The Stadium Nacional was the sole venue for the South American Championship 1927, 1935, and 1939. The present Estadio Nacional hosted the 1953 South American Championship and 1957 South American Championship. In 1971, the playoff match for the 1971 Copa Libertadores Finals was played in Peru and featured Uruguayan Nacional and Argentine Estudiantes de La Plata. Nacional won by 2–0. The following year, Universitario de Deportes reached the final of the 1972 Copa Libertadores and hosted the first-leg of the finals. Two decades later, Sporting Cristal reached the 1997 Copa Libertadores Finals which allowed the Nacional to host one of the legs of the final for a third time. In 1992, modern lighting was installed in the stadium and in 1996, an electronic scoreboard was installed to replace the old manual one. The stadium's symbolic element is the tower situated in the northern stand. This tower was abandoned for many years until in 2004, it was used again for the Copa America. Popular international football teams and renowned players have played in the stadium, including Spain's Real Madrid, as well as players like Pelé and Maradona in previous years.