Copa 2011 Draw Results

This Tuesday, the draw for the initial stages of the Copa Sudamericana took place in Buenos Aires Sheraton in Argentina. All the CONMEBOL big whigs are in Argentina preparing for the beginning of the world’s oldest international tournament, the Copa America which is starting tomorrow.

But with this year’s competition comes a new sponsorship name. Gone are the days of Nissan, making way for Bridgestone (random). So the new cup will be called Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana. (I just threw up in my mouth a little.)

All the marketing stuff aside, the tournament remains unchanged from last year’s edition with 8 Brazilian sides, 6 Argentine teams, and 3 teams from the rest of the 8 associations that comprise the CONMEBOL. In the first round, all 8 of the number two sides from each participating country will be facing off against the number 3 sides, except the Argentine and Brazilian sides who will be facing off against each other to dwindle down the number of participants from those two countries.

The champion of this year’s Copa Sudamericana will be automatically qualified for the 2012 Copa Libertadores, the Copa Suruga (vs. the J-League champs) and the 2012 Recopa Sudamericana (vs. recent Libertadores champs Santos). CONMEBOL are also trying to get the winner to play a Copa Interamericana where they face off against the winner of the CONCACAF club tournament (likely the Champions League?).

Also announced was the “Superclásicos de las Américas.” Not that these matches need a title because they are rivalry matches but for the next 8 years, Argentina and Brazil will face each other in a home and away style match up. This year’s “Clasicos” are scheduled to take place on the September 14th in Buenos Aires and the 28th in Brazil and both teams will likely field local league players. Not really news but I guess they are committing to these matches on a yearly basis. Marketing bullshit in my opinion.

So God willing we’ll have a good Sudamericana coming up. Below are the results of the draw yesterday.

Results of the draw:


First Round

(A) San José (BOL)[L]              vs.    Nacional (PAR)
(B)
Uni. César Vallejo (PER)[L]    vs.    Independiente Santa Fe (COL)
(C)
Chile 3 [L]                    vs.    Fénix (URU)
(D)
Deportivo Quito (ECU)[L]       vs.    Deportivo Anzoátegui (VEN)
(E)
Olimpia (PAR)[L]               vs.    The Strongest (BOL)
(F)
Equidad CD (COL)[L]            vs.    Juan Aurich (PER)
(G)
Bella Vista (URU)[L]           vs.    Universidad Católica (CHI)
(H)
Yaracuyanos (VEN)[L]           vs.    Liga de Quito (ECU)


Second Round


WINNER A [L]          vs.    Aurora (BOL) (O14)

WINNER B [L]          vs.    Deportivo Cali (Colombia) (O8)

WINNER C [L]          vs.    Nacional (URU) (O2)

WINNER D [L]          vs.    Universitario (PER) (O6)

WINNER E [L]          vs.    Emelec (ECU) (O10)

WINNER F [L]          vs.    Libertad (PAR) (O4)

WINNER G [L]          vs.    Deportes Iquique (CHI) (O16)

WINNER H [L]          vs.    Trujillanos FC (VEN) (O12)


Second Round
Argentina


Argentinos Jrs. [L]    vs.    Vélez Sásrfield (O1)

Arsenal [L]             vs.    Estudiantes LP (O7)

CA Lanús [L]             vs.    Godoy Cruz (O11)

                                Independiente (defending champions) (O5)


Second Round
Brazil


Flamengo [L]            vs.    Atlético Paranaense (O15)

Atlético Mineiro [L]    vs.    Botafogo (O9)

Ceará SC [L]             vs.    Sao Paulo FC (O13)

Vasco da Gama [L]       vs.    Palmeiras (O3)

Category: Copa Sudamericana News, Preliminary Round