15 April 1965 - The Pattern Holds For Independiente

On 15 April 1965, Independiente won their second consecutive Copa Libertadores, beating Peñarol in a playoff.

Established five years earlier as the Copa Campeones de América, the tournament had already fallen into a pattern, with Peñarol winning the first two (1960 and 1961) and Santos winning the next two (1962 and 1963). Independiente won the 1964 edition, priming them to follow the pattern and repeat as champions in 1965.

The final was scheduled for two legs, home and away. On 9 April, Independiente won the first leg in Argentina 1-0 with an 83rd-minute goal from midfielder Raúl Bernao. But Peñarol dominated the second leg in Uruguay on 12 April, going up 3-0 in the first 46 minutes en route to a 3-1 victory. Under the rules at the time, the winner was determined on points, not goal differential, so the split results meant that a playoff was required.

For the playoff, the teams met at the neutral Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile. There, Independiente surged to a 3-0 lead of their own with goals from Carlos Pérez (10'), Bernao (27'), and Roque Avallay (33'). Peñarol winger Juan Joya pulled one back one minute before the break, but the match finished as a 4-1 win for Independiente after Osvaldo Mura restored the three-goal margin in the 82nd minute.

Peñarol went on to win the 1966 tournament, then became the first team not to repeat as champions when they failed to reach the 1967 final.

18 November 1934 - This Is Why We Now Have Penalty Shootouts

On 18 November 1934, Nacional and Peñarol finally decided the Uruguayan Championship for the previous season, six months after their first playoff.

The teams had finished the 1933 season tied for first in the table, so they met for a playoff on 27 May 1934 at the Estadio Centenario. In the 70th minute, with the match scoreless, a shot taken by a Peñarol player went out of bounds, but hit a medicine cabinet and rebounded back onto the pitch. The referee, Telésforo Rodríguez, failed to stop play and Nacional took possession, driving up the field and getting a goal from Héctor Castro. Peñarol immediately protested the goal and assaulted Rodríguez, resulting in his departure from the game due to injury and the ejection of three Peñarol players. The assistant referee then halted the match due to the lack of light.

Approximately a month later, the league officially disallowed Castro's goal and instructed the two teams to play the last 20 minutes of the match behind closed doors on 25 August. But despite two extra-time periods, the match finished as a scoreless draw.

They met for a second playoff on 2 September, but again neither team managed to score. That forced a third playoff, played on 18 November, when they finally managed to find the net. Peñarol were leading 1-0 at the break after a goal from Braulio Castro (42'), but Héctor Castro's second-half hat-trick (53', 61', 77') proved decisive and the match finished as a 2-3 Nacional victory (Peñarol's other goal came from Juan Pedro Arremón in the 58th minute).

31 October 1987 - Making Sure The Fans Get Their Money's Worth

On 31 October 1987, a last-minute extra time goal in a replay gave Peñarol their fifth Copa Libertadores title.

The Uruguayans had reached the final eight times previously and won it four times (1960, 1961, 1966, 1982). And they had impressed on their road to the 1987 final, topping defending champions River Plate and seven-time winners Independiente in their semifinal group. They were up against Colombian side América de Cali, who were making their third consecutive appearance in the final after having fallen to Argentinos Juniors (in a penalty shootout) in 1985 and to River Plate in 1986.

The two teams were unable to decide a winner in the first two legs, with América winning 2-1 in Colombia and Peñarol getting a 1-0 victory in Uruguay to force the replay.

Playing at the neutral Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile, there was little to separate the teams over the first 90 minutes, or even through extra time. A penalty shootout looked certain when Peñarol striker Diego Aguirre (pictured) lashed a left-footed blast past the América goalkeeper in the 120th minute. The win placed them two behind Independiente in the list of the tournament's all-time winners, though Boca Juniors passed them with a sixth title in 2007.

Both Peñarol and América returned to the final once more, but lost both time (Peñarol in 2011 and América in 1996).

30 September 1962 - Santos Liberate The Cup

On 30 September 1962, a brace from Pelé helped Santos capture their first Copa Libertadores, beating two-time defending champions Peñarol in a replay.

