page_title: 1967 Intercontinental Cup
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: 1967 Intercontinental Cup / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Racing Club players posing with the Intercontinental Cup won v. Celtic FC Glasgow.
context_page_description: The 1967 Intercontinental Cup was a football tie held over three legs in 1967 between the winners of the 1966–67 European Cup, Celtic, and Racing Club, winners of the 1967 Copa Libertadores.
  The first leg was played at Hampden Park in Glasgow, with Celtic winning 1–0 through a Billy McNeill header. The game however was marred by Racing Club's incessant cynical fouling and spitting. The return match at El Cilindro in Buenos Aires was also acrimonious, with Celtic's Ronnie Simpson struck by an object thrown from the crowd just before the start of the match. He was badly dazed and had to be replaced by John Fallon. Celtic again took the lead, but Racing Club fought back to win 2–1 through goals from Norberto Raffo and Juan Carlos Cárdenas.
  The series of games went to a play-off match in Montevideo, Uruguay. The game was a shambles, exacerbated by Racing Club's continued cynical fouling, Celtic's loss of composure and discipline, and the incompetence of the Paraguayan referee who was clearly out of his depth. Riot police had to intervene on the pitch several times as six players were sent off; four from Celtic and two from Racing Club.
context_section_description: Racing Club's victory was acclaimed throughout Argentina, even by supporters of rival clubs.  Racing Club's defender Basile described the win as an "immense joy that for me as a player was the greatest I ever experienced", noting that even fans of arch city-rivals Independiente celebrated.  The Racing Club players all received a new car as well as their promised £2,000 bonus.
  Celtic returned to Scotland, with chairman Robert Kelly referring to the game as "an ugly, brutal match containing no football."  He also expressed disappointment that Celtic "descended to that level [of Racing Club] to defend themselves."  A few days later the Celtic board of directors fined every player £250 for their behaviour in Montevideo.  Reports of the Racing Club players' bonuses only added to the ignominy.
  Press coverage of the Montevideo match was scathing. Reuters described the match as a "a bar-room brawl with soccer skills abandoned for swinging fists, flying boots and blatant body checking".  L'Équipe described the match as a "sad, lamentable spectacle".  They noted that "the Argentinians started the hostilities" but pointed out that Celtic "made use of every opportunity to return the blows".
  Subsequent Intercontinental ties would frequently descend again into violence.  The following year's clash between Manchester United and another Argentinian side, Estudiantes, was again marred by constant cynical play on the part of the South Americans.  Worse violence would follow in the 1969 tie between Estudiantes and AC Milan, where Milan's Pierino Prati was knocked unconscious and Nestor Combin was battered by several Argentinian players - breaking his nose and cheekbone - before being dragged semi-conscious off a stretcher and arrested by Argentine police on trumped-up charges.  The increasing violence of South American teams led to the reluctance of several European clubs to take part in the Intercontinental Cup throughout the 1970s.
  In 2017, FIFA formally recognised all winners of the Intercontinental Cup, including Racing Club, as "world champions".
caption: Racing Club players posing with the Intercontinental Cup trophy
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