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The European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the '''Intercontinental Cup''' or '''Toyota Cup''', was a Football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL , contested between the winners of the European Champions League and the South American Copa Libertadores in a match played each December at the Yokohama International Stadium , Japan . From 2005 , the Intercontinental Cup had been replaced by the FIFA Club World Championship , which also includes North American , Asian , African and Oceanian winners. HISTORY The Intercontinental Cup was created by Henri Delauney as a way of determining who is the top club in the world ( Europe and South America being the football world's top continents). Europe already had its European Champions Club Cup , but South America did not have a similar competition. Thus, South American ''Confederación'' (CONMEBOL's predecessor) created a similar competition, and named it after the heroes of South American independence. The Copa Libertadores made the Intercontinental Cup viable. The first match-up was in 1960 , between Spanish side Real Madrid and the Uruguayan club Peñarol . Ever since the 1950s (and especially since the 1970s) many talented South Americans crossed the Atlantic to play for European teams, who also tend to be richer. Perhaps as a consequence, South American fans have always attached more importance to the Intercontinental Cup than their European counterparts. An especially traumatic event was the 1969 series between Estudiantes and Milan , which resulted in extremely harsh suspensions for many Estudiantes players. Out of concern for the integrity of players, and also because of the lack of financial incentive, several European champions declined to participate; in all cases, their runners-up took their place. The 1975 and 1978 editions were not played at all. The very viability of the competition came under fire until Toyota assumed the role of sponsor for the 1980 edition; for the remainder of the competition's history, no club declined playing the Intercontinental Cup. This cup was played for the last time in 2004, being replaced with FIFA Club World Championship starting in 2005. However, as of December 2005 there are talks of restoring it soon but this time featuring the winners of the Recopa Sudamericana against the European Supercup champions. CUP FORMAT From 1960 to 1979 , the Intercontinental Cup was played in two legs. Between 1960 and 1968 , the cup was decided on points only, the same format used by CONMEBOL to determine the winner of the Copa Libertadores final through 1987 . Because of this format, a third match was needed when both teams were tied on points. From 1969 through 1979, the competition adopted the European standard method of aggregate score, with Away Goals . Starting in 1980 , the final became a single match. Up until 2000 , the matches were held at Tokyo's National Stadium. Finals after 2001 were held at the Yokohama International Stadium , venue of the final. INTERCONTINENTAL CUP FINALS Single match finals
Two-legged finals ''aet - after Extra Time '' OVERALL STATISTICS
By Team By countries By Continent Coaches in 1994, and 2 with Boca Juniors in 2000 and 2003 . Luis Cubilla and Juan Mugica, 2 Uruguayans won cups both as a player and coaching:
Team - Players
Man of the Match ''Since 1980 '' SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS
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