NASL

 

USA. NASL only. Before the season, New York, Toronto and Montreal were added. Team rosters were almost entirely made of foreign players from everywhere – only Oceania was not represented on continental basis – but there were no recognizable names at all. Here is a short list of those of some minor significance: perhaps Adolfo Gori (b. 1938, Italy) of Rochester Lancers had the stronger career before moving to North America – he played about 150 games for Juventus plus some for Brescia and SPAL. He had 1 cap for Italy. Dallas Tornado's goalkeeper Mirko Stojanovic (b. 1939, Yugoslavia), formerly of Crvena zvezda and Dinamo Zagreb, was the only player in the league appearing at World Cup finals – he was in the 1962 Yugoslavian team, but only as an unused reserve. He had 4 caps for his native country. Another goalkeeper – Konrad Kornek (b. 1937) of New York Cosmos – was the one with games for a national team: 15 matches for Poland. He played for Legia Warszawa and Odra Opole. Tibor Szalay Csikos (b. 1938, born in Czecholsovakia, but originally citizen of Hungary) had the most impressive CV: Austria Wien, Barcelona, Real Murcia, Besiktas. The Yugoslavs used to play a bit for well known domestic clubs: Dragan Popovic (b. 1941, St. Louis Stars)- Crvena zvezda and Hajduk Split; Milonja Kalicanin (b. 1938, St. Louis Stars) – Pristina and Besiktas (Istanbul); Josip Ognjanac (b. 1942, Montreal Olympique) – Crvena zvezda, Radnicki Nis, and Malmo FF of Sweden; Momcilo Gavric (b. 1938,Dallas Tornado) – OFK Beograd. Polish players also played for stronger local clubs before joining NASL: Kazimierz Frankiewicz (b. 1939, St. Louis Stars) – Zawysza Bydgoszcz, Lechia Gdansk, Legia Warszawa; Karol Kapcinski (b.1943, New York Cosmos) – Gornik Zabrze, Slask Wroclaw. And the Czech player of Montreal Olympique – Jiri Klaboch (b. 1936) – used to play for Bohemians Prague. Perhaps some players from Africa and the Caribbean islands had some appearances for the national teams of their original countries, but none was a current member. South Americans and Mexicans were generally anonimous players. As a whole, NASL was filled with not even second raters, but third rate players and North Americans were very few. Even the weird point system, used by NASL – Rochester Lancers finsihed the regular season with 141 points! - was not able to compensate for the low level of the games.
                           G    W   T   L   GF  GA  PTS    %     Att.
      Northern Division
Rochester Lancers          24  13   6   5   48  31  141  .666   5,871
New York Cosmos            24   9   5  10   51  55  117  .479   4,517
Toronto Metros             24   5   9  10   32  47   89  .395   5,993
Montreal Olympique         24   4   5  15   29  59   65  .270   2,440

      Southern Division
Atlanta Chiefs             24  12   5   7   35  29  120  .604   4,275
Dallas Tornado             24  10   8   6   38  24  119  .583   3,326
Washington Darts           24   8  10   6   36  34  111  .541   3,262
St.Louis Stars             24   6   5  13   37  47   86  .354   3,579

Semi-finals:  Dallas defeated Rochester 1-2(OT), 3-1, 2-1 (OT)

           
Atlanta defeated New York 0-1 (OT), 2-0
CHAMPIONSHIP: Dallas defeated Atlanta 1-2 (OT), 4-1, 2-0
Atlanta Chiefs finished second.
Dallas Tornado was the 1971 NASL champion. 

