The 2019 CONMEBOL Libertadores de Beach Soccer was the fourth edition of the Copa Libertadores de Beach Soccer (known natively in Spanish as the Copa Libertadores de Futbol Playa), an annual continental beach soccer club tournament contested primarily between the champions of the domestic leagues of South American nations who are members of CONMEBOL.
The tournament took place in Luque, Paraguay, between 14 and 21 September 2019,[2] and was organised by CONMEBOL in cooperation with the host association, the Paraguayan Football Association (APF).[3] It was originally scheduled to take place from 13–20 October 2019 but a change of dates was announced on 13 June.[4]
Brazilians Vitória were the defending champions but were eliminated at the group stage, ultimately finishing 10th. The title was won by fellow Brazilian club Vasco da Gama, who claimed their third title at the fourth attempt.[5]
As per Regulations Article 15, the competition format consists of two phases: the Preliminary phase (Group phase) and the Final phase.[3]
Group phase: The 12 teams are drawn into three groups of four teams; in each group all teams compete in a round robin format. The group winners, runners-up and two best third placed teams advance to the quarter-finals of the final stage.
Final phase: The Final phase consists of three knockout rounds (the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) and consolations rounds (the nations knocked out of title winning contention play in a series of classification matches to decide fifth through twelfth place). All matches in the final stage are played in a knockout format.
Teams[]
Twelve teams qualified to take part; each of the domestic league champions (or champions of specific Copa Libertadores qualification tournaments) from the ten South American nations which are members of CONMEBOL, plus an additional club from the host country and the defending champions.[3]
† As the national association defending champions, Brazil entered two teams. Vitória qualify as reigning champions and Vasco da Gama qualify as the Brazilian league champions.
‡ As the host country, Paraguay received an extra berth and entered two teams. San Bernardino qualify as the Paraguayan Superliga champions and Cerro Porteño qualify as the Copa Paraguay champions.[16]
Each team had to submit a squad of 12 players, including a minimum of two goalkeepers (Regulations Article 31).[3]
Draw[]
The draw to split the twelve teams into three groups of four took place on 20 August 2019 at 12:00 PYT (UTC–3) in Luque, Paraguay at the headquarters of the Paraguayan Football Association.[19] The draw was conducted based on Regulations Article 16 as follows:[3][20]
Initially, three teams were seeded and assigned to the head of the groups (Vitória automatically to Group A, the others via a draw from pot 1):
To Group C: as champions of the host association, San Bernardino
The remaining nine teams were split into three pots of three based on the final placement of their national association's club in the previous edition of the championship, with the highest three (Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia) placed in Pot 2, the next three (Colombia, Peru and Chile) placed in Pot 3 and the lowest two (Venezuela and Ecuador) in pot 4, alongside the additional Paraguayan club. From each pot, the first team drawn was placed into Group A, the second team drawn placed into Group B and the final team drawn placed into Group C. Clubs from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
Each team earns three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in extra time, one point for a win in a penalty shoot-out, and no points for a defeat. The top two teams of each group, plus the two best ranked third-placed teams, advance to the quarter-finals.[3]
Tie-breakers
If two or more teams are equal on points, their rankings are determined as follows (Regulations Article 21):[3]
Goal difference in the matches played between the teams concerned;
Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams concerned;
As per Regulations Article 17, it was decided the third place teams would take the following berths in the quarter-final draw:[3]
1st Group A vs 2nd best third place team
1st Group B vs Best third place team
1st Group C vs 2nd Group A
2nd Group B vs 2nd Group C
9th–12th place play-offs[]
The worst third placed team plays the best fourth placed team for 9th place; the second best fourth placed team plays the worst fourth placed team for 11th place.[3]
^Vitória were forced to forfeit the match due to a lack of available players. As per Regulations Article 85,[3] Academia Tito Drago were awarded with a 2–0 walkover victory.[22]
References[]
^"¡El goleador de la Copa!". CONMEBOL Libertadores de Fútbol Playa (Twitter). 21 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
Vasco da Gama (3rd title)
Cerro Porteño
Acassuso
Fundación Monagas
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Peru
Uruguay
Vitória
San Bernardino