Peñarol were appearing in their third straight final after winning the first two editions of the tournament in 1960 and 1961. Santos, meanwhile, were in the final for the first time. The two teams had finished the first two legs with one win each, with the Brazilians taking a 1-2 victory in Montevideo and the Uruguayans returning the favor in São Paulo, 2-3.

Level with two points each, the tournament rules required a replay at a neutral venue to determine the winner. Playing before a crowd of 60,000 at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Peñarol were wrong-footed early when their midfielder Omar Caetano put the ball into his own net in the 11th minute. Peñarol were unable to put the ball into Santos' net, however, while 20-year old Pelé, who had scored twice in the first round, doubled his tournament tally with goals in the 48th and 89th minutes to seal the 3-0 victory.

It proved to be the start of a strong international run for Santos, who went on to repeat as Copa Libertadores champions in 1963 while following both wins with victories in the Intercontinental Cup.

19 September 1961 - There's No Place Like Home In The Intercontinental Cup

On 19 September 1961, Peñarol won their first Intercontinental Cup, beating Benfica in a replay at the Estadio Centenario. They went on to win the competition twice more to become its most successful team.

The Uruguayans had participated in the inaugural Intercontinental Cup the year before, but lost to Real Madrid over two legs. In 1961, they returned to the cup to face Benfica, but lost the first leg 1-0 in Lisbon on 4 September. Thirteen days later, they hosted the Portuguese side at Montevideo and won convincingly by the score of 5-0. Under the rules at the time, the cup was decided on points and not goal differential, so they went to a replay to determine the winner.

Meeting again the Estadio Centenario, Peñarol took a quick lead with a 5th-minute goal from inside forward José Sasía. Half an hour later, Benfica forward Eusébio, who was then in his second season with the club and had not played in the first two matches, found a 35th-minute equalizer. But just five minutes after that, Sasía converted a penalty to restore the lead for Peñarol and they held on to claim the 2-1 victory.

They went on to win it again in 1966 and 1982 to become the first team to win the Intercontinental Cup three times. Their tally has since been matched by four other clubs--Nacional, AC Milan, Real Madrid, and Boca Juniors--but has never been exceeded.

28 July 1925 - Before Forlan and Suarez, There Was Schiaffino

On 28 July 1925, Juan Alberto "Pepe" Schiaffino was born in Montevideo. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players to come out of Uruguay, he went on to star for Peñarol and AC Milan and played for both the Uruguayan and Italian national teams.

He began his professional career in 1943 with his hometown team, Peñarol, and stayed with them for twelve seasons. An inside forward and a gifted passer, he scored 88 goals in 227 league appearances for the club and helped them to six national titles (1944, 1945, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954). During that time, he also made his first full international appearance, playing for Uruguay in a 1-1 draw with Argentina in December 1945.

He scored eight goals for Uruguay in 23 appearances and starred for them in two World Cups, including the 1950 World Cup title match against Brazil, which Uruguay went on to win, 2-1, after Schiaffino scored the equalizer in dramatic fashion.

In 1954, he moved to AC Milan for the then-world record fee of £72,000. He was an instant success in Italy, scoring a brace on his debut and leading Milan to the 1955 Scudetto, the first of four league titles in his six seasons there. In 1958, he scored the opening goal of the European Cup Final, though Milan eventually lost to Real Madrid 3-2 after extra time. When he moved to Milan, he also moved his national team allegiance to Italy, making four appearances for them between 1954 and 1958.

He finished his playing career with Roma, where he played from 1960 to 1962. He later returned to Uruguay, where he went on to manage both the national team (1974-75) and Peñarol (1975-76).

He died in 2002, shortly after being named Uruguay's Player of the Century.

19 June 1960 - They Started Strong And Finished Well

On 19 June 1960, Peñarol won the inaugural Copa Libertadores tournament with a late goal from midfielder Luis Cubilla. It was the first of their five titles, making them the third most successful club in the tournament.

