The 2012 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2012 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The tournament was expanded from 39 teams in the previous edition to 47 teams, allowing the eight associations other than Argentina and Brazil to each enter four teams instead of three teams. Universidad de Chile were the defending champions, but lost to the eventual champion, São Paulo, in the quarterfinals.
Brazilian club São Paulo were crowned as the champion after defeating Argentine club Tigre in the finals. Having already qualified for the 2013 Libertadores Cup (for being 4th in the 2012 Brazilian League), São Paulo, after winning the 2012 Sudamericana Cup, would go on to vie for the 2013 Recopa Cup (Championship played between the Libertadores Cup champion and the Sudamericana Cup champion) and the 2013 Suruga Cup.
Qualified teams AssociationTeam Entry stageQualification method ArgentinaIndependiente Second Stage2011 tournaments aggregate table 3rd best non-championRacing 2011 tournaments aggregate table 4th best non-championTigre 2011 tournaments aggregate table 5th best non-championArgentinos Juniors 2011 tournaments aggregate table 6th best non-championColón 2011 tournaments aggregate table 7th best non-championBoca Juniors 2011–12 Copa Argentina champion BoliviaOriente Petrolero First Stage2011 Adecuación 3rd placeUniversitario de Sucre 2011 Apertura runner-upAurora 2011 Apertura 4th placeBlooming 2012 Clausura 5th place BrazilSão Paulo Second Stage2011 Série A 6th placeFigueirense 2011 Série A 7th placeCoritiba 2011 Série A 8th placeBotafogo 2011 Série A 9th placePalmeiras 2011 Série A 11th placeGrêmio 2011 Série A 12th placeAtlético Goianiense 2011 Série A 13th placeBahia 2011 Série A 14th place ChileUniversidad de Chile Round of 162011 Copa Sudamericana championUniversidad Católica First Stage2011 Copa Chile championCobreloa 2011 Clausura classification phase 2nd placeO'Higgins 2012 Apertura classification phase 2nd placeDeportes Iquique 2012 Apertura classification phase 3rd place ColombiaMillonarios First Stage2011 Copa Colombia championEnvigado 2011 Primera A aggregate table 3rd best non-championDeportes Tolima 2011 Primera A aggregate table 4th best non-championLa Equidad 2011 Primera A aggregate table 5th best non-champion EcuadorBarcelona First Stage2012 Serie A first stage winnerLDU Loja 2012 Serie A first stage 2nd placeDeportivo Quito 2011 Serie A second stage winnerEmelec 2012 Serie A first stage 3rd place ParaguayOlimpia First Stage2011 Primera División aggregate table best championCerro Porteño 2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best non-championTacuary 2011 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best non-championGuaraní 2011 Primera División aggregate table 4th best non-champion PeruUniversidad San Martín First Stage2011 Descentralizado 4th placeLeón de Huánuco 2011 Descentralizado 5th placeUnión Comercio 2011 Descentralizado 6th placeInti Gas 2011 Descentralizado 7th place UruguayNacional First Stage2011–12 Primera División championCerro Largo 2011–12 Primera División aggregate table 4th placeLiverpool 2011–12 Primera División aggregate table 5th placeDanubio 2011–12 Primera División aggregate table 6th place VenezuelaMineros First Stage2011 Copa Venezuela championDeportivo Lara 2011–12 Primera División aggregate table 1st placeMonagas 2011–12 Primera División Serie Sudamericana winner with better aggregateDeportivo Táchira 2011–12 Primera División Serie Sudamericana winner with worse aggregate
Draw The draw was held on June 29, 2012 (postponed from original date of June 26), 12:00 UTC−04:00 at CONMEBOL's Convention Center in Luque, Paraguay.
The tournament is played in single-elimination format, with each tie played over two legs. The draw mechanism was as follows: First Stage The 32 teams from the eight countries other than Argentina and Brazil, excluding the defending champion, were drawn against each other. The teams were divided into South Zone (Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia) and North Zone (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela). Teams which qualified through berths 1 were drawn against teams which qualified through berths 4, and teams which qualified through berths 2 were drawn against teams which qualified through berths 3, with the former playing the second leg at home. Second Stage The 16 winners of the First Stage were drawn against each other, where a winner from the South Zone were drawn against a winner from the North Zone. The 6 teams from Argentina were drawn against each other, where the matchups were based on the berths which the teams qualify through: 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 4, with the former playing the second leg at home. The 8 teams from Brazil were drawn against each other, where the matchups were based on the berths which the teams qualify through: 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5, with the former playing the second leg at home. Final stages The 15 winners of the Second Stage, together with the defending champion, were assigned a "seed" starting from the round of 16 (the defending champion and the winners from Argentina and Brazil were assigned even "seeds", the winners from the other eight countries were assigned odd "seeds"). The "seeding" was used to determine the bracket of the final stages, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home in each tie.
Schedule All dates listed are Wednesdays, but matches may be played on the day before (Tuesdays) and after (Thursdays) as well.
Stage First leg Second leg First Stage July 25August 1 August 8, 15, 22 Second Stage August 1, 15, 22, 29 August 22, 29September 19 Round of 16 September 26October 3 October 24 Quarterfinals October 31 November 7, 14 Semifinals November 21 November 28 Finals December 5 December 12
Preliminary stages
The first two stages of the competition are the First Stage and Second Stage. Both stages are largely played concurrent to each other.
First stage The First Stage began on July 24 and ended on August 23. Team 1 played the second leg at home.
!colspan=6|South Zone
!colspan=6|North Zone
Second stage The Second Stage began on July 31 and ended on September 20.
Final stages
Teams from the Round of 16 onwards are seeded depending on which second stage tie they won (i.e., the winner of Match O1 would be assigned the 1 seed, etc.; the defending champion, Universidad de Chile, was assigned the 10 seed).
Bracket In each tie, the higher-seeded team played the second leg at home.
Round of 16 The Round of 16 began on September 25 and ended on October 25. Team 1 played the second leg at home.
Quarterfinals The Quarterfinals began on October 30 and ended on November 15. Team 1 played the second leg at home.
Semifinals The Semifinals began on November 22 and ended on November 29. Team 1 played the second leg at home.
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.
São Paulo won on points 4–1.
Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes2012 ChampionSão PauloFirst Title
Top goalscorers Pos Player Club Goals 1 Jonathan Fabbro Cerro Porteño 5 Carlos Núñez Liverpool 5 Fábio Renato LDU Loja 5 Wason Rentería Millonarios 5 Michael Ríos Universidad Católica 5 6 Julio Bevacqua Deportivo Quito 4 Wilberto Cosme Millonarios 4 Roberto Nanni Cerro Porteño 4 9 Alejandro Guerra Mineros de Guayana 3 Santiago Salcedo Cerro Porteño 3 Willian José São Paulo 3
Awards
Player of the week WeekPlayerTeamNotesJul 24–26 Richard Blanco O'HigginsJul 31–Aug 1 Rogério Ceni São Paulo
See also Libertadores Recopa Suruga
References
External links Official webpage