2012 Copa Libertadores

2012 Copa Libertadores de América

2012 Copa Libertadores da América
Tournament details
Dates	January 24 – July 4, 2012
Teams	38 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Corinthians (1st title)
Runners-up	Boca Juniors
Tournament statistics
Matches played	138
Goals scored	364 (2.64 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Matías Alustiza Neymar (8 goals each)
Best player	Emerson[1]

The 2012 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2012 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. It ran from January 24 to July 4, 2012. Santos were the defending champions, but lost to Corinthians in the semifinals.

São Paulo-based club Corinthians won the competition after defeating six-time champion Boca Juniors in the finals. It is Corinthians' first Libertadores title. By winning the competition, Corinthians won the right to play in the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2013 Recopa Sudamericana.

Qualified teams

Association	Team (Berth)	Entry stage	Qualification method
Argentina 5 berths	Vélez Sársfield (Argentina 1)	Second Stage	2011 Clausura champion
	Boca Juniors (Argentina 2)		2011 Apertura champion
	Lanús (Argentina 3)		2011 tournaments aggregate table best non-champion
	Godoy Cruz (Argentina 4)		2011 tournaments aggregate table 2nd best non-champion
	Arsenal (Argentina 5)	First Stage	2011 Copa Sudamericana best performing team not yet qualified
Bolivia 3 berths	Bolívar (Bolivia 1)	Second Stage	2011 Adecuación champion
	The Strongest (Bolivia 2)		2011 Apertura champion
	Real Potosí (Bolivia 3)	First Stage	2011 Adecuación runner-up
Brazil 5+1 berths	Santos (Brazil 1)	Second Stage	2011 Copa Libertadores de América champion
	Corinthians (Brazil 2)		2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion
	Vasco da Gama (Brazil 3)		2011 Copa do Brasil champion
	Fluminense (Brazil 4)		2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd place
	Flamengo (Brazil 5)	First Stage	2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th place
	Internacional (Brazil 6)		2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 5th place
Chile 3 berths	Universidad de Chile (Chile 1)	Second Stage	2011 Apertura champion and 2011 Copa Sudamericana champion
	Universidad Católica (Chile 2)		2011 Primera División aggregate table best non-champion
	Unión Española (Chile 3)	First Stage	2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best non-champion
Colombia 3 berths	Atlético Nacional (Colombia 1)	Second Stage	2011 Apertura champion
	Junior (Colombia 2)		2011 Finalización champion
	Once Caldas (Colombia 3)	First Stage	2011 Primera A aggregate table best non-champion
Ecuador 3 berths	Deportivo Quito (Ecuador 1)	Second Stage	2011 Serie A champion
	Emelec (Ecuador 2)		2011 Serie A runner-up
	El Nacional (Ecuador 3)	First Stage	2011 Serie A 3rd place
Paraguay 3 berths	Olimpia (Paraguay 1)	Second Stage	2011 Primera División aggregate table best champion
	Nacional (Paraguay 2)		2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best champion
	Libertad (Paraguay 3)	First Stage	2011 Primera División aggregate table best non-champion
Peru 3 berths	Juan Aurich (Peru 1)	Second Stage	2011 Descentralizado champion
	Alianza Lima (Peru 2)		2011 Descentralizado runner-up
	Sport Huancayo (Peru 3)	First Stage	2011 Descentralizado 3rd place
Uruguay 3 berths	Nacional (Uruguay 1)	Second Stage	2010–11 Primera División champion
	Defensor Sporting (Uruguay 2)		2010–11 Primera División runner-up
	Peñarol (Uruguay 3)	First Stage	2010–11 Primera División aggregate table 3rd place
Venezuela 3 berths	Deportivo Táchira (Venezuela 1)	Second Stage	2010–11 Primera División champion
	Zamora (Venezuela 2)		2010–11 Primera División runner-up
	Caracas (Venezuela 3)	First Stage	2010–11 Primera División aggregate table best non-finalist
Mexico (CONCACAF) 3 invitees	Guadalajara (Mexico 1)	Second Stage	2011 Apertura classification phase best eligible team
	Cruz Azul (Mexico 2)		2011 Apertura classification phase 2nd best eligible team
	UANL (Mexico 3)	First Stage	2011 Apertura classification phase 3rd best eligible team

Draw

The draw of the tournament was held on November 25, 2011, at 15:00 UTC−03:00, in Luque, Paraguay.^[2][3]

For the first stage, each of the six ties contains one team from each pot. For the second stage, each of the eight groups contains one team from each pot. Teams from the same association in Pots 1 and 3 cannot be placed in the same group. However, a first stage winner may be drawn with a team from the same association in the second stage.

