Categoría Primera A
Current season, competition or edition: 2008-II Copa Mustang | |
 Logo | |
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1948 |
| No. of teams | 18 |
| Country |  Colombia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Boyacá Chicó |
| Most titles | Millonarios |
| TV partner(s) | Telmex, UNE, RCN TV |
| Official website | www.copamustang.com |
Colombian Professional Football (Fútbol Profesional Colombiano in Spanish), also known as Mustang Cup (Copa Mustang) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the football league system in Colombia.
El Dorado 1940-1950
El dorado is an era in the Colombia football league during the 1940s and early 1950s when the league broke away from FIFA. The Colombia football league turned professional in 1948. The Dimayor, the name of the league, broke away from FIFA after a dispute with the existing amateur football authority in Colombia. Therefore, all Colombian teams were suspended from playing international football. The Colombian national team was also under sanction. However, FIFA sanction did not hurt the breakaway league. Instead, the Colombian league reached its golden era during the period. The best footballers in Latin America came to play in Colombia.
===clubs were not required to pay transfer fees under FIFA rules. Alfonso Senior, the founder of Dimayor and the chairman of Millonarios, saw an opportunity to give the fledgling league a boost by poaching the Argentinian league for its star players. In 1949, Millonarios signed Adolfo Pedernera, a star with the legendary River Plate team of the 1940s better known as La Máquina. He joined the Millonarios on June 8, 1949. He arrived in Bogotá on June 10 and was greeted at the Aeropuerto de Techo by 5,000 fans transported by 200 cars and 25 buses. The club made 5 times more money on the day of the player's presentation than they earned on a regular league. All the clubs in Colombia realized how the star quality of Adolfo Pedernera generated revenue and they also started to sign players from all over Latin America. Deportivo Cali brought in players from Argentina. Deportivo Pereira brought in players from Paraguay. Independiente Medellín brought players in from Peru. Club Cúcuta Deportivo signed 8 of the Uruguayan team that won the World Cup 1950. Of course, Millonarios went back to Argentina and brought in Alfredo Di Stefano and Hector Rial who would later star for the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s. Independiente Santa Fe went further by looking for players in England. They pulled off a coup by signing Neil Franklin and George Mountford from Stoke, and Charlie Mitten from Manchester United. Again, Millonarios reacted to the English signing by bringing in Billy Higgins of Everton FC and Bobby Flavell of Hearts. However, all of the British imports, except Charlie Mitten, left without finishing their contract.
The end
The madness of El dorado ended almost as soon as it started. By 1950, Alfredo Senior agreed to end the madness of El dorado. The FIFA allowed the Colombia to run their breakaway league for another 5 years, but the star players would return to the original clubs in 1954. In return, Alfredo Senior was elected to the FIFA committee and he remained there for years to come. Alfredo Di Stefano and Hector Rial would move to Europe in 1953 and marked the beginning of the end for El dorado. Due to the complex situation involving Di Stefano's original club, River Plate and Millonarios, and Dimayor's status as a breakaway league, the transfer of Di Stefano to La Liga led to a major conflict between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
Setup
- 1948 = 10
- 1949 = 14
- 1950 = 16
- 1951 = 18
- 1952 = 15
- 1953 = 12
- 1954–1955 = 10
- 1956 = 13
- 1957 = 12
- 1958 = 10
- 1959–1962 = 12
- 1963–1965 = 13
- 1966–1987 = 14
- 1988–1991 = 15
- 1992–2001 = 16
- 2002–present = 18
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The League Stage
During the league stage which lasts eighteen games, each team plays against every other team once, plus an additional game against their "local rival" in the league. The league table is kept like a normal European league table, one point for ties three points for wins. The top eight teams after all of the eighteen games go on to the group stage (which is popularly known as the Cuadrangulares).
The Group Stage
The top eight teams of the league stage are then divided into two groups of four teams each (teams finishing 1/3/5/7 in 1 group, 2/4/6/8 in the other), and each team plays two legged matches against all of the other teams in their group. The top team from each group then advances to the Playoff Stage.
The Playoff Stage - The Final
The Playoff stage is two-legged. The team with the highest combined score after both home and away games wins and is crowned Champion. If the game is a tie it proceeds directly to the penalty shoot-out. The away goals rule is not used.
Stage History and Controversy
The setup and fixtures for the Copa Mustang have been changed many times. The current system was