1937 South American Championship Final
The 1937 South American Championship Final was the final match to determine the winner of the 1937 South American Championship, the 14th edition of this continental competition. It was held on February 1, 1937, in San Lorenzo de Almagro's venue, Estadio Gasómetro of Buenos Aires. Because of the heat (the tournament was played in Summer), most of the matches were played at night (Estadio Gasómetro was the only stadium in Argentina with artificial lighting by then) while other games were played at daytime (being held in River Plate's venue, Estadio Alvear y Tagle . Argentina won the match against Brazil by a 2-0 score, winning its fifth continental title. Overview. Brazil had attended the competition without two of their most notable players, defender Domingos da Guia (champion with Boca Juniors two years before) and striker Leonidas da Silva, nicknamed "the Black Diamond". As the tournament was played in a single round-robin system, Argentina and Brazil finished tied on points at the end of the tournament. Therefore, a playoff match had to be played to crown a champion, according to the rules. The match was held in San Lorenzo stadium, were both teams  played hard, committing several number of fouls. After Brazilian player Domingos Spitalletti kicked Francisco Varallo violently in the 36th minute, a riot involving all the players (even some substitutes) started. After a hiatus of 40', the match restarted. Nevertheless, just two minutes a new riot happened after Cunha hit Cherro on his face. For the second half Carlos Peucelle replaced Cherro and veteran Bernabé Ferreyra substituted Zozaya. A young Vicente de la Mata replaced Varallo, who had been injured. De la Mata had played in the loss to Uruguay, with a poor performance. Argentina and Brazil tied 0–0 at the  end of the regulation time, playing additional time (two halves of 20' each) to crown a champion. Independiente's forward, an earlier Vicente de la Mata (19 years), scored two goals within four minutes, allowing Argentina to achieve its fifth South American championship. The match ended at almost 2 a.m. in Buenos Aires. Aftermath. Some journalist consider this match the beginning of the Argentina–Brazil football rivalry. This tournament was also the closure of an era with the Argentine squad for some of the most notable players such as Enrique Guaita, Alberto Zozaya, Alejandro Scopelli, Bernabé Ferreyra, Carlos Peucelle and  Francisco Varallo.