# 2001 Copa Merconorte

The Copa Merconorte 2001 was the fourth and final edition of association football tournament Copa Merconorte held in 2001. Millonarios of Colombia defeated Emelec of Ecuador in the final. It was the first edition to include teams invited from the United States, the Kansas City Wizards and NY/NJ MetroStars. Several fixtures for the MetroStars were cancelled following the September 11 attacks.

## Participants

| Country | Team |
| Bolivia (1 berth) | Blooming |
| Colombia (3 berths) | América de Cali |
| Colombia (3 berths) | Atlético Nacional |
| Colombia (3 berths) | Millonarios |
| Ecuador (3 berths) | Aucas |
| Ecuador (3 berths) | Barcelona |
| Ecuador (3 berths) | Emelec |
| Mexico (3 berths) | Guadalajara |
| Mexico (3 berths) | Necaxa |
| Mexico (3 berths) | Santos Laguna |
| Peru (3 berths) | Alianza Lima |
| Peru (3 berths) | Sporting Cristal |
| Peru (3 berths) | Universitario |
| United States (2 berth) | Kansas City Wizards |
| United States (2 berth) | MetroStars |
| Venezuela (1 berth) | Deportivo Italchacao |

## Group stage

Each team played the other teams in the group twice during the group stage. The first place team advanced to the second round.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | NEC | ADC | ALI | SDA |
| 1 | Necaxa | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 15 | Advance to Semifinals | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| 2 | América de Cali | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| 3 | Alianza Lima | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 5 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | — | 4–1 |
| 4 | Aucas | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 4 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MIL | ITA | MET | GUA |
| 1 | Millonarios | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 12 | Advance to Semifinals | — | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Deportivo Italchacao | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 12 | | 3–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 3 | MetroStars | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 9 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Guadalajara | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 3 | | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SAN | CRI | KAN | BAR |
| 1 | Santos Laguna | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 15 | Advance to Semifinals | — | 3–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 |
| 2 | Sporting Cristal | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 11 | | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| 3 | Kansas City Wizards | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 4 | | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 |
| 4 | Barcelona | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 3 | | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | EME | ATL | UNI | BLO |
| 1 | Emelec | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 12 | Advance to Semifinals | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Atlético Nacional | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 10 | | 0–0 | — | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Universitario | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Blooming | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 1 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | — |

## Semifinals

The semifinals consisted of two games between the Necaxa (winner of Group A) and Millonarios (winner of Group B), and two games between the Santos Laguna (winner of Group C) and Emelec (winner of Group D). Both series were decided in penalty kicks because the net of both games was a draw.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Necaxa | 5–5 (1–3 p) | Millonarios | 3–2 | 2–3 |
| Santos Laguna | 5–5 (2–4 p) | Emelec | 4–1 | 1–4 |
5–5 on aggregate, Millonarios won 3–1 on penalties
5–5 on aggregate, Emelec won 4–2 on penalties

## Finals

After tying both matches, Millonarios defeated Emelec in penalty kicks.

## Champion

* Copa Merconorte 2001 Winners
* Millonarios First Title