Known originally as the Copa de Campeones de América, the competition was open to the champions of all CONMEBOL nations, though only seven clubs chose to participate. Peñarol, the Uruguayan champions, opened the tournament with a 7-1 crushing of Bolivian champions Jorge Wilstermann, then beat Argentina's San Lorenzo in the two-legged semifinal. Olimpia of Paraguay, meanwhile, received a first-round bye, starting their campaign by beating Colombia's Millonarios in the other semifinal.

The Final was played in two legs, with the winner decided by points (two for a win, one for a draw). In the first leg, played on 12 June at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Peñarol eked out a narrow 1-0 victory with a 79th-minute goal from the tournament's top scorer, Alberto Spencer.

The teams met for the second leg at the Estadio Manuel Ferreira in Asunción, where Olimpia forward Hipólito Recalde gave the home team a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute. Had that score held to the final whistle, the teams would have been forced to play a third time in a replay. But Cubilla avoided that by finding an equalizer in the 83rd minute. The draw gave Peñarol three points to Olimpia's nil, making the Uruguayan side the competition's first champions.

Peñarol successfully defended their title in 1961 and went on to win again in 1966, 1982, and 1987. The five titles represent the third-best haul by any club, behind only Independiente (7) and Boca Juniors (6). Olimpia eventually won it in 1979, then again in 1990 and 2002.

5 January 1919 - Racing To The Title

On 5 January 1919, Argentina's Racing Club won their second consecutive Copa Aldao, defeating Peñarol 2-1.

Also known as the Copa Rio de la Plata, the competition ran from 1913 to 1955 and pitted Argentina's national champion against the champion of Uruguay--one of three separate competitions at the time between the two countries (the others were the Tie Cup (1900-1919) and the Honor Cup (1905-1920)). The trophy was donated in 1913 by Ricardo Aldao, president of the Federación Argentina de Football at the time.

The 1918 edition, actually played in January 1919, was the third consecutive appearance for Racing, who lost to Nacional in 1916, but defeated them in a two-legged final in the following season. They returned to the competition after completing an unbeaten 1918 season in the domestic league, winning 17 of their 19 matches and drawing the other two. Peñarol had fared almost as well in Uruguay, winning 15, drawing two, and losing one. They had also won that season's Honor Cup the previous month.

On the day, Racing won 2-1, but it was their last appearance in the competition. Peñarol went on to win their first Copa Aldao in 1928 and finished as runenrs-up five more times.

4 September 1960 - Champions Of Two Continents

On 4 September 1960, Real Madrid won the inaugural Intercontinental Cup, beating Peñarol 5-1.

UEFA and CONMEBOL established the Intercontinental Cup to pair the reigning European Cup holders against the current Copa Libertadores champions. For the first meeting in 1960, those teams were Real Madrid and Peñarol.

The Cup was played in two legs, with the winner determined by points, as opposed to aggregate goals. In the first leg, played on 3 July in Montevideo, the two sides battled to a scoreless draw, earning a point each. In the event they drew again in the second leg, they would have gone to replays until one side emerged with a win.

Ultimately, however, Real Madrid handled the second leg with ease. Playing at the Bernabeu before a crowd of over 100,000, the hosts rolled to a dominating 5-0 lead with goals from Ferenc Puskás (2', 8'), Alfredo di Stéfano (3'), Herrera (40'), and Francisco Gento (54'). Peñarol received a late consolation goal from striker Alberto Spencer in the 80th minute.

Peñarol won the Cup the following year, then again in 1966 and 1982. Real Madrid won it twice more, in 1998 and 2002.

19 April 1960 - Peña-rolls

On 19 April 1960, Uruguay's Peñarol and Bolivia's Club Jorge Wilstermann contested the inaugural match of the first Copa Campeones de América. Now known as the Copa Libertadores, it is the top club tournament in South America.

The competition was open to all South American domestic league champions, but only seven participated - San Lorenzo (ARG), Bahia (BRA), Universidad de Chile (CHI), Millonarios (COL), Olimpia (PAR), Peñarol (URU), and Jorge Wilstermann (BOL). The champions of Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela were invited, but did not attend, so the number of teams was unbalanced. As a result, the participants were divided into three two-team groups, with Olimpia winning the draw for a bye into the semifinals.

