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The best team of last season in Europe, Porto, ended a great year for the club with a victory in the Intercontinental (Toyota) Cup match held in Tokyo, where they faced the best team from South America, Once Caldas.
Traditionally since the 1960s, the winners of the Champions League (or simply the European Cup) and the Libertadores Cup meet in the competition for the Intercontinental Cup. In 1980, the main sponsor of this mini-tournament became the Toyota company, and since then the cup was named accordingly, and the match was played in Tokyo in a one-match format.
Throughout 42 matches, South American teams won the cup 22 times, and European teams 20 times, but since 1980 clubs from both continents have shared 12 victories each. And as this 43rd meeting would be the last, as the cup would be integrated into the FIFA Club World Cup, it was a chance to find out which continent was stronger in the last 25 years.
Porto (Portugal) 0 - 0 Once Caldas (Colombia) (8-7 after 11 penalty kicks) 120' Diego (Porto) sent off the field
Vanegas (Caldas) 0 - 1 Diego (Porto) 1 - 1 Alcazar (Caldas) 1 - 2 Carlos Alberto (Porto) 2 - 2 Rojas (Caldas) 2 - 3 Quaresma (Porto) 3 - 3 De Nigris (Caldas) 3 - 4 Maniche (Porto) missed 3 - 4 Fabbro (Caldas) missed 3 - 4 McCarthy (Porto) 4 - 4 Velasquez (Caldas) 4 - 5 Costinha (Porto) 5 - 5 Diaz (Caldas) 5 - 6 Jorge Costa (Porto) 6 - 6 Catano (Caldas) 6 - 7 Ricardo Costa (Porto) 7 - 7 Garcia (Caldas) missed 7 - 7 Pedro Emanuel (Porto) 8 - 7
In the seventh minute, Porto scored a goal when B. McCarthy utilized Derlei's pass, but the goal was disallowed due to offside. Ten minutes later, the Portuguese failed again - L. Fabiano's shot hit the crossbar. After six minutes, Fabiano lifted the ball to Derlei, but his header missed the target.
In the 40th minute after chaos in the penalty area, Porto once again failed to break through - first Derlei hit the post, and then McCarthy's attempt went over the goal. Meanwhile, Caldas counterattacked, and after a great combination, Viafara's shot went wide.
The second half was even more one-sided, and after an hour of play, McCarthy's accurate shot was once again disallowed due to offside. The South African was unfortunate again in the 66th minute, as his shot from 23 meters bounced off the crossbar.
At the end of regular time, V. Baia brought down De Nigris in the penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty kick to the Portuguese team. On the other side of the field, Ricardo Costa could have snatched victory, but his header was well saved by the Colombian goalkeeper Henao.
During extra time, neither team created dangerous opportunities, and Baia got injured and was replaced in the Porto goal by substitute goalkeeper Nuno. With the score unchanged for the second year in a row, the winner of the Intercontinental Cup was determined in an 11-meter penalty shootout.
Vanegas scored the first penalty goal, and Diego, who scored the second penalty kick, earned a second yellow card for protesting against the goalkeeper. Then the teams exchanged two successful penalty kicks, and De Nigris put Once Caldas ahead by one with a 4-3 lead. Maniche missed the mark with his shot, and the Colombians could have clinched victory, but a similar fate befell J. Fabra - his shot hit the post.
Porto's fifth kick was accurately executed by McCarthy, bringing the score level once again. The shootout continued with six accurate penalty kicks, and J. Garcia missed his shot, allowing P. Emanuel to score the winning goal. Porto won the Intercontinental Cup for the second and final time, having previously won it in 1987.
