The Copa de Oro (English: Gold Cup, Portuguese: Copa Ouro), or Copa de Oro Nicolás Leoz, was a football cup winners' cup competition contested on 3 occasions by the most recent winners of all CONMEBOL continental competitions. These included champions of the Copa Libertadores, Supercopa Sudamericana, Copa CONMEBOL, Supercopa Masters and Copa Masters CONMEBOL. The Recopa Sudamericana champions did not participate. The cup is one of the many continental club competitions that have been organized by CONMEBOL. The first competition was held in 1993 featuring the 4 major continental champions of the previous season whilst the second competition in 1995 two continental champions declined to play leaving only two participants to play. In the final edition in 1996, all the continental champions accepted the invitation to play. Boca Juniors, Cruzeiro and Flamengo were the only winners of the tournament with one title each.[1][2] Brazil became the most successful nation of the competition with two victories.
In 1995, 1994 Copa Libertadores champion Vélez Sársfield and 1994 Supercopa Sudamericana champion Independiente declined to play. This only left the 1994 Copa CONMEBOL and 1995 Supercopa Masters champions in the tournament. Cruzeiro faced São Paulo; in the first leg in Belo Horizonte, São Paulo won 0-1 before the game was suspended at the 47th minute due to Cruzeiro having four players sent off in the first half (they had used all the substitutions) and having one injured player leaving just six in the field for the Reposa; in accordance with the regulations, the minimum number of players per team is seven. However, Cruzeiro came back from and win 0-1 in the Morumbi to eventually win the trophy on penalties. Due to scheduling conflicts, this season was played as part of the Supercopa Sudamericana, specifically the quarterfinal stage.[1]
The 1996 Copa de Oro was played entirely in the city of Manaus and the final edition. The four teams were the champions of the 1995 Copa Libertadores, 1995 Copa CONMEBOL and 1996 Copa Masters CONMEBOL in addition to the runner-up of the 1995 Supercopa Sudamericana as the 1995 champion Independiente declined to play. In the semifinals, Flamengo defeated Rosario Central 2-1 and São Paulo 3-1 and become champions of the competition.[2]
^The 1995 edition was disputed by the 1994 champions of the two "minor" South American competitions: Cruzeiro (winner of the 1994 Supercopa Masters, played in 1995) and São Paulo FC (winner of the 1994 Copa CONMEBOL). The champions of the two "major" competitions, namely Argentine clubs Vélez Sársfield (winner of the 1994 Copa Libertadores) and Club Atlético Independiente (winner of the 1994 Supercopa Sudamericana), decided not to participate in the 1995 edition of the Copa de Oro, and instead disputed the Recopa Sudamericana in a single match carried out in Tokyo, Japan.