Mexico II Division

 

II Division

1 San Luis (C, P) 32 16 13 3 50 26 1.923 45 Promoted to Primera División

2 Zamora 32 17 6 9 51 32 1.594 40

3 Tampico 32 13 13 6 50 33 1.515 39

4 Naucalpan 32 15 9 8 41 28 1.464 39

5 Querétaro 32 14 10 8 50 37 1.351 38

6 UANL 32 14 10 8 37 28 1.321 38

7 Unión de Curtidores 32 14 8 10 46 37 1.243 36

8 La Piedad 32 10 16 6 39 35 1.114 36

9 Tepic 32 9 12 11 34 53 0.642 30

10 Nacional 32 8 13 11 50 47 1.064 29

11 Salamanca 32 12 5 15 35 49 0.714 29

12 Cuautla 32 9 10 13 41 48 0.854 28

13 Atlético Cuernavaca 32 9 8 15 37 47 0.787 26

14 Ciudad Madero 32 8 10 14 33 49 0.673 26

15 Ciudad Victoria 32 8 8 16 33 46 0.717 24

16 Universidad Veracruzana 32 4 13 15 23 38 0.605 21

17 Nuevo León 32 6 8 18 26 43 0.605 20 Relegated to Tercera División

18 Morelia[a] 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 Disqualified

San Luis (Potosi) won the championship and got promotion to the top level. 

Mexico I Division

 

Mexico. I Division
Group Corsairs           P       W       T       L      GF      GA      PTS     GAVG
  1. Toluca             34      14      15       5      38      21      43      1.81 (playoffs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2. Jalisco            34      12      14       8      35      29      38      1.21 [Guadalajara]
  3. Zacatepec          34      14      10      10      39      37      38      1.05
  4. Cruz Azul          34      11      15       8      39      39      37      1.00 [Ciudad Cooperativa]
  5. U.N.A.M.           34      10      15       9      43      38      35      1.13 [Ciudad de México]
  6. Necaxa             34      10      11      13      44      39      31      1.13 [Ciudad de México]
  7. Irapuato           34       8      13      13      34      53      29      0.64
  8. Laguna             34      10       8      16      37      47      28      0.79 [Torreón]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  9. Atlas              34       5      12      17      32      48      22      0.67 (relegation playoffs) [Guadalajara]
 
Group Pirates            P       W       T       L      GF      GA      PTS     GAVG
  1. América            34      17      10       7      56      33      44      1.70 (playoffs) [Ciudad de México]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2. Monterrey          34      15      10       9      46      37      40      1.24
  3. León               34      14      10      10      50      41      38      1.22
  4. Atlante            34       9      16       9      33      31      34      1.06 [Ciudad de México]
 
 5. Veracruz           34      12       9      13      39      40      33      0.98
  6. Puebla             34      11      10      13      43      49      32      0.88
  7. Torreón            34      11       9      14      27      35      31      0.77
  8. Guadalajara        34      11       8      15      34      44      30      0.77
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  9. Pachuca            34      11       7      16      38      46      29      0.83 (relegation playoffs)
 
 
Championship Playoffs
Final
Toluca 0 América 0
América 2 Toluca 0 (2-0 agg)  
Toluca ended with silver medals. 


Champion: AMÉRICA

Relegation Playoffs
Final
Pachuca 2 Atlas 2
Atlas 1 Pachuca 1 (3-3 agg)  
Replay
[Estadio León, León]
Pachuca 2 Atlas 0   
 
Relegated: Atlas
 
Promoted: San Luis Potosí
 
Changes for the next season:

Necaxa changed its name to Atletico Español and Cruz Azul moved to Ciudad de México.

CONCACAF Champions Cup

 

CONCACAF Champions Cup.  Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones CONCACAF 1971
Northern Section

Round 1
(Oct 3 & 13)
Elizabeth SC             USA  Cruz Azul                Mex   0-0  awd  0-2x
(Oct 3 & 31)
Rochester Lancers        USA  Pembroke Hamilton Club   Ber   4-1  1-3  5-4y asdet
x 2nd leg awarded, forfeit Elizabeth SC
y other sources give 2nd leg as 1-1

