Roca Cup


The Roca Cup was a football competition contested between Argentina and Brazil national teams from 1914 to 1976 on irregular basis. The Copa Roca was the first trophy, official or unofficial, ever won by a Brazil national team.

History

The competition was created by former President of Argentina, General Julio Argentino Roca, in 1913. A football enthusiast, Roca was at the time the Argentine ambassador in Brazil and felt matches between both countries would create a healthy rivalry and help the sport to develop. The Cup would be played each year in a different country, a fact that was actually kept in spite of the many changes to the Cup's format.
Roca donated a trophy to dissident body Federación Argentina de Football. Argentine Football Association do not consider this match as official.
In 1938, both football associations, AFA and CBF, accepted to play the competition once again. The format was changed and the trophy would be kept by the most recent winner. In case the first two matches finished in draws or each team had a win, then a third leg had to be played. In January 1939, Argentina got a 5–1 victory in Rio de Janeiro. The following game was packed with incidents and the visiting team left the pitch enraged after the referee awarded a penalty to Brazil. However the home side went on to score a third goal when the Argentine team had already left the field in protest. A third and fourth match were played in São Paulo, giving the victory to Argentina. The 1940 edition was played in Argentina, where Argentina won two matches and Brazil won one
In 1957's match, at Maracanã, Pelé made his debut in Brazil national team, drafted by coach Sylvio Pirillo, where he scored the first of many goals with the Brazilian jersey. From 1940 on, Brazil won every edition, except for the 1971 Cup, when with two draws, the Cup was also declared tied.

List of champions

Matches

The following list includes all the editions of the Copa Julio A. Roca. Since 1939, the cup was played under a two-legged format. No goal difference was taken into account so in case of both teams won one match each, a playoff was held to define a champion. Nevertheless, since 1957 the cup was defined by goal difference between both matches.
YearWinnerScoreCityVenueAgg.
119141–0Buenos AiresGEBA
219222–1São PauloParque Antarctica
319232–0Buenos AiresSportivo Barracas
41939 5–1Rio de JaneiroSão Januário
41939 2–3Rio de JaneiroSão Januário
41939 2–2 São PauloParque Antarctica
41939 3–0São PauloParque Antarctica
519406–1Buenos AiresSan Lorenzo
519402–3Buenos AiresSan Lorenzo
519405–1AvellanedaIndependiente
619453–4São PauloPacaembu
619456–2Rio de JaneiroSão Januário
619453–1Rio de JaneiroSão Januário
719571–2Rio de JaneiroMaracanã3–2
719572–0 São PauloPacaembu3–2
819602–4Buenos AiresRiver Plate6–5
819604–1 Buenos AiresRiver Plate6–5
919632–3São PauloMorumbi7–5
919635–2 Rio de JaneiroMaracanã7–5
101971 &
1–1Buenos AiresRiver Plate3–3
101971 &
2–2 Buenos AiresRiver Plate3–3
1119762–1Buenos AiresRiver Plate4–1
1119762–0Rio de JaneiroMaracanã4–1

Titles by country