The 2012 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2012 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The tournament was expanded from 39 teams to 47 teams, allowing the eight associations other than Argentina and Brazil to each enter four teams instead of three teams.[1]Universidad de Chile were the defending champions, but lost to eventual champion, São Paulo in the quarterfinals.
The 32 teams from the eight countries other than Argentina and Brazil, excluding the defending champion, were drawn against each other. The teams were divided into South Zone (Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia) and North Zone (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela). Teams which qualified through berths 1 were drawn against teams which qualified through berths 4, and teams which qualified through berths 2 were drawn against teams which qualified through berths 3, with the former playing the second leg at home.
Second Stage
The 16 winners of the First Stage were drawn against each other, where a winner from the South Zone were drawn against a winner from the North Zone.
The 6 teams from Argentina were drawn against each other, where the matchups were based on the berths which the teams qualify through: 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 4, with the former playing the second leg at home.
The 8 teams from Brazil were drawn against each other, where the matchups were based on the berths which the teams qualify through: 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5, with the former playing the second leg at home.
Final stages
The 15 winners of the Second Stage, together with the defending champion, were assigned a "seed" starting from the round of 16 (the defending champion and the winners from Argentina and Brazil were assigned even "seeds", the winners from the other eight countries were assigned odd "seeds"). The "seeding" was used to determine the bracket of the final stages, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home in each tie.
Schedule
All dates listed are Wednesdays, but matches may be played on the day before (Tuesdays) and after (Thursdays) as well.[3]
Teams from the Round of 16 onwards are seeded depending on which second stage tie they won (i.e., the winner of Match O1 would be assigned the 1 seed, etc.; the defending champion, Universidad de Chile, was assigned the 10 seed).[6]
Bracket
In each tie, the higher-seeded team played the second leg at home.
The Finals were played over two legs, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home. If the teams were tied on points and goal difference at the end of regulation in the second leg, the away goals rule would not be applied and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the title would be decided by penalty shootout.[6]
^"Sudamericana: más cupos para 8 países" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. 2011-11-24. Archived from the original on 2011-11-26. Luego de un amplio debate en el cual expusieron todas las Asociaciones, se estableció que, a partir del año 2012, se modifique la cantidad de equipos participantes. De los 39 clubes actuales se pasará a 47, otorgándosele un cupo más a las asociaciones de Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay y Venezuela. De tal modo, la relación de participantes será la siguiente: Argentina 6 equipos, Brasil 8, 4 para cada una de las Asociaciones mencionadas anteriormente (total 32) y un cupo para el campeón vigente.
São Paulo (1st title)
Tigre
Jonathan Fabbro
Carlos Núñez
Wason Rentería
Michael Ríos