NB: some sources list an additional round in which Rochester Lancers
    supposedly were to play Guadalajara but withdrew; if the two were
    to meet at all, it apparently was Guadalajara who withdrew as
    Rochester played the final tournament and Guadalajara did not

Central Section

Preliminary Round (Aug 22 & 29)
Diriangén                Nic  Comunicaciones           Gua   0-5  1-10 1-15

Round 1 
(Aug 22 & 29)
Aurora                   Gua  Atlético Marte           ElS   2-1  1-1  3-2
(Sep 19 & 26)
Motagua                  Hon  Saprissa                 CRi   0-3  0-2  0-5
  [Hernán Morales 10, Fernando Hernández 18, Edgar Marín 60]
  [Odir Jacques 22, 65]
(Sep 26 & Oct 3)
Comunicaciones           Gua  Deportivo FAS            ElS   5-2  3-0  8-2
  [Larrosa 12, 81, Molina 56, 89, Torres 82; Sarceno 50, Torres 78]
(Sep 26 & Oct 12)
Olimpia                  Hon  Alajuelense              CRi   0-0  0-1  0-1
  [Walter Elizondo 60pen]

Round 2
(Nov 7 & 14)
Aurora                   Gua  Comunicaciones           Gua   1-2  0-1  1-3
(Nov 14 & 21)
Saprissa                 CRi  Alajuelense              CRi   1-5  3-0  4-5
  [Carlos Solano 52; Mario Vega 27, Alfredo Piedra 47, Chávez 49, Víctor Ruiz 65,
   Oscar Cordero 88]
  [Francisco Hernández 5, Jaime Grant 10, 48]

Caribbean Section

Round 1 
SV Estrella              DAn  Águila Negra             Hai     w/o        x
(Sep 30 & Oct 5)
SV Transvaal             Sur  Thomas United            Guy   3-1  3-0  6-1
  [?, ?, ?; Michael Pierre]
x Águila Negra apparently withdrew

Final Tournament (Ciudad de Guatemala)

(Mar 12, 1972)
Rochester      2-0 Transvaal 
  [Eli Durante 35, Carlos Dell’omodarme 80]
Comunicaciones 7-0 Estrella 
  [Carlos Guzmán 17, Enrique Mendoza 31, Héctor Tambasco 33, 35, 50pen, 
   Antonio Rojas 41, Oscar Molina 63]
(Mar 14, 1972)
Alajuelense    2-1 Estrella
  [Emilio Valle 46, 74; Ismael Croes 54]
Cruz Azul      1-1 Transvaal
  [Octavio Muciño 68; Edwin Schal 55]
(Mar 16, 1972)  
Cruz Azul      1-1 Rochester 
  [José Luis Desachy 60; Manfred Siessler 67]
Comunicaciones 3-1 Transvaal
  [Héctor Tambasco 15, 56pen, 71; Edwin Schal 6]
(Mar 19, 1972)
Rochester      2-0 Estrella 
  [Charlie Mitchel 22pen, Francisco Escos 55]
Comunicaciones 1-2 Alajuelense   
  [Antonio Rojas 31; Walter Elizondo 10, 42pen]
(Mar 21, 1972)
Alajuelense    2-0 Transvaal
  [Roy Saénz 12, Emilio Valle 62]
Cruz Azul      9-0 Estrella
  [Octavio Muciño 3, 32, 37, Fernando Bustos 11, Cesareo Victorino 29, 48,
   Alberto Gómez 35 81, Antonio Munguía 60]
(Mar 23, 1972)
Cruz Azul      3-1 Alajuelense
  [Octavio Muciño 29, Fernando Bustos 35, 71; Carlos Mejía 51]
Comunicaciones 3-1 Rochester
  [Peter Sandoval 37, Oscar Molina 43pen, 55; Manfred Seissler 68]
(Mar 26, 1972)
Transvaal      1-0 Estrella
  [Edwin Schal 52pen]
Alajuelense    1-0 Rochester
  [Walter Elizondo 75pen]
Comunicaciones 1-3 Cruz Azul
  [Oscar Molina 28pen; Javier Guzmán 23, Octavio Muciño 68, 72]

