The 1967 Campeonato Metropolitano final were the final match of the 1967 Campeonato Metropolitano , the first league championship held during the 76th. season of the Argentine Primera División. The final was contested by Estudiantes de La Plata (it was their first Primera División final) and Racing Club de Avellaneda (contesting their 4th final).Argentina 1967 - Campeonato Metropolitano by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on the rsssf.com

The final was held in a neutral venue, in this case the Estadio Gasómetro, home of club San Lorenzo de Almagro. Estudiantes LP defeated Racing 3–0 to win their 2nd. Primera División title. It was the first championship won by Osvaldo Zubeldía during his tenure as manager of Estudiantes.El Estudiantes de Zubeldía campeón 1967 on afa.com.ar, 6 Aug 1967

Background After a restructuring of championship systems led by president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) Valentín Suárez, the Argentine Primera División had two different championships within a season. 1967 saw the debut of Metropolitano and Nacional tournaments.Adiós a los torneos cortos, una modalidad a contramano de las ligas más importantes del mundo by Carlos Beer on La Nación The Metropolitano had a similar format to previous championships while the Nacional added clubs from regional leagues.Campeonatos Históricos del Interior: TORNEO REGIONAL 1967 on Ascenso del Interior website

Racing Club, managed by Juan José Pizutti, was the Intercontinental reigning champion after defeating Scottish side Celtic that same year. The victory had been widely acclaimed throughout Argentina (where they were named "world champions")A 54 años de la Copa Intercontinental de Racing, el primer campeón mundial argentino on tycsports.com.arRacing, el primer campeón del mundo argentino: a 58 años de la hazaña en la Copa Intercontinental on perfil.com. 4 Nov 2025Racing de Avellaneda al mundo on elgrafico.com.ar. 4 Nov 2022, even by supporters of rival clubs.

On the other hand, Estudiantes was managed by Osvaldo Zubeldía, who had taken over the team in 1965. The good work in the youth divisions of the club had allowed the emergence of raising talents such as Juan Ramón Verón, Carlos Pachamé, Eduardo Flores, Oscar Malbernat. Those young players along with Carlos Bilardo, Raúl Madero, Juan Echecopar, Ramón Aguirre Suárez, and Alberto Poletti, would form the team that wrote the most glorious pages for the club.El primer titulo nacional on estudiantesdelaplata.com. 6 Aug 2020

Qualified teams Team Previous app. Estudiantes (LP) (none) Racing 1913, 1915, 1951

Venue

The final was held in Estadio GasómetroSan Lorenzo y el Gasómetro, un exilio de 40 años by Cristian Dellocchio on Página/12, 2 Dec 2019, located in the neighborhood of Boedo in Buenos Aires. Inaugurated in 1916, the stadium was the home ground of club San Lorenzo de Almagro before they moved to their new venue, Estadio Pedro Bidegain, which is sometimes referred to as Nuevo Gasómetro ("New Gasometer"), in 1993. The stadium had a capacity of 75,000 people.El Gasómetro (San Lorenzo) on Viejos Estadios blogsite

The stadium was nicknamed Gasómetro due to its exterior facade that reminded of a gas holder, very common at the time. It has a capacity of 75,000 spectators, being the largest stadium of Argentina until the construction of El Cilindro, home venue of Racing Club de Avellaneda, inaugurated in 1950.EL CILINDRO DE AVELLANEDA CUMPLE 65 AÑOS on DXTV, 3 September 2015 Racing's stadium had a capacity of 100,000 spectators, then reduced to 66,000 in the 1990s.El estadio de Racing cumple 70 años on Télam, 3 September 2020 The stadium was one of the venues for the 1929 South American Championship.

Road to the final Participant teams were divided into two groups (A and B) of eleven teams each, playing in a double round-robin tournament. The two best placed team of each zone qualified for the semifinals, played in a single match."Argentina: 1ra. División AFA 1967 Campeonato Metropolitano Zona "A" by José Carluccio. 7 Oct 2009 Group stage included inter-zonal matches (also played on home and away games), where Estudiantes and Racing played against their arch-rivals Gimnasia y Esgrima LP and Independiente respectively."Argentina: 1ra. División AFA 1967 Campeonato Metropolitano Ronda Final" by José Carluccio, 7 Oct 2009

