1919 South American Championship

1919 South American Championship of Nations

Tournament details
Host country	Brazil
Dates	May 11 – May 29
Teams	4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Brazil (1st title)
Runners-up	Uruguay
Third place	Argentina
Fourth place	Chile
Tournament statistics
Matches played	7
Goals scored	27 (3.86 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Arthur Friedenreich Neco (4 goals each)
← 1917 1920 →

The Brazilian team that won its first championship.

The 1919 South American Championship of Nations was the third continental championship for South American national football teams. It was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from May 11 to May 29, 1919.

The participating countries were Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay as the defending champion.

After finishing tied in the group standings on points, host Brazil beat Uruguay in the playoff match to win their first title.

The playoff was the longest match in the competition's history, and under current rules, will remain so indefinitely: with the scores tied 0-0 after 90 minutes had expired, both captains and the referee agreed to play an extra time period of two 30 minute periods, meaning the playoff match lasted 150 minutes.

Format

There was no qualifying for the tournament. The participating countries were Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. All teams competed between each other in a single group. Two points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a defeat. If there was a tie of points at the top of the standings, a playoff match would be held to determine the champion.

Squads

For a complete list of participating squads see: 1919 South American Championship squads

Venues

Rio de Janeiro
Estádio das Laranjeiras
Capacity: 20,000

Final round

Each team played one match against each of the other teams. Two (2) points were awarded for a win, one (1) point for a draw and zero (0) points for a defeat.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	3	2	1	0	11	3	+8	5
Uruguay	3	2	1	0	7	4	+3	5
Argentina	3	1	0	2	7	7	0	2
Chile	3	0	0	3	1	12	−11	0

May 11, 1919

Brazil	6–0	Chile
Friedenreich 19', 38', 76' Neco 21', 83' Haroldo 79'

Estádio das Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro

Referee: Juan Pedro Barbera (Argentina)

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May 13, 1919

Argentina	2–3	Uruguay
Izaguirre 34' Varela 79' (o.g.)		C. Scarone 19' H. Scarone 23' Gradín 85'

Estádio das Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro

Referee: Robert Todd (England)

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May 17, 1919

Uruguay	2–0	Chile
C. Scarone 31' J. Pérez 43'

Estádio das Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro

Referee: Adilton Ponteado (Brazil)

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May 18, 1919

Brazil	3–1	Argentina
Héitor 22' Amílcar 57' Millón 77'		Izaguirre 65'

Estádio das Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro

Referee: Robert Todd (England)

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May 22, 1919

Argentina	4–1	Chile
Clarcke 10', 23', 62' Izaguirre 13'		France 33'

Estádio das Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro

Referee: Joaquim de Castro (Brazil)

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May 26, 1919

Uruguay	2–2	Brazil
Gradín 13' C. Scarone 17'		Neco 29', 63'

Estádio das Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro

Referee: Robert Todd (England)

Play Off Match

Main article: 1919 South American Championship Final

May 29, 1919

Brazil	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Uruguay
Friedenreich 122'

Estádio das Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro

Referee: Juan P. Barbera (Argentina)

Result

1919 South American Championship Champions
Brazil First title

Goal scorers

4 goals

• Arthur Friedenreich

• Neco

3 goals

• Edwin Clarcke

• Carlos Izaguirre

• Carlos Scarone

2 goals

• Isabelino Gradín

1 goal

• Amílcar
• Haroldo
• Héitor

• Millon
• Alfredo France
• José Pérez

• Héctor Scarone

Own goals

• Manuel Varela (for Argentina)

Aftermath

The day after the final, Uruguayan goalkeeper Roberto Chery died of strangulated hernia in a hospital of Río de Janeiro. He had injured after he made a wrong move to stop an attack, during the match v Chile. Because of substitutions were not allowed by then, Chery had to play severely injured the rest of the match.

Brazil and Uruguay teams had scheduled a friendly match ("Copa Rio Branco") for June 19, 1919. Due to the Uruguayan side declined to participate because of Chery's tragic death, Argentina offered to replace the Uruguayan side. After the Brazilian Federation accepted, the match (now named "Copa Roberto Chery" to honor the goalkeeper) was finally played. Argentina entered to the field wearing Uruguay's traditional light-blue jersey while Brazil wore the Peñarol jersey.