Final Ranking:

 1.Cruz Azul          5  3  2  0  17- 4  8  [Mexico]
   Alajuelense        5  4  0  1   8- 5  8  [Costa Rica]
 3.Comunicaciones     5  3  0  2  15- 7  6  [Guatemala]
 4.Rochester Lancers  5  2  1  2   6- 5  5  [USA]
 5.Transvaal          5  1  1  3   3- 8  3  [Surinam]
 6.Estrella           5  0  0  5   1-21  0  [Dutch Antilles/Aruba]

Playoff (Ciudad de México, Apr 19, 1972)
Cruz Azul                Mex  LD Alajuelense           CRi   5-1
  [Fernando Bustos 16, Eladio Vera 25, 60, Octavio Muciño 70, 75pen;
   Miguel Villalobos 43]

Standing from left: Alfonso Estupiñan, Calvo, “Pipas” Calvo, Zúñiga, Emilio Sagot, Walter Elizondo. Crouching: Errol Daniels, Floyd Daniels, Roy Saénz, Mario Vega, Nuñez.

Liga Deportiva Alajuelense had no chance, but still it was successful performance.

Standing from left: Alfonso Estupiñan, Calvo, “Pipas” Calvo, Zúñiga, Emilio Sagot, Walter Elizondo. 
Crouching: Errol Daniels, Floyd Daniels, Roy Saénz, Mario Vega, Nuñez.
Third consecutive victory for Cruz Azul. The final was played in 1972, which affected Copa Interamericana as well. Actual photos from the final seemingly doesn't exist, so substitutes. 

Copa Interamericana

 

Copa Interamericana 1971. This was the second issue of the ill-fated competition – the first was in 1969, then nothing... until 1972, when the 1971 Copa Interamericana was played. The idea was similar to the Intercontinental Cup – to be played in two legs between the current winners of Copa Libertadores and the CONCACAF Champions Cup: the best of Northern America vs the best of South America. No wonder the South American clubs were not very interested...

Played in 1972.
First Leg [Cd. de México, Jul 15, 1972]
Cruz Azul   1-1 Nacional  
  [Héctor Pulido 1; Juan Carlos Mamelli 29]

Second Leg [Montevideo, Nov 7, 1972]
Nacional   2-1 Cruz Azul           
  [Juan Carlos Mamelli 35, Braulio Castro 39; Fernando Bustos 22]  

Match Details

First Leg
Estadio Azteca, México DF.
Saturday July 15, 1972
Referee: Marco Antonio Regalado (GUA)
CDSC Cruz Azul 1 Club Nacional de Football 1
[Héctor Pulido 1; Juan Carlos Mamelli 29]
Line ups:
Cruz Azul: Miguel Marín, Marco Antonio Rodríguez, Javier Guzmán, Alberto Quintano,
 Javier Sánchez Galindo, Juan Manuel Alejandrez, (Juan de Jesús Prado), Cesareo
 Victorino, Héctor Pulido, Fernando Bustos, Octavio Muciño, Horacio López Salgado
Nacional: Airton Correa de Arruda "Manga", Ángel Brunnel, Juan Masnik, (Gerolani),
 Luis Ubina, Julio Montero Castillo, Canepa, Luis Cubilla, Walter Mantegazza, Aba,
 Juan Carlos Mamelli, Víctor Espárrago
Sent off: Víctor Espárrago (NAL) 85'
 