Estudiantes (LP) Round Racing OpponentResult (home / away) Group stage OpponentResult (home / away) Huracán 2–1 (A) 1–1 (H) Matchday 1 Newell's Old Boys 0–0 (H) 0–0 (A) Lanús 2–0 (H) 2–4 (A) Matchday 2 Quilmes 3–2 (A) 1–1 (H) Atlanta 0–0 (A) 1–0 (H) Matchday 3 Argentinos Juniors 3–0 (H) 2–0 (A) Boca Juniors 1–0 (H) 0–1 (A) Matchday 4 Colón 1–1 (A) 2–1 (H) Racing 2–1 (A) 1–0 (H) Matchday 5 Estudiantes LP 1–2 (H) 0–1 (A) Vélez Sarsfield 1–0 (H) 0–2 (A) Matchday 6 Huracán 4–1 (A) 0–0 (H) Newell's Old Boys 0–2 (A) 2–2 (H) Matchday 7 Lanús 2–1 (H) 2–1 (A) Quilmes 2–0 (H) 0–0 (A) Matchday 8 Atlanta 1–0 (A) 2–2 (H) Argentinos Juniors 1–0 (A) 1–1 (H) Matchday 9 Boca Juniors 2–1 (H) 0–0 (A) Colón 2–0 (H) 0–0 (A) Matchday 10 Independiente 0–1 (H) 0–3 (A) Gimnasia y Esgrima LP 0–0 (A) 3–0 (H) Matchday 11 Vélez Sarsfield 0–0 (A) 1–1 (H) Group A winners Pos.Team Pts W T L Pl Qualification 1 Racing 29109322 Semifinals 2 Estudiantes LP29117422 Semifinals 3 Vélez Sarsfield 27107522 4 Boca Juniors 26810422 Opponent Result Knockout stage Opponent Result Platense 4–3 (N) Semifinals Independiente 2–0 (N)

Notes

Match

Summary

In the final, motivated by the historic 4–3 victory against Platense in semifinals, Estudiantes crushed Racing from start to finish, although that supremacy would be reflected in the result only in the second half.

At 7 minutes, defender Raúl Madero scored the first goal with a free kick, placing the ball in the upper right corner of Racing goalkeeper Antonino Spilinga. At about 24 minutes, Carlos Bilardo played for winger Juan Ramón Verón, who opened on the left for Felipe Ribaudo, who gave a pass to Verón to take a strong shot and increase the score to 2–0. At 27 minutes Verón escaped again and, when he reached the bottom, he sent a cross to Ribaudo, who after eluding Oscar Gómez gave the ball to Marcos Conigliaro. The forward, with the mark on him, returned it first to Ribaudo, who stopped the ball and kicked the goal, leaving the score at a defining 3–0..

Once the referee of the match, Guillermo Nimo, marked the end of the match, Estudiantes de La Plata became champions and delirium broke out, both in Boedo and in the city of La Plata.

Estudiantes LP won their second league title and the first under the management of Osvaldo Zubeldía. This achievement would be followed by other great milestones such as the 1967 Copa Libertadores and the 1968 Intercontinental CupEstudiantes campeón del mundo: A la gloria no se llega por un camino de rosas by Matías Rodríguez, El Gráfico, 16 Oct 2013 –among other honours– that consolidated Estudiantes LP as one of the most successful teams of their era and the legacy of Zubeldía as a revolutionary coach, not only in Estudiantes but in the history of football in ArgentinaZubeldía, eterno: el hombre que inventó el fútbol moderno en Estudiantes y quedó en la historia para siempre on infocielo.com. 24 Jun 2026El laboratorio de Osvaldo Zubeldía: la revolución táctica que coronó a Estudiantes de La Plata on perfil.com. 12 Jan 2026.

Details

GK 1 Alberto PolettiLB 2 Ramón Aguirre SúarezRB 3 Hugo SpadaroRH 4 Oscar Malbernat CH 5 Raúl MaderoLH 6 Carlos Pachamé RW 7 Felipe RibaudoIF 8 Carlos BilardoCF 9 Marcos Conigliaro IF 10 Juan EchecoparLW 11 Juan Ramón VerónManager: Osvaldo Zubeldía

GK 1 Antonino SpilingaRB 2 Oscar P. GómezLB 3 Nelson ChabayRH 4 Oscar Martín (c)MF 5 Miguel MoriCB 6 Alfio Basile RW 7 Joao C. EstevesIF 8 Fernando ParentiCF 9 Norberto Raffo IF 10 Juan J. RodríguezLW 11 Humberto MaschioManager: Juan José Pizzuti

Aftermath

El Gráfico'''s journalist Osvaldo Ardizzone wrote about the match "This Racing had never been beaten like this before", stating that the poor physical condition of Racing players influenced the result. Ardizzone also praised the speed of playmaker Juan Echecopar, taking advantage of the Racing players' fatigue, with the exception of Alfio Basile, who fixed the mistakes of his teammates and even went on the attack. Other players whose performances were praised by the critic include Carlos Pachamé, Oscar Malbernat, Carlos Bilardo, Madero, and Juan Ramón Verón. According to his words, at the moment of the opening goal by Madero, "there was only one team on the field".

Another journalist of El Gráfico'', Julio C. Pasquatto (aka) "Juvenal", described Estudiantes LP's victory as "a triumph of the new mentality"; in the article, he explained his concept stating that the team had "a mindset served by young, strong, disciplined, dynamic, vigorous people, whole both spiritually and physically. People willing to work towards a common goal, to fight, to sacrifice in favor of the team". The journalist also emphasized the change of tactics of the team from a deffensive team to an extremely offensive side that went out to win all their matchesEstudiantes LP v Racing. Chronicle and analysis by Osvaldo Ardizzone and Julio C. Pasquatto on El Gráfico no. 2496, 8 Aug 1967.

Pasquatto based his analysis on the tactical concepts by Zubeldía that imposed his ideas that all the players must be ready to both, attack and defend when necessary.

References