As per agreement when deciding the seeding for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay all had their berth 1 teams be seeded teams for 2012 instead of the berth 1 teams from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela for 2011.

First Stage
Pot 1	Pot 2
Arsenal^† Flamengo^† Internacional^† Libertad^† Peñarol UANL	Real Potosí^† Unión Española^† Once Caldas^† El Nacional^† Sport Huancayo^† Caracas

Second Stage
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Santos Vélez Sársfield Boca Juniors^† Corinthians^† Bolívar Universidad de Chile Olimpia^† Nacional	Atlético Nacional Junior^† Deportivo Quito^† Emelec^† Juan Aurich^† Alianza Lima^† Deportivo Táchira Zamora	Lanús^† Godoy Cruz^† Vasco da Gama Fluminense^† The Strongest^† Universidad Católica^† Nacional^† Defensor Sporting	Arsenal^† Flamengo^† Peñarol Libertad^† Internacional^† Unión Española^† Guadalajara Cruz Azul

^† Teams had not yet fully qualified to the specific berth when the draw took place.^[3]

Schedule

All dates listed are Wednesdays, but matches may be played on the day before (Tuesdays) and after (Thursdays) as well.^[3]

Stage	First leg	Second leg
First Stage	January 25	February 1
Second Stage	February 8, 15, 22 March 7, 14, 21, 28 April 4, 11, 18
Round of 16	April 25 May 2	May 9
Quarterfinals	May 16	May 23
Semifinals	June 13	June 20
Finals	June 27	July 4

First stage

The First Stage, played in home-and-away two-legged format, began on January 24 and ended on February 2.^[4] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sport Huancayo	1–4	Arsenal	0–3	1–1
Flamengo	3–2	Real Potosí	1–2	2–0
Caracas	1–5	Peñarol	0–4	1–1
Libertad	4–2	El Nacional	0–1	4–1
Once Caldas	2–3	Internacional	0–1	2–2
UANL	2–3	Unión Española	0–1	2–2

Second stage

The Second Stage, played in home-and-away round-robin format, began on February 7 and ended on April 19.^[4] The top two teams from each group advanced to the Round of 16.

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Santos 6 4 1 1 12 5 +7 13 Internacional 6 2 2 2 10 6 +4 8 The Strongest 6 2 1 3 5 11 −6 7 Juan Aurich 6 2 0 4 4 9 −5 6

INT AUR SAN STR Internacional — 2–0 1–1 5–0 Juan Aurich 1–0 — 1–3 1–0 Santos 3–1 2–0 — 2–0 The Strongest 1–1 2–1 2–1 —

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Lanús 6 3 1 2 11 6 +5 10 Emelec 6 3 0 3 7 8 −1 9 Flamengo 6 2 2 2 12 10 +2 8 Olimpia 6 2 1 3 10 16 −6 7

EME FLA LAN OLI Emelec — 3–2 0–2 1–0 Flamengo 1–0 — 3–0 3–3 Lanús 1–0 1–1 — 6–0 Olimpia 2–3 3–2 2–1 —

Group 3

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Unión Española 6 3 1 2 10 7 +3 10 Bolívar 6 3 1 2 9 7 +2 10 Junior 6 2 1 3 8 8 0 7 Universidad Católica 6 1 3 2 6 11 −5 6

BOL JUN UE UC Bolívar — 2–1 1–3 3–0 Junior 0–1 — 2–1 3–0 Unión Española 2–1 2–0 — 1–1 Universidad Católica 1–1 2–2 2–1 —

