Libertadores deserves more recognition

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Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Libertadores once again features the extraordinary talent of Neymar, who won the competition with Santos last year.

This year's major international tournament, the European Championships, debuted in 1960 -- which makes it a mere youngster in comparison with the South American version, the Copa America, held as far back as 1916.

But in terms of club competitions, rather than national teams, the seniority is reversed. The competition now known as the Champions League, originally the European Cup, first kicked off in 1955. The South American equivalent, the Copa Libertadores, only came to life five years later, and was a conscious attempt to emulate the European competition, so that the champions of football's two traditional continents could fight it out for the world title.

Why the discrepancy? It is not too hard to explain.

In 1916 -- and again, a few decades later -- European minds were concentrated on far weightier matters. The First World War was in full swing. It was only when the continent was still recovering from the Second World War that serious thought was given to forging ties through annual sporting contests.

In South America, meanwhile, and especially the south cone, football developed rapidly as a result of annual Copa Americas. But it was one thing to gather a collection of international teams in one venue for a month-long tournament. That only entailed one boat ride to Buenos Aires, or Montevideo, or Rio de Janeiro, and so on. Staging a club competition with an entire schedule of home-and-away fixtures was another thing entirely. It presented huge logistical problems. South America is huge. Travel distances can be immense, and especially back in 1960, transport infra-structure was rudimentary. Even today moving around the continent can be a challenge. And the introduction of Mexican teams from 1998 onward may have increased the TV audiences, but it has also added still further to the air miles. As the crow flies, Buenos Aires and Mexico City are further apart than London and Mumbai.

It is perhaps not surprising, then, that away wins are rarer in the Libertadores than in the Champions League. Road teams in South America face long journeys, different climatic conditions such as altitude, and frequently have to put up with intimidating atmospheres created by the local fans.

The group phase of the 53rd version of the Copa Libertadores gets going this week. But the brief qualifying round has already given a flavor of what is to come: Of the 12 matches, eight were won by the home side and four were drawn. There were no away triumphs. Crammed in between now and early July (when the second leg of a home-and-away final will be played) the Libertadores is a grueling competition, a test of skill and character that surely deserves wider international recognition.

True, these days it cannot claim to offer the same sheer quality as the Champions League, a point emphatically made in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup in December, when European champion Barcelona hardly had to break a sweat to massacre its South American counterparts, Santos of Brazil.

It was not always this way. The greatest displays of Pele came in the shirt of Santos. Worldwide, he might be best known for his exploits in the World Cups of 1958 and '70. But his real peak came around 1962 and '63, when he led Santos to Libertadores titles. Indeed, by his own reckoning, Pele's finest performance came when he ran amok in Lisbon in late '62, taking Benfica apart and confirming his club as world champion.

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Buda Mendes/Getty ImagesIt's been some six years since Ronaldinho produced anything like his best form. Will he raise his game for the Libertadores?

That was decades before the mass exodus of South American stars to Europe. The talent drain has slowed of late, with Europe's financial crisis and the stronger financial situation of Brazil's big clubs, but the movement still continues in the same direction. Santos has managed to retain its contemporary big-name star, Neymar. But no one doubts that before too long he will be playing his football on the other side of the Atlantic. Indeed, part of his strategy for staying longer is in the hope of being better prepared physically and mentally for success with a major European club.

But for this year, at least, the Libertadores is lucky enough to feature the extraordinary talent of Neymar. Last year his role in Santos winning the title surely marks the moment when he moved from promise to reality. One of the most fascinating aspects of the Libertadores is exactly this -- it is a great chance to watch the development of youngsters who may well be on their way to becoming household names all over the world.

The journey from promise to reality is one that Neymar's teammate, left-footed playmaker Paulo Henrique Ganso, has yet to take. Hyped to the heavens a couple of years ago, he has had more than his fair share of injuries and has yet to make the impact his many admirers expect. The 2012 Libertadores is an important moment in his career. And there are plenty of other fine youngsters worthy of consideration: center back Dede and midfielder Romulo of Brazil's Vasco da Gama, attacking midfielder Oscar and center forward Leandro Damiao of compatriots Internacional; midfielder Hector Canteros of Argentina's Velez Sarsfield, or Colombian midfielder Carlos Carbonero with Arsenal; rapid wide striker Dorlan Pabon of Colombia's Atletico Nacional; Fidel Martinez of Ecuadorian champions Deportivo Quito; "the little giant," left footed Kevin Harbottle of Chile's Universidad Catolica; or across Santiago at Universidad de Chile, little Peruvian striker Raul Ruidiaz, or another Peruvian, right sided midfielder Paolo Hurtado at Alainza Lima; striker Luis Caballero at Paraguayan champion Olimpia, and his 17-year-old namesake Mauro (no relation, though they are both sons of prominent ex-players) at Libertad; all-action midfielder Alexander Chumacero of Bolivian champion The Strongest, and a similar type of player, Diego Rodriguez, of Uruguay's Defensor.

I will be looking out for all of these and more, hoping to be fortunate enough to have the privilege of watching a young career blossom.

And then there are the veterans at their most fascinating when they still have a point to prove. The Libertadores will see no more of Juan Sebastian Veron. But the Argentine schemer saved some of the best form of his long career for his displays in the competition over the past few years with Estudiantes -- his first club, and the one his father graced. Veron senior had been the key man in the club's trio of triumphs between 1968 and '70. His son worked like a man possessed to ensure that the fourth title was won in 2009.

If Veron's motivation was not in question, the same cannot always be said of two of the biggest names in this year's competition, both old style number tens.

Juan Roman Riquelme has often cut an enigmatic figure, a giant in Boca's Libertadores wins of 2000, '01 and '07, sulky and lackadaisical at other times. After a two-year absence, Boca is back in this year's Libertadores. Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella has said that, even at 33, Riquelme could have a part to play in the future of the national team. The Libertadores, then, is his big stage -- and perhaps an even bigger stage for Ronaldinho of Flamengo.

It is now some six years since the former FIFA world player produced anything like his best form. Last year, back in Brazil, there were occasional flickers of a recovery -- enough to win an international recall, but not enough to convince anyone that he will be able to find some kind of sporting redemption by playing a decisive role in the 2014 World Cup. This year's Libertadores, then, is a prolonged examination of his form and motivation, and one of many splendid reasons to pay attention to South America's premier club competition.

Tim Vickery is an English football journalist who has lived in Brazil since 1994 and specializes in South American football.

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