View source for 1953 South American Championship play-off

{{Infobox football match
| title                   = 1953 South American Championship play-off
| image                   = Inside Estadio Nacional (Lima, Peru).jpg
| caption = Estadio Nacional de Lima, venue
| event                   = [[1953 South American Championship]]
| team1                   = [[Paraguay national football team|Paraguay]]
| team1association        = {{flagdeco|PAR|1842|size=30px}}
| team1score              = 3
| team2                   = [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]]
| team2association        = {{flagdeco|BRA|1889|size=30px}}
| team2score              = 2
| date                    = April 1, 1953
| stadium                 = [[Estadio Nacional del Perú|Estadio Nacional]]
| city                    = [[Lima]]
| referee                 = Charles Dean ([[The Football Association|England]])
| attendance              = 35,000
}}
The '''1953 South American Championship play-off''' was a match held to determine the winner of the [[1953 South American Championship]], as [[Paraguay national football team|Paraguay]] and [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]] were tied for the first place after the regular competition. The match took place on April 1, 1953, at [[Estadio Nacional del Perú|Estadio Nacional]] in [[Lima]], [[Peru]].
Paraguay won the match 3–2, winning its first continental title.<ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/tables/53safull.html South American Championship 1953] by Martín Tabeira on the RSSSF</ref>
==Overview==
Some journalists stated that Paraguay's best moments in football were during those years.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190402123837/http://www.purodeporte.com.py/index.php/futbol/5090-paraguay-campeon-del-sudamericano-de-1953 Paraguay campeón del Sudamericano de 1953] on Puro Deporte, 1 Apr 2015 (archived 2 Apr 2019)</ref> In fact, the Paraguayan side achieved some notable results such as the 5–1 win over [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]] (then South American champion) in July 1945.
Other good performances by the Paraguayan team had been the 3rd place in [[1946 South American Championship|1946]] –with goalkeeper [[Sinforiano García]] (considered one of the greatest in Paraguayan football) being the most notable player–, the 2nd place in [[1947 South American Championship|1947]] and the win over Brazil on group stage in [[1949 South American Championship|1949]] (although the host country would thrash Paraguay 7–0 in the play-off).<ref name=santa>[http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/deportes/la-semana-santa-feliz-de-1953-240181.html La Semana Santa feliz de 1953] by José María Troche & Gabriel Cazenave on ABC, 2 Apr 2011</ref>
After former player [[Manuel Fleitas Solich]] was appointed coach, Paraguay started a hard training routine with the purpose of being in the best shape for the 1953 South American tournament. Results were highly satisfactory so Paraguay were crowned champion unbeaten (except for a walkover), beating Brazil in the play-off and taking revenge after losing to them in the 1949 play-off.<ref name=santa/>
{{-}}
==Background==
{| style="width:100%; text-align:center"
|- style="vertical-align:top; background:#99CCFF"
! colspan="2" style="width:1*" | Paraguay
! Round
! colspan="2" style="width:1*" | Brazil
|- style="vertical-align:top;background:#C1E0FF"
| Opponent
| Result
| [[1953 South American Championship|Group stage]]
| Opponent
| Result
|-
| {{fb|CHI}}
| 3–0
| style="background:#C1E0FF" | Match 1
| {{fb|BOL}}
| 8–1
|-
| {{fb|ECU|1900}}
| 0–0
| style="background:#C1E0FF" | Match 2
| {{fb|ECU|1900}}
| 2–0
|-
| {{fb|PER}}
| 2–2
| style="background:#C1E0FF" | Match 3
| {{fb|URU}}
| 1–0
|-
| {{fb|URU}}
| 2–2
| style="background:#C1E0FF" | Match 4
| {{fb|PER}}
| 0–1
|-
| {{fb|BOL}}
| 2–1
| style="background:#C1E0FF" | Match 5
| {{fb|CHI}}
| 3–2
|-
| {{fb|BRA}}
| 2–1
| style="background:#C1E0FF" | Match 6
| {{fb|PAR}}
| 1–2
|-
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center" | '''Final standings'''
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin: auto;"
|-
! width=165 | Team
! width=20 | {{Tooltip|Pld|Played}}
! width=20 | {{Tooltip|W|Won}}
! width=20 | {{Tooltip|D|Drawn}}
! width=20 | {{Tooltip|L|Lost}}
! width=20 | {{Tooltip|GF|Goals for}}
! width=20 | {{Tooltip|GA|Goals against}}
! width=20 | {{Tooltip|GD|Goal difference}}
! width=20 | {{Tooltip|Pts|Points}}
|- bgcolor=ccffcc
| align=left | {{fb|BRA|1889}}
|6||4||0||2||15||6||+9||'''8'''
|- bgcolor=ccffcc
| align=left | {{fb|PAR|1842}}
|6||3||2||1||11||6||+5||'''8'''
|-
| align=left | {{fb|URU}}
|6||3||1||2||15||6||+9||'''7'''
|-
| align=left | {{fb|CHI}}
|6||3||1||2||10||10||0||'''7'''
|-
| align=left | {{fb|PER}}
|6||3||1||2||4||6||−2||'''7'''
|-
| align=left | {{fb|BOL}}
|6||1||1||4||6||15||−9||'''3'''
|-
| align=left | {{fb|ECU|1900}}
|6||0||2||4||1||13||−12||'''2'''
|}
|}
;Note:
''Brazil and Paraguay finished tied on points so a playoff match had to be played to decide the champion''.
