2012 Copa Sudamericana Explained

The 2012 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2012 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The tournament was expanded from 39 teams in the porevios edition to 47 teams, allowing the eight associations other than Argentina and Brazil to each enter four teams instead of three teams.^[1] Universidad de Chile were the defending champions, but lost to the eventual champion, São Paulo, in the quarterfinals.

Brazilian club São Paulo were crowned as the champion after defeating Argentine club Tigre in the finals. Having already qualified for the 2013 Libertadores Cup (for being 4th in the 2012 Brazilian League), São Paulo, after winning the 2012 Sudamericana Cup, would go on to vie for the 2013 Recopa Cup (Championship played between the Libertadores Cup champion and the Sudamericana Cup champion) and the 2013 Suruga Cup.

Qualified teams

width=100	Association	width=250	Team	Entry stage	Qualification method
Argentina		Second Stage	2011 tournaments aggregate table 3rd best non-champion
			2011 tournaments aggregate table 4th best non-champion
			2011 tournaments aggregate table 5th best non-champion
			2011 tournaments aggregate table 6th best non-champion
			2011 tournaments aggregate table 7th best non-champion
			2011–12 Copa Argentina champion
Bolivia		First Stage	2011 Adecuación 3rd place
			2011 Apertura runner-up
			2011 Apertura 4th place
			2012 Clausura 5th place
Brazil		Second Stage	2011 Série A 6th place
			2011 Série A 7th place
			2011 Série A 8th place
			2011 Série A 9th place
			2011 Série A 11th place
			2011 Série A 12th place
			2011 Série A 13th place
			2011 Série A 14th place
Chile		Round of 16	2011 Copa Sudamericana champion
		First Stage	2011 Copa Chile champion
			2011 Clausura classification phase 2nd place
			2012 Apertura classification phase 2nd place
			2012 Apertura classification phase 3rd place
Colombia		First Stage	2011 Copa Colombia champion
			2011 Primera A aggregate table 3rd best non-champion
			2011 Primera A aggregate table 4th best non-champion
			2011 Primera A aggregate table 5th best non-champion
Ecuador		First Stage	2012 Serie A first stage winner
			2012 Serie A first stage 2nd place
			2011 Serie A second stage winner
			2012 Serie A first stage 3rd place
Paraguay		First Stage	2011 Primera División aggregate table best champion
			2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best non-champion
			2011 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best non-champion
			2011 Primera División aggregate table 4th best non-champion
Peru		First Stage	2011 Descentralizado 4th place
			2011 Descentralizado 5th place
			2011 Descentralizado 6th place
			2011 Descentralizado 7th place
Uruguay		First Stage	2011–12 Primera División champion
			2011–12 Primera División aggregate table 4th place
			2011–12 Primera División aggregate table 5th place
			2011–12 Primera División aggregate table 6th place
Venezuela		First Stage	2011 Copa Venezuela champion
			2011–12 Primera División aggregate table 1st place
			2011–12 Primera División Serie Sudamericana winner with better aggregate
			2011–12 Primera División Serie Sudamericana winner with worse aggregate

Draw

The draw was held on June 29, 2012 (postponed from original date of June 26), 12:00 at CONMEBOL's Convention Center in Luque, Paraguay.^[2]

The tournament is played in single-elimination format, with each tie played over two legs. The draw mechanism was as follows:^[3]

First Stage

• The 32 teams from the eight countries other than Argentina and Brazil, excluding the defending champion, were drawn against each other. The teams were divided into South Zone (Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia) and North Zone (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela). Teams which qualified through berths 1 were drawn against teams which qualified through berths 4, and teams which qualified through berths 2 were drawn against teams which qualified through berths 3, with the former playing the second leg at home.

Second Stage

• The 16 winners of the First Stage were drawn against each other, where a winner from the South Zone were drawn against a winner from the North Zone.
• The 6 teams from Argentina were drawn against each other, where the matchups were based on the berths which the teams qualify through: 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 4, with the former playing the second leg at home.
• The 8 teams from Brazil were drawn against each other, where the matchups were based on the berths which the teams qualify through: 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5, with the former playing the second leg at home.

Final stages

• The 15 winners of the Second Stage, together with the defending champion, were assigned a "seed" starting from the round of 16 (the defending champion and the winners from Argentina and Brazil were assigned even "seeds", the winners from the other eight countries were assigned odd "seeds"). The "seeding" was used to determine the bracket of the final stages, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home in each tie.

Schedule

All dates listed are Wednesdays, but matches may be played on the day before (Tuesdays) and after (Thursdays) as well.^[3]

Stage	First leg	Second leg
First Stage	July 25 August 1	August 8, 15, 22
Second Stage	August 1, 15, 22, 29	August 22, 29 September 19
Round of 16	September 26 October 3	October 24
Quarterfinals	October 31	November 7, 14
Semifinals	November 21	November 28
Finals	December 5	December 12

Preliminary stages

See main article: 2012 Copa Sudamericana preliminary stages. The first two stages of the competition are the First Stage and Second Stage. Both stages are largely played concurrent to each other.