Group 4

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Fluminense 6 5 0 1 7 4 +3 15 Boca Juniors 6 4 1 1 9 3 +6 13 Arsenal 6 2 0 4 6 7 −1 6 Zamora 6 0 1 5 0 8 −8 1

ARS BOC FLU ZAM Arsenal — 1–2 1–2 3–0 Boca Juniors 2–0 — 1–2 2–0 Fluminense 1–0 0–2 — 1–0 Zamora 0–1 0–0 0–1 —

Group 5

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Libertad 6 4 1 1 11 7 +4 13 Vasco da Gama 6 4 1 1 10 6 +4 13 Nacional 6 2 0 4 5 7 −2 6 Alianza Lima 6 1 0 5 6 12 −6 3

ALI LIB NAC VAS Alianza Lima — 1–2 1–0 1–2 Libertad 4–1 — 2–1 1–1 Nacional 1–0 1–2 — 0–1 Vasco da Gama 3–2 2–0 1–2 —

Group 6

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Corinthians 6 4 2 0 13 2 +11 14 Cruz Azul 6 3 2 1 11 4 +7 11 Nacional 6 1 1 4 6 13 −7 4 Deportivo Táchira 6 0 3 3 4 15 −11 3

COR CAZ TAC NAC Corinthians — 1–0 6–0 2–0 Cruz Azul 0–0 — 4–0 4–1 Deportivo Táchira 1–1 1–1 — 0–0 Nacional 1–3 1–2 3–2 —

Group 7

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Vélez Sársfield 6 4 0 2 10 6 +4 12 Deportivo Quito 6 3 1 2 11 4 +7 10 Defensor Sporting 6 3 0 3 6 7 −1 9 Guadalajara 6 1 1 4 2 12 −10 4

DEF QUI GDL VEL Defensor Sporting — 2–0 1–0 0–3 Deportivo Quito 2–0 — 5–0 3–0 Guadalajara 1–0 1–1 — 0–2 Vélez Sársfield 1–3 1–0 3–0 —

Group 8

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Universidad de Chile 6 4 1 1 11 6 +5 13 Atlético Nacional 6 3 2 1 16 8 +8 11 Godoy Cruz 6 1 2 3 10 16 −6 5 Peñarol 6 1 1 4 6 13 −7 4

ATN GOD PEÑ UCH Atlético Nacional — 2–2 3–0 2–0 Godoy Cruz 4–4 — 1–0 0–1 Peñarol 0–4 4–2 — 1–1 Universidad de Chile 2–1 5–1 2–1 —

Knockout stages

The last four stages of the tournament (Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals), played in home-and-away two-legged format, form a single-elimination tournament, contested by the sixteen teams which advance from the Second Stage.^[5]

Seeding

The 16 qualified teams are seeded in the knockout stages according to their results in the second stage, with the group winners seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up seeded 9–16.^[5] The teams were ranked by: 1. Points (Pts); 2. Goal difference (GD); 3. Goals scored (GF); 4. Away goals (AG); 5. Drawing of lots.

Teams qualified as group winners Seed Team Pts GD GF AG 1 Fluminense 15 +3 7 5 2 Corinthians 14 +11 13 4 3 Santos 13 +7 12 5 4 Universidad de Chile 13 +5 11 2 5 Libertad 13 +4 11 4 6 Vélez Sársfield 12 +4 10 5 7 Lanús 10 +5 11 3 8 Unión Española 10 +3 10 5

Teams qualified as group runners-up Seed Team Pts GD GF AG 9 Boca Juniors 13 +5 9 4 10 Vasco da Gama 13 +4 10 4 11 Atlético Nacional 11 +8 16 9 12 Cruz Azul 11 +7 11 3 13 Deportivo Quito 10 +7 11 1 14 Bolívar 10 +2 9 3 15 Emelec 9 −1 7 3 16 Internacional 8 +4 10 2