==Match details==
{{footballbox
| date = April 1, 1953<ref>{{cite book|last=Oliver|first=Guy|title=The Guinness Record of World Soccer|page =561|year=1992|publisher=Guinness publishing|isbn=0-85112-954-4}}</ref>
| round =
| team1 = {{fb-rt|PAR|1842}}
| score = 3–2
| team2 = {{fb|BRA|1889}}
| report = [http://www.ceroacero.es/match.php?id=329969 Report]
| goals1 = [[Atilio López]] {{goal|14}} <br> [[Manuel Gavilán|Gavilán]] {{goal|17}} <br> [[Rubén Fernández (footballer)|Fernández]] {{goal|41}}
| goals2 = [[Baltazar (footballer, born 1926)|Baltazar]] {{goal|56||65}}
| stadium = [[Estadio Nacional (Lima)|Estadio Nacional]], [[Lima]]
| attendance = 35,000
| referee = [[Charles Dean]] ([[The Football Association|England]])
}}
{| width=92% |
|-
|{{Football kit
| pattern_la = _red_stripes
| pattern_b  = _3whitestripes
| pattern_ra = _red_stripes
| pattern_sh =
| pattern_so = _hoops_red
| leftarm    = ffffff
| body       = ff0000
| rightarm   = ffffff
| shorts     = 000099
| socks      = ffffff
| title      = Paraguay
}}
|{{Football kit
| pattern_la = _blueborder
| pattern_b  = _collarblue
| pattern_ra = _blueborder
| pattern_sh = _bluesides
| pattern_so = _bluestripe
| leftarm    = ffffff
| body       = ffffff
| rightarm   = ffffff
| shorts     = ffffff
| socks      = ffffff
| title      = Brazil
}}
|}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{| style="font-size:90%; margin:0.2em auto;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"
|-
!width="25"| !!width="25"|
|-
|GK|| || [[Adolfo Riquelme]]
|-
|RB|| || [[Heriberto Herrera]]
|-
|LB|| || [[Melanio Olmedo]]
|-
|RH|| || [[Manuel Gavilán]]
|-
|CH|| || [[Victoriano Leguizamón]]
|-
|LH|| || [[Ireneo Hermosilla]]
|-
|OR|| || [[Ángel Berni]]
|-
|IR|| || [[Atilio López]]   || || {{suboff}}
|-
|CF|| || [[Rubén Fernández (footballer)|Rubén Fernández]]
|-
|IL|| || [[Juan A. Romero]]  || || {{suboff}}
|-
|OL|| || [[Antonio R. Gómez]] || || {{suboff}}
|-
|colspan=3|'''Substitutions:'''
|-
|MF|| || [[Silvio Parodi]] || || {{subon}}
|-
|MF|| || [[Luis Lacasa (footballer)|Luis Lacasa]] || || {{subon}}
|-
|MF|| || [[Inocencio González]] || || {{subon}}
|-
|colspan=3|'''Manager:'''
|-
|colspan=3| [[Manuel Fleitas Solich]]
|}
{{col-2}}
{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font-size:90%; margin:0.2em auto;"
|-
!width="25"| !!width="25"|
|-
|GK|| || [[Carlos José Castilho|Castilho]]
|-
|RB|| || [[Djalma Santos]]
|-
|CB|| || [[Haroldo Rodrigues Magalhães Castro|Haroldo]]
|-
|LB||  || [[Nílton Santos]]  || || {{suboff}}
|-
|RH||  || [[Bauer (footballer)|Bauer]]
|-
|LH|| || [[Brandãozinho (footballer, born 1925)|Brandãozinho]]
|-
|OR|| || [[Didi (footballer, born 1928)|Didi]]
|-
|IR||  || [[Júlio Botelho|Julinho]]
|-
|CF|| || [[Baltazar (footballer, born 1926)|Baltazar]]
|-
|IL|| || [[Pinga (footballer, born 1924)|Pinga]]  || || {{suboff}}
|-
|OL|| || [[Cláudio Christovam de Pinho|Cláudio]]
|-
|-
|colspan=4|'''Substitutions:'''
|-
|FW|| || [[Alfredo dos Santos|Alfredo]]  || || {{subon}}
|-
|FW|| || [[Ipojucan Lins de Araújo|Ipojucã]]  || || {{subon}}
|-
|colspan=5|'''Manager:'''
|-
|colspan=5| [[Zezé Moreira]]
|}
{{col-end}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Copa América}}
{{Brazil national football team matches}}
{{Paraguay national football team matches}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1953 South American Championship play-off}}
[[Category:1953 in Peruvian football]]
[[Category:Paraguay national football team matches]]
[[Category:Brazil national football team matches]]
[[Category:South American Championship play-off]]
[[Category:Sports competitions in Lima]]
[[Category:April 1953 sports events in South America]]
[[Category:1953 South American Championship|play-off]]