Peñarol hosted the tournament's first match at Montevideo's Estadio Centenario, with a crowd of about 35,000. It was a rout - Peñarol's Luis Borges scored the opening goal, one of his two on the day, while his teammate Alberto Spencer (pictured) adding four goals of his own. Luis Cubilla contributed another as the Uruguayan side won 7-1.

The Bolivians managed a 1-1 draw in the return leg, played in La Paz, but Peñarol went through to the semifinals, where they defeated San Lorenzo. They then beat Olimpia in the Final to claim the trophy - the first of the club's five Copa Libertadore titles.

31 July 1899 - The Wolves Of Argentina

On 31 July 1899, Lobos Athletic Club completed the first ever international tour by an Argentinian club, defeating Uruguay's Peñerol 2-0 in Montevideo.

Lobos were founded on 3 July 1892 in the Argentinian district of Lobos, just over 100 km from the city of Buenos Aires. The side stretched the definition of "amateur," with only four or five players having any playing experience at all. By 1894, though, the club was one of the best in the country and joined the Football Association League of Argentina, which was based in Buenos Aires.

Lobos' tour consisted of two matches, both against Uruguayan sides in Montevideo. The first, played on 30 July 1899, was a 2-1 win against Albión. After the second match against Peñerol, a political revolt erupted in the capital, forcing the Lobos players to take refuge in a Royal Navy warship, which brought them back to Argentina.

By 1899, the other clubs in the League were unhappy about making the 100-km trek to Lobos for matches. They petitioned the League, who decreed that all teams must have playing fields within 50 km of Buenos Aires. Thus excluded from the League, Lobos dissolved shortly afterward.

16 July 1950 - Maracanazo!

On 16 July 1950, Uruguay defeated Brazil by the score of 2-1 in the final match of the World Cup at the Estadio do Maracaña in Rio de Janeiro. The paid attendance was 173,850, but many reports place the actual attendance closer to 200,000.

The 1950 tournament was Uruguay's first since winning the inaugural 1930 tournament and it was the first World Cup to be held since 1938, as the tournaments scheduled for 1942 and 1946 were cancelled due to World War II. A number of countries, such as Japan and the newly-divided Germany, were unable to compete, leaving only 13 teams to participate. As a result, FIFA changed the format so that the winner was determined by a four-team round-robin as opposed to a knockout stage.

Going into the final match, Brazil was one point ahead of Uruguay in the standings, which meant that the hosts would claim the trophy with either a win or a draw. The Brazilians were heavy favorites, with overwhelming victories against Sweden (7-1) and Spain (6-1) in their first two matches of the round-robin. Uruguay, on the other hand, had drawn with Spain (2-2) and had come from behind against Sweden with an 84th-minute matchwinner (3-2).

Reportedly, FIFA President Jules Rimet was so confident in a Brazil victory that he had already prepared a post-match speech in Portuguese to congratulate them. Similarly, the Brazilian Football Confederation had prepared winners' medals for each of the Brazilian players.

Uruguay was unwilling to play the role of sacrifical lamb, however. Disregarding the defensive strategy devised by their manager, Juan López, the Uruguayan side attacked the favorites, a decision that appeared unwise when Brazilian forward Friaça gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute. But Uruguay's attacks paid off as they equalized in the 66th minute with a goal from forward Juan Alberto Schiaffino, then took the lead with a strike from winger Alcides Ghiggia, who was Schiaffino's teammate at Uruguayan club Peñarol.

According to Rimet, Ghiggia's goal had a dramatic effect on the crowd, saying "the silence was morbid, sometimes too difficult to bear." And, in fact, two Brazil supporters in attendance were shaken so badly by the loss that they committed suicide by jumping off the stands.

The match gave rise to the slang term "Maracanazo," which refers to any upset in the Maracaña of the Brazilian national team or any of the Big Four Brazilian clubs (Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama, and Botafogo). After the match, the Brazilian national team determined that their white and blue kit was jinxed, so they changed to the yellow, green, and blue kits they wear today.