Bracket

	Round of 16						Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Finals
	2	Corinthians	0	3
	15	Emelec	0	0
							2	Corinthians	0	1
							10	Vasco da Gama	0	0
	7	Lanús	1	2 (4)
	10	Vasco da Gama (p)	2	1 (5)
													2	Corinthians	1	1
													3	Santos	0	1
	3	Santos	1	8
	14	Bolívar	2	0
							3	Santos (p)	0	1 (4)
							6	Vélez Sársfield	1	0 (2)
	6	Vélez Sársfield	1	1
	11	Atlético Nacional	0	1
																			2	Corinthians	1	2
																			9	Boca Juniors	1	0
	4	U. de Chile	1	6
	13	Deportivo Quito	4	0
							4	U. de Chile (p)	1	1 (5)
							5	Libertad	1	1 (3)
	5	Libertad	1	2
	12	Cruz Azul	1	0
													4	U. de Chile	0	0
													9	Boca Juniors	2	0
	1	Fluminense	0	2
	16	Internacional	0	1
							1	Fluminense	0	1
							9	Boca Juniors	1	1
	8	Unión Española	1	2
	9	Boca Juniors	2	3

Round of 16

The Round of 16 began on April 25 and ended on May 10.^[6] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Fluminense	2–1	Internacional	0–0	2–1
Corinthians	3–0	Emelec	0–0	3–0
Santos	9–2	Bolívar	1–2	8–0
Universidad de Chile	7–4	Deportivo Quito	1–4	6–0
Libertad	3–1	Cruz Azul	1–1	2–0
Vélez Sársfield	2–1	Atlético Nacional	1–0	1–1
Lanús	3–3 (4–5 p)	Vasco da Gama	1–2	2–1
Unión Española	3–5	Boca Juniors	1–2	2–3

Quarterfinals

The Quarterfinals began on May 16 and ended on May 24.^[7] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Fluminense	1–2	Boca Juniors	0–1	1–1
Corinthians	1–0	Vasco da Gama	0–0	1–0
Santos	1–1 (4–2 p)	Vélez Sársfield	0–1	1–0
Universidad de Chile	2–2 (5–3 p)	Libertad	1–1	1–1

Semifinals

The Semifinals began on June 13 and ended on June 21.^[8] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Corinthians	2–1	Santos	1–0	1–1
Universidad de Chile	0–2	Boca Juniors	0–2	0–0

Finals

The Finals were played over two legs, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home. If the teams were tied on points and goal difference at the end of regulation in the second leg, the away goals rule would not be applied and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the title would be decided by penalty shootout.^[5]

Boca Juniors v Corinthians

June 27, 2012 21:50 UTC−3

Boca Juniors	1–1	Corinthians
Roncaglia  72'	Report	Romarinho  84'

Estadio Alberto J. Armando (La Bombonera), Buenos Aires Attendance: 51,901 Referee: Enrique Osses (Chile)

---

Corinthians v Boca Juniors

July 4, 2012 21:50 UTC−3

Corinthians	2−0	Boca Juniors
Emerson  53', 72'	Report

Estádio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho (Pacaembu), São Paulo Attendance: 40,186 Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)

Corinthians won on points 3–1.

Copa Libertadores de América 2012 Champion
Corinthians First Title

Top goalscorers

Pos	Player	Club	Goals
1	Matías Alustiza	Deportivo Quito	8
	Neymar	Santos	8
3	Dorlan Pabón	Atlético Nacional	7
4	Junior Fernándes	Universidad de Chile	6
	Leandro Damião	Internacional	6
6	Emerson	Corinthians	5
	Emanuel Herrera	Unión Española	5
	Javier Orozco	Cruz Azul	5
9	Danilo	Corinthians	4
	Ángelo Henríquez	Universidad de Chile	4
	Alan Kardec	Santos	4
	Luis Fernando Mosquera	Atlético Nacional	4
	José Ariel Núñez	Libertad	4
	Mariano Pavone	Lanús	4
	Mario Regueiro	Lanús	4
	Matías Rodríguez	Universidad de Chile	4

Source:^[9]

