which had previously reached the runner-up position in 1961 and 1968.

The coach who led Palmeiras to this historic victory was Luiz Felipe Scolari, who, years later, guided the Brazilian national team to its fifth World Cup title. Palmeiras' goalkeeper Marcos was the tournament’s standout revelation and was also named the best player of the 1999 continental competition by Conmebol.^[4][5][6]

History

Luiz Felipe Scolari

The core Palmeiras team, besides goalkeeper Marcos, who replaced injured keeper Velloso (footballer, born 1968) during the group stage, consisted of fullbacks Arce (right) and Júnior (left); center-backs Júnior Baiano and Roque Júnior; defensive midfielders César Sampaio and Rogério; midfielders Alex and Zinho; and forwards Paulo Nunes and Oséas. Other key players included forwards Evair and Euller, as well as center-back Cléber and defensive midfielder Galeano.

Before reaching the final, Palmeiras eliminated River Plate of Argentina in the semi-finals. River had previously ousted fellow Argentine club Vélez Sársfield in the quarterfinals. In the first leg, played in Buenos Aires at the Estadio Monumental de Núñez, River defeated Palmeiras 1-0. In the return leg at Estádio Palestra Itália, Palmeiras won 3-0.

Marcos

In the quarterfinals, Palmeiras eliminated their arch-rival Corinthians. Both matches were held at Estádio do Morumbi, each ending 2-0: Palmeiras won the first, Corinthians the second. The tie went to penalties, with Palmeiras prevailing 4-2. A similar scenario unfolded in the 2000 edition, this time in the semi-finals, again decided by penalties (5-4) and once more favoring Palmeiras, who advanced to the final.

In the round of 16 in 1999, Palmeiras defeated the defending champions, Vasco da Gama. The first match, held at Estádio Palestra Itália, ended 1-1. The second, played at Estádio São Januário, saw Palmeiras win 4-2.

During the group stage, Palmeiras finished second with 10 points, behind Corinthians with 12 points. Both Brazilian teams, along with Cerro Porteño, advanced from Group 3, leaving Paraguayan club Olimpia in last place with just 5 points.

First round

• Teams in green qualified to the Round of 16
• Teams in red were eliminated

Twenty teams were distributed among five groups in the First Round; the top three of each group qualified to the playoff bracket. Vasco da Gama (winner of the previous edition of the tournament) received a bye to the playoff bracket.

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Nacional	6	4	0	2	9	8	+1	12
2	Estudiantes de Mérida	6	3	0	3	9	14	−5	9
3	Bella Vista	6	2	1	3	9	6	+3	7
4	Monterrey	6	2	1	3	10	9	+1	7

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vélez Sársfield	6	2	3	1	6	3	+3	9
2	Deportivo Cali	6	3	0	3	4	8	−4	9
3	River Plate	6	2	2	2	8	8	0	8
4	Once Caldas	6	2	1	3	7	6	+1	7

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Corinthians	6	4	0	2	16	8	+8	12
2	Palmeiras	6	3	1	2	12	10	+2	10
3	Cerro Porteño	6	2	1	3	14	20	−6	7
4	Olimpia	6	1	2	3	11	15	−4	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Universidad Católica	6	3	2	1	9	5	+4	11
2	Colo Colo	6	2	2	2	5	7	−2	8
3	Universitario	6	2	1	3	7	8	−1	7
4	Sporting Cristal	6	0	5	1	7	8	−1	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 5

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	LDU Quito	6	3	1	2	10	8	+2	10
2	Emelec	6	3	0	3	9	12	−3	9
3	Jorge Wilstermann	6	2	2	2	9	9	0	8
4	Blooming	6	2	1	3	5	4	+1	7

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knockout stages

Bracket

	Round of 16						Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Finals
	Deportivo Cali	2	0	2
	Colo-Colo	0	1	1
							Deportivo Cali	2	1	3
							Bella Vista	1	1	2
	Bella Vista	2	3	5
	U. Católica	2	1	3
													Deportivo Cali	4	2	6
													Cerro Porteño	0	3	3
	Emelec	1	1	2
	Estudiantes	3	0	3
							Estudiantes	3	0	3
							Cerro Porteño	0	4	4
	Cerro Porteño	5	1	6
	Nacional	0	2	2
																			Deportivo Cali	1	1	2 (3)
																			Palmeiras	0	2	2 (4)
	River Plate	1	0	1 (5)
	LDU Quito	0	1	1 (4)
							River Plate	2	0	2
							Vélez Sarsfield	0	1	1
	Universitario	0	0	0
	Vélez Sarsfield	0	4	4
													River Plate	1	0	1
													Palmeiras	0	3	3
	Palmeiras	1	4	5
	Vasco da Gama	1	2	3
							Palmeiras	2	0	2 (4)
							Corinthians	0	2	2 (2)
	Jorge Wilstermann	1	2	3
	Corinthians	1	5	6

Round of 16

First leg matches were played on April 14. Second leg matches were on April 20 and April 21.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Cerro Porteño	6–2	Nacional	5–0	1–2
Universitario	0–4	Vélez Sársfield	0–0	0–4
Jorge Wilstermann	3–6	Corinthians	1–1	2–5
Bella Vista	5–3	Universidad Católica	2–2	3–1
River Plate	1–1 (5–4 pk)	LDU Quito	1–0	0–1
Emelec	2–3	Estudiantes	1–3	1–0
Deportivo Cali	2–1	Colo Colo	2–0	0–1
Palmeiras	5–3	Vasco da Gama	1–1	4–2

Quarterfinals

First leg matches were played on May 5. Second leg matches were played on May 12.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
River Plate	2–1	Vélez Sársfield	2–0	0–1
Palmeiras	2–2 (4–2 pk)	Corinthians	2–0	0–2
Estudiantes	3–4	Cerro Porteño	3–0	0–4
Deportivo Cali	3–2	Bella Vista	2–1	1–1

Semi-finals

Main article: 1999 Copa Libertadores Semi-Finals

First leg matches were played on May 19. Second leg matches were played on May 26.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Deportivo Cali	6–3	Cerro Porteño	4–0	2–3
River Plate	1–3	Palmeiras	1–0	0–3

Finals

Main article: 1999 Copa Libertadores Finals

First leg match were played on June 2. Second leg match were played on June 16.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Deportivo Cali	2–2 (3–4 pk)	Palmeiras	1–0	1–2

Champion

Copa Libertadores 1999
Palmeiras First title

Broadcasting rights

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• Latin America: local channels