Second Leg
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
Tuesday, November 7, 1972
Referee: Mario Camom (CHI)
Club Nacional de Football 2 CDSC Cruz Azul 1
[Juan Carlos Mamelli 35, Braulio Castro 39; Fernando Bustos 22]
Line ups:
Nacional: Airton Correa de Arruda "Manga", Luis Ubiña, Ángel Brunnel, Juan Masnik,
 Juan Carlos Blanco, Ildo Enrique Maneiro, Walter Mantegazza, Suárez, Braulio
 Castro, Juan Carlos Mamelli, Julio César Morales
Cruz Azul: Miguel Marín, Marco Antonio Rodríguez, Javier Guzmán, Alberto Quintano,
 Javier Sánchez Galindo, Héctor Pulido, Juan Manuel Alejandrez, Cesareo Victorino,
 Fernando Bustos, Horacio López Salgado, Eladio Vera
Cruz Azul (Mexico City) lost the trophy by single goal. The photo is not from the contest, but at least is from 1971-72 season. 
Nacional (Montevideo) prevailed with difficulty and won the trophy. Thus, 1971 was a great international success and in the same time not so great, for Copa Interamericana was played in 1972 – counting for 1971, but already the squad was slightly different than the one from the previous year. By default, Nacional was the 1971 king of South America, both Americas, and the world. 

South American Player Of The Year

 

South American Footballer of the Year - The Rey de América ("King of America").  The award was conceived by Venezuelan newspaper El Mundo in 1971. Originally, journalists could vote for any South American and Central American players at any club around the world. In the inaugural year the votes went for Brazilian player, but he was not Pele. Two Argentine players followed – third was Luis Artime (Nacional Montevideo) with 19 points and second Jose Omar Pastoriza (Independiente Avellaneda) with 21 points. The award went to Tostao (Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte).

Tostao got 24 points.

Eduardo Goncalves de Andrade, forward/attacking midfielder, was 24 years old, but already had almost 10 years of professional football – he debuted in 1962, 15-years old, for his original club America Mineiro (Belo Horizonte) and his 16 goals in 26 games immediately propelled him to bigger club – Cruzeiro – where he not only continued to score goals as a centre midfielder, becoming the biggest star of the club and one of the best Brazilian players.

By 1970 he was a world-class star and national team player since 1966.

In 1970 he won the World Cup with Brazil and one of the greatest players at the world finals in Mexico, where he played as a centre-forward, because Brazil had too many midfielders, starting with Pele. He was able to play as a left winger, as a playmaker, as second striker, as attacking midfielder, even as defensive midfielder on occasion – his techinical skills made him versatile and flexible player with great work rate and discipline. Given his age – only 24 in 1971 – he was rightly awarded: not only the present, but the future belonged to him, seen as new Pele. Unfortunately, he got eye injury in 1969, from which he never recovered and his career was cut prematurely in 1973. From the time distance, it was only right Tostao got the award – unlike most world-class stars, he had no chance to play long enough, but his talent deserved recognition.

Venezuela the Cup

 

Copa Venezuela 1971

First Stage

Final Tables:

Grupo A
 1.Estudiantes de Mérida    6   5  1  0  18- 9  11  Qualified
 2.UD Canarias              6   4  1  1  15- 7   9  Qualified
 3.Deportivo Portugués      6   2  0  4   9-11   4
 4.Zulia FC                 6   0  0  6   6-21   0
 
Grupo B
 1.Anzoátegui FC            6   4  0  2   6- 5   8  Qualified   
 2.Tiquire Aragua           6   2  2  2   5- 5   6  Qualified 
 3.Deportivo Galicia        6   2  2  2   5- 5   6
 4.Valencia FC              6   1  2  3   4- 5   4
 
Cuadrangular Final

Reported Final Table:

 1.Estudiantes de Mérida    6   4  1  1   7- 5   9  Winners
 2.UD Canarias              6   2  3  1   6- 4   7
 3.Anzoátegui FC            6   2  2  2   8- 7   6
 4.Tiquire Aragua           6   0  2  4   1- 5   2 

Historic success for Estudiantes (Merida) – they won their first trophy: Copa de Venezuela. Didn't even play in the top league – and rightly so, for they were founded in this very year! So young and already a winner.