# 1951 Copa Rio

The 1951 Copa Rio, also known as Torneio Internacional de Clubes Campeões (International Champions Club Tournament, in english) was the first edition of the Copa Rio, the first intercontinental club football tournament with teams from Europe and South America, held in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo from 30 June to 22 July. Participant clubs were divided into two zones of four teams, playing each other once in a single round-robin tournament.
The tournament featured players such as Vavá, Ademir of Vasco da Gama, Jair da Rosa Pinto of Palmeiras, José Santamaría, Walter Taibo, goalkeeper Anibal Paz, Luis Volpi of Nacional, Branko Stankovic, Rajko Mitic of Red Star Belgrade, Giampiero Boniperti, Danish Karl Aage Præst and John Hansen of Juventus, José Travassos of Sporting Lisbon, and Swedish Lennart Samuelsson and Antoine Bonifaci of Nice. Juventus's coach was the legendary Hungarian György Sárosi.
The final was played in a two-legged format, contested by Brazilian team Palmeiras and Italian side Juventus. Palmeiras won the series 2–1 on points, achieving their first Copa Rio trophy.

## Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| Austria Wien | 1949–50 Austrian Bundesliga champion |
| Vasco da Gama | 1950 Campeonato Carioca champion |
| Palmeiras | 1950 Campeonato Paulista champion |
| Nice | 1950–51 French Division 1 champion |
| Juventus | 1949–50 Serie A champions |
| Sporting | 1950–51 Primeira Divisão champion |
| Nacional | 1950 Primera División champions |
| Red Star | 1951 Yugoslav First League champion |

### Notes

* ↑ Austrian champions of 1950–51 (Rapid Vienna) declined to participate.
* ↑ Italian champion of the season, AC Milan, renounced because they had to play the Latin Cup during the same period.

## Venues

| Rio de Janeiro | São Paulo |
| Maracanã Stadium | Pacaembu Stadium |
| Capacity: 150,000 | Capacity: 71,000 |

## Tournament course
### Rio de Janeiro Group

All matches played at Maracanã Stadium
| Teams | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| Vasco da Gama | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 6 |
| Austria Wien | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
| Nacional | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 2 |
| Sporting CP | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 0 |

### São Paulo Group

All matches played at Pacaembu Stadium.
| Teams | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| Juventus | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Palmeiras | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Nice | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 2 |
| Red Star | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 0 |

### Finals

| Champion | Runner-up | 1 leg | Venue | 2 leg | Venue | Aggr. |
| Palmeiras | Juventus | 1–0 | Maracanã | 2–2 | Maracanã | 3–2 |

#### Match details

| GK | Giovanni Viola |
| DF | Alberto Bertuccelli |
| DF | Sergio Manente |
| DF | Carlo Parola |
| MF | Alberto Piccinini |
| MF | Giacomo Mari |
| OR | Ermes Muccinelli |
| IR | Karl Hansen |
| CF | Giampiero Boniperti |
| IL | John Hansen |
| OL | Carl Præst |
| Manager: ||
| Jesse Carver ||
| GK | Fábio |
| RB | Salvador |
| CB | Juvenal |
| LB | Dema |
| MF | Túlio |
| MF | Luís Villa |
| OR | Eduardo Lima |
| IR | Ponce de León |
| CF | Liminha |
| IL | Jair |
| OL | Rodrigues |
| Substitutes: ||
| FW | Canhotinho |
| Manager: ||
| Ventura Cambón ||
Palmeiras won the series 2–1 on points
* 1951 Copa Rio
* Palmeiras First International title