First stage

The First Stage began on July 24 and ended on August 23.^[4] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

|-!colspan=6|South Zone|-!colspan=6|North Zone|}

Second stage

The Second Stage began on July 31 and ended on September 20.^{[4] [5]}

|}

Final stages

See main article: 2012 Copa Sudamericana final stages.

Teams from the Round of 16 onwards are seeded depending on which second stage tie they won (i.e., the winner of Match O1 would be assigned the 1 seed, etc.; the defending champion, Universidad de Chile, was assigned the 10 seed).^[6]

Bracket

In each tie, the higher-seeded team played the second leg at home.

Round of 16

The Round of 16 began on September 25 and ended on October 25.^[7] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

|-|}

Quarterfinals

The Quarterfinals began on October 30 and ended on November 15.^[8] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

|-|}

Semifinals

The Semifinals began on November 22 and ended on November 29. Team 1 played the second leg at home.

|-|}

Finals

See main article: 2012 Copa Sudamericana Finals. The Finals were played over two legs, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home. If the teams were tied on points and goal difference at the end of regulation in the second leg, the away goals rule would not be applied and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the title would be decided by penalty shootout.^[6]

----São Paulo won on points 4–1.

Top goalscorers

width=28	Pos !	Player	Club	Goals
align=center rowspan=5	1			5
		5
		5
		5
		5
align=center rowspan=3	6			4
		4
		4
align=center rowspan=3	9			3
		3
		3

^[9]

Awards

Player of the week

Week	Player	Team	Notes
Jul 24–26	Richard Blanco	O'Higgins	[10]
Jul 31–Aug 1	Rogério Ceni	São Paulo	[11]

See also

• Libertadores
• Recopa
• Suruga

External links

• Official webpage

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sudamericana: más cupos para 8 países . CONMEBOL.com . 2011-11-24 . es . Luego de un amplio debate en el cual expusieron todas las Asociaciones, se estableció que, a partir del año 2012, se modifique la cantidad de equipos participantes. De los 39 clubes actuales se pasará a 47, otorgándosele un cupo más a las asociaciones de Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay y Venezuela. De tal modo, la relación de participantes será la siguiente: Argentina 6 equipos, Brasil 8, 4 para cada una de las Asociaciones mencionadas anteriormente (total 32) y un cupo para el campeón vigente. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111126091919/http://www.conmebol.com/asociaciones/Sudamericana-mas-cupos-para-8-paises-20111124-0007.html . 2011-11-26 .
2. Web site: Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana 2012: el sorteo es el 29 de junio (actualizado). CONMEBOL.com. 2012-05-28. es. 2012-05-28. 2012-11-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20121105150204/http://www.conmebol.com/copanissansudamericana/Sudamericana-el-sorteo-es-el-26-de-junio-20120528-0007.html. dead.
3. Web site: La Copa Sudamericana fue sorteada. CONMEBOL.com. 2012-06-29. es. 2012-06-29. 2012-11-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20121105153938/http://www.conmebol.com/copanissansudamericana/La-Copa-Sudamericana-fue-sorteada-20120629-0006.html. dead.
4. Web site: Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana 2012 Programa de Partidos de 1a y 2a fase . CONMEBOL.com . July 11, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120813151113/http://www.conmebol.com/export/sites/conmebol/Docs/Copa_Sudamericana/2012/copasudamericana_2012_fixture_general_HF2.pdf . August 13, 2012 .
5. Web site: Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana: programa de los partidos de Segunda Fase . CONMEBOL.com . August 20, 2012 . August 20, 2012 . August 24, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120824124033/http://www.conmebol.com/copanissansudamericana/Copa-Bridgestone-Sudamericana-programa-de-los-partidos-de-Segunda-Fase-20120820-0003.html . dead .
6. Web site: Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana 2012: reglamento del torneo . CONMEBOL . es . 2012-08-01 . 2012-08-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120813151047/http://www.conmebol.com/export/sites/conmebol/Docs/Copa_Sudamericana/2012/Reglamento_Copa_Sudamericana_2012.pdf . dead .
7. Web site: Sudamericana: el programa de octavos . https://web.archive.org/web/20120923210621/http://fe1.conmebol.com/asociaciones/Sudamericana-el-programa-de-octavos-20120921-0002.html . dead . September 23, 2012 . CONMEBOL.com . September 21, 2012 .
8. Web site: Sudamericana: definidos los cuartos . https://web.archive.org/web/20121029134613/http://fe1.conmebol.com/copanissansudamericana/Sudamericana-definidos-los-cuartos-20121026-0001.html . dead . October 29, 2012 . CONMEBOL.com . October 26, 2012 .
9. Web site: Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana — Goleadores. CONMEBOL. es. 2012-12-02. 2012-11-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20121114225843/http://statistics.ficfiles.com/conmebol/sudamericana/goleadores.html. dead.
10. Web site: Copa Sudamericana: Richard Blanco, el jugador de la semana . Copa Sudamerican: Richard Blanco, the player of the week . CONMEBOL. July 30, 2012 . July 30, 2012 . es .
11. Web site: Sudamericana: Rogerio Ceni el jugador de la 2a semana . Sudamerican: Rogerio Ceni, the player of the 2nd week . CONMEBOL. August 5, 2012 . August 5, 2012 . es .