Awards

Player of the week

Week	Player	Team	Notes
Jan 31 – Feb 2	Andrés D'Alessandro	Internacional	[10]
Feb 7–9	Javier Orozco	Cruz Azul	[11]
Feb 14–16	Pablo Escobar	The Strongest	[12]
Feb 21–23	Dorlan Pabón	Atlético Nacional	[13]
Mar 6–8	Deco	Fluminense	[14]
Mar 13–15	Leandro Damião	Internacional	[15]
Mar 20–22	Mario Regueiro	Lanús	[16]
Mar 27–29	Sergio Órteman	Olimpia	[17]
Apr 3–5	Luciano Figueroa	Emelec	[18]
Apr 10–12	Darío Cvitanich	Boca Juniors	[19]
Apr 17–19	Matías Alustiza	Deportivo Quito	[20]
May 1–3	Fidel Martínez	Deportivo Quito	[21]
May 8–10	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	[22]
May 16–17	Iván Obolo	Vélez Sársfield	[23]
May 23–24	Johnny Herrera	Universidad de Chile	[24]

Fair play award

The Samsung Fair Play Trophy was awarded to Brazilian club Corinthians.^[25]

Notes

Brazilian coach Ricardo Ferretti sent a team of substitutes of Tigres UANL, and was heavily criticized by the Latin press that claimed that he had "ignored" the competition.

See also

• 2012 FIFA Club World Cup
• 2012 Copa Sudamericana
• 2013 Recopa Sudamericana

References

1. "Emerson Sheik recebe troféu de melhor jogador da Libertadores e aponta, humilde: 'O prêmio é de todos nós'" [Emerson Sheik receives award for best player of the Libertadores and points, humble: "This award is for all of us'] (in Portuguese). globo. November 24, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
2. "Libertadores: el sorteo será el 25/11" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. October 4, 2011.
3. "Impactante Sorteo de la CSL 2012" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. November 25, 2011.
4. "Programa de Partidos – Copa Santander Libertadores de América 2012" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.
5. "Copa Santander Libertadores 2012: reglamento del torneo" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. In each tie, the team with the higher seed will play at home in the second leg.
6. "Copa Santander Libertadores: programa de octavos de final" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. April 19, 2012.
7. "Libertadores: programa de 4tos de final" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. May 11, 2012.
8. "Libertadores: las semis ya tienen fecha" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. May 28, 2012.
9. "Copa Santander Libertadores — Goleadores" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.
10. "D'Alessandro, el jugador de la semana" [D'Alessandro, the player of the week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. February 4, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
11. "Javier Orozco, el jugador de la 3a semana" [Javier Orozco, Player of the 3rd Week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. February 11, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
12. "Pablo Escobar, el jugador de la 4a semana" [Pablo Escobar, Player of the 4th Week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. February 18, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
13. "Dorlan Pabón, el jugador de la semana en la Copa Santander Libertadores" [Dorlan Pabón, Player of the Week in Copa Santander Libertadores] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
14. "Deco, el jugador de la sexta semana" [Deco, Player of the 6th Week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
15. "Damião el jugador de la semana" [Damião, Player of the Week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. March 16, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
16. "Regueiro, el jugador de la 7a semana" [Regueiro, the player of the 7th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. March 24, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
17. "Orteman, el jugador de la 7a semana" [Orteman, the player of the 7th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. March 31, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
18. "Figueroa, el jugador de la 8a semana" [Figueroa, the player of the 8th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. April 7, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
19. "Cvitanich, el jugador de la 9a semana" [Cvitanich, the player of the 9th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. April 13, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
20. "Alustiza, el jugador de la 10a semana" [Alustiza, the player of the 10th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. April 21, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
21. "Martínez, el jugador de la 12a semana" [Martínez, the player of the 12th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. May 5, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
22. "Riquelme, el mejor de la 13a semana" [Riquelme, the player of the 13th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. May 12, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
23. "Obolo, el jugador de la 14a semana" [Obolo, the player of the 14th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. May 19, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
24. "Herrera, el jugador de la 15a semana" [Herrera, the player of the 15th week] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
25. "Corinthians gana el Trofeo Fair Play" [Corinthians won the Fair Play Trophy] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. September 25, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012.

External links

• Official webpage (Spanish)