Roca Cup

The Roca Cup (Spanish: Copa Roca) was a football competition contested between Argentina and Brazil national teams from 1914 to 1976 on irregular basis.[1] The Copa Roca was the first trophy, official or unofficial, ever won by a Brazil national team.[2]

Copa Julio A. Roca
The trophy awarded to champions
Organising body AFA
 CBF
Founded1914
Abolished1976 (1976)
RegionSouth America
Number of teams2
Related competitionsSuperclásico de las Américas
Last champions Brazil (1976)
Most successful team(s) Brazil (8 titles)

History
Julio A. Roca, then President of Argentina, donated the trophy

The competition was created by former President of Argentina, General Julio Argentino Roca, in 1913. A football enthusiast, Roca was at the time the Argentine ambassador in Brazil and felt matches between both countries would create a healthy rivalry and help the sport to develop. The Cup would be played each year in a different country, a fact that was actually kept in spite of the many changes to the Cup's format.

Roca donated a trophy to dissident body Federación Argentina de Football ("Argentine Football Federation" – FAF) and it was agreed that the competition would be played for three consecutive years in a single-leg format and the country with two wins would conquer the trophy forever. But in 1915 the FAF merged with Argentine Football Association, and the following matches were not played. In 1922, the Brazilian Football Confederation agreed to play the competition again, which Brazil won for the second time, and thus claimed the Roca Cup ownership, even though Argentina beat them the following year.

In 1938, both football associations, AFA and CBF, accepted to play the competition once again. The format was changed and the trophy would be kept by the most recent winner. In case the first two matches finished in draws or each team had a win, then a third leg had to be played. In January 1939, Argentina got a 5–1 victory in Rio de Janeiro. The following game was packed with incidents and the visiting team left the pitch enraged after the referee awarded a penalty to Brazil. However the home side went on to score a third goal when the Argentine team had already left the field in protest. A third and fourth match were played in São Paulo, giving the victory to Argentina. The 1940 edition was played in Argentina, where Argentina won two matches (6–1 and 5–1) and Brazil won one (7-1)

In 1957's match, at Maracanã, Pelé made his debut in Brazil national team, drafted by coach Sylvio Pirillo, where he scored the first of many goals with the Brazilian jersey. From 1940 on, Brazil won every edition, except for the 1971 Cup, when with two draws, the Cup was also declared tied.[3]

List of champions

Matches

The following list includes all the editions of the Copa Julio A. Roca. Since 1939, the cup was played under a two-legged format. No goal difference was taken into account so in case of both teams won one match each, a playoff was held to define a champion. Nevertheless, since 1957 the cup was defined by goal difference between both matches.[4]

President of Brazil Getúlio Vargas meeting the Argentine players, January 1939
Brazilian goalkeeper Félix and Carlos Bianchi in the 1971 edition
Ed. Year Winner Score City Venue Agg.
1
1914 Brazil
1–0
Buenos AiresGEBA
–
2
1922 Brazil
2–1
São PauloParque Antarctica
–
3
1923 Argentina
2–0
Buenos AiresSportivo Barracas
–
4
1939 [n 1] Argentina
5–1
Rio de JaneiroSão Januário
5–3 [n 2]
2–3
Rio de JaneiroSão Januário
2–2 (a.e.t.)
São PauloParque Antarctica
3–0
São PauloParque Antarctica
5
1940 Argentina
6–1
Buenos AiresSan Lorenzo
4–2 [n 2]
2–3
Buenos AiresSan Lorenzo
5–1
AvellanedaIndependiente
6
1945 Brazil
3–4
São PauloPacaembu
4–2 [n 2]
6–2
Rio de JaneiroSão Januário
3–1
Rio de JaneiroSão Januário
7
1957 Brazil
1–2
Rio de JaneiroMaracanã
3–2
2–0 (a.e.t.)
São PauloPacaembu
8
1960 Brazil
2–4
Buenos AiresRiver Plate
6–5
4–1 (a.e.t.)
Buenos AiresRiver Plate
9
1963 Brazil
2–3
São PauloMorumbi
7–5
5–2 (a.e.t.)
Rio de JaneiroMaracanã
10
1971 Argentina &
 Brazil [n 3]
1–1
Buenos AiresRiver Plate
3–3
2–2 (a.e.t.)
Buenos AiresRiver Plate
11
1976 Brazil
2–1
Buenos AiresRiver Plate
4–1
2–0
Rio de JaneiroMaracanã

Titles by country
Team Titles Years won
 Brazil
8
1914, 1922, 1945, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1971[n 3], 1976
 Argentina
4
1923, 1939, 1940, 1971[n 3]

Notes
  1. The first two games were held in 1939, and the other two, postponed to February 1940 due to incidents in the second match. As the playoff game ended in a 2–2 draw after extra time, a fourth match was held to break the tie.
  2. Final score on points.
  3. As Brazil and Argentina had won one match each and no playoff was held, the title was shared.

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roca Cup.
  1. Copa Roca at Museu do Esportes website (Archive, )6 Jul 2011
  2. Antes do penta, a Copa Roca by Cassio Cirpoli on Diário de Pernambuco, 6 May 2011
  3. La Roca sin campeón, El Gráfico n° 2704, Editorial Atlántida, 1971
  4. Copa Julio Roca by José L. Pierrend on the RSSSF
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