page_title: Clube Atlético Mineiro in international club football
section_title: Early appearances (1972–1981)
hierarchical_section_title: Clube Atlético Mineiro in international club football / History / Early appearances (1972–1981)
caption_attribution_description: English: Estádio Serra Dourada in Goiania, Brazil Deutsch: Estádio Serra Dourada in Goiania, Brasilien
context_page_description: The involvement of Clube Atlético Mineiro in international club football began in 1972, the year of its first appearance in an official competition at that level. Since then, the Brazilian club, based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, has participated in 23 continental and one intercontinental tournament. Atlético Mineiro has won four official titles at the international level: the Copa Libertadores in 2013; the inaugural edition of the Copa CONMEBOL in 1992, and again in 1997; and the Recopa Sudamericana in 2014. In addition, the club finished as runner-up of the Copa CONMEBOL in 1995, the Copa de Oro in 1993, and the Copa Master de CONMEBOL in 1996.
  Prior to the existence of official continental football in South America, Atlético Mineiro had played against foreign clubs since 1929, and toured Europe in 1950. As Brazilian champion in 1971, the club qualified for the 1972 Copa Libertadores, its first continental tournament. Atlético Mineiro then debuted in the inaugural editions of the Copa CONMEBOL, in 1992, of the Copa de Oro, in 1993, and of the Copa Master de CONMEBOL, in 1996.
context_section_description: Atlético Mineiro's first participated in the Copa Libertadores in 1972, having qualified as champion of the inaugural Campeonato Brasileiro in 1971. In the first stage, Atlético was drawn in Group 3, along with Paraguayan clubs Olimpia and Cerro Porteño, and fellow Brazilian club São Paulo, runner-up of the Brasileiro. Atlético failed to advance to the second stage, after drawing four games and losing one to Cerro Porteño. A match against Olimpia in Paraguay was abandoned in the 84th minute at 2–2, because Atlético had five players sent off; the points were awarded to the Paraguayan club. According to Atlético left-back Oldair, Olimpia played a violent game, and at one point Atlético's players decided to reciprocate. They were subsequently attacked and beaten by local police.
  Atlético did not participate in the Copa Libertadores again until 1978, when it qualified after finishing as runner-up to São Paulo in the 1977 Brasileirão. The Brazilian clubs were again drawn into Group 3, this time with Chilean clubs as opposition: Unión Española and Palestino. Atlético qualified for the second stage undefeated, with four wins and two ties. In the semi-finals, then played as a group stage with three teams, the club faced Boca Juniors and River Plate from Argentina. Atlético won only one match, against River, and Boca advanced to the competition finals, which it went on to win.
  After a two-year absence from the Copa Libertadores, Atlético qualified for the 1981 edition as runner-up of the 1980 Campeonato Brasileiro, which it had lost to Flamengo. The refereeing in the finals had been controversial, as Atlético forward Reinaldo was sent off with a straight red card after scoring a brace. Brazil's representatives were once again drawn into Group 3, together with Olimpia and Cerro Porteño, whom Atlético faced for a second time in a group stage of the Libertadores. The two encounters between the Brazilian clubs ended 2–2, and both won two and drew two matches against the Paraguayans, meaning Atlético and Flamengo were tied on points. According to the competition's rules, a one-game playoff in a neutral stadium had to be played between the clubs to decide which one would advance to the semifinals.
  
  The playoff match was played at Serra Dourada Stadium, in Goiânia, a venue selected by Flamengo. Atlético elected the referee, José Roberto Wright who, until the match, was considered the best in the country. At the 33rd minute of the match, Atlético forward and star player Reinaldo received a straight red card from the referee after fouling Flamengo's Zico, in what was described by the press as a "normal" foul and "without much violence". After the foul, Atlético player Éder was sent off for complaining, and the game was stopped. A turmoil started, and Atlético players Palhinha and Chicão were also sent off for insulting the referee. Left with seven players, Atlético's goalkeeper João Leite claimed he was injured when the match was restarted, but Wright did not stop the game. Atlético defender Osmar then held the ball with his hands, preventing the restart, and was also sent off. The match ended as a goalless draw at the 37-minute mark because Atlético had fewer than seven players on the field. The result meant qualification for Flamengo, as it had the best goal difference in the group stage.
  After the match, Atlético unsuccessfully appealed to a CONMEBOL court for its annulment. According to Wright, Reinaldo's foul was indeed "normal", but he was sent off because of a previous verbal warning. He also stated that Éder, Palhinha and Chicão continued to be undisciplined and that he had to send Éder off to not lose control of the match. The episode and referee Wright's performance were described by Brazilian and South American media at the time as "shameful", "deplorable" and "disgraceful". Flamengo advanced to the semi-finals and went on to win the competition.
caption: Estádio Serra Dourada (pictured), in Goiânia, was the venue of a one-game playoff match between Atlético Mineiro and Flamengo in the 1981 Copa Libertadores.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A480", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2009:08:22 10:08:00", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2314", "Image XPKeywords": "[103, 0, 111, 0, 105, 0, 97, 0, 110, 0, 105, 0, 97, 0, 0, 0]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "7574", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3645", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:08:22 10:08:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:08:22 10:08:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "287/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "139/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "101/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "33/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "1600", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1200", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "7386", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1600000/241", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1200000/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4158"}