Independiente conquered South America before conquering the world. The club was relatively unknown in Europe – River Plate, Boca Juniors, and the ill-famed Estudiantes were the familiar Argentine clubs. Santos, Botafogo, Fluminense, Sao Paulo… Penarol, Nacional… somehow Independiente was not among the greatest. It was routinely announced as a club from Buenos Aires, something never done in South America – they are from Avellaneda (along with their arch-rivals Racing Club), an independent municipality of the Buenos Aires Province, although Avellaneda is part of Greater Buenos Aires, the megapolis. Of course, they never matched the popularity of River Plate and Boca Juniors, but records tell different story: in 1973 Independiente became the most successful South American club – they won their 4th Libertadores Cup, a record surpassing any other club. River Plate and Boca Juniors were nowhere near such international success. The forth Cup did not come easy – three games were needed to edge over Colo-Colo (Chile) and finally, in overtime, the Argentines scored the winning goal.

Final (May 22 & 29)Independiente Arg Colo Colo Chi 1-1 0-0

Playoff (Jun 6) (in Montevideo)Independiente Arg Colo Colo Chi 2-1 aet

1st leg. Cordero, Avellaneda, 22- 5-1973 Independiente - Colo Colo 1-171' Sá (own goal) 0-175' Mendoza 1-1

Independiente: Santoro, Commisso, Sá, López, Pavoni, Semenewicz, Raimondo, Martínez, Balbuena (Bertoni), Giachello (Maglioni), Mendoza.

Colo Colo: Nef, Galindo, Herrera, González, Silva, Páez, Valdés, Osorio (Caszely), Messen, Ahumada, Véliz (Lara).

Referee: Lorenzo (Uruguay)Attendance: 40,000

2nd leg. Estadio Nacional, Santiago, 29- 5-1973 Colo Colo - Independiente 0-0

Colo Colo: Nef, Galindo, Herrera, González, Silva, Páez, Valdés, Osorio,Caszely, Messen, Véliz.

Independiente: Santoro, Commisso, Sá, López, Pavoni, Semenewicz, Raimondo,Martínez, Balbuena (Bertoni), Giachello (Maglioni), Mendoza.

Referee: Arpi Filho (Brazil)Attendance: 80,000

Play-off. Centenario, Montevideo, 6- 6-1973 Independiente - Colo Colo 2-1 aet25' Mendoza 1-039' Caszely 1-1107' Giachello 2-1

Independiente: Santoro, Commisso, Sá, López, Pavoni, Semenewicz, Raimondo,Galván, Bertoni, Maglioni (Bochini), Mendoza (Giachello).

Colo Colo: Nef, Galindo, Herrera, González, Silva (Castañeda), Valdés, Páez,Messen, Caszely, Ahumada, Véliz (Lara). Referee: Romei (Paraguay)Attendance: 50,000

Colo-Colo – worthy finalists, but they also lost the Chilean title in 1973… grand losers?

Well, the best team in the world in 1973. Unbelievable in Europe, a simple fact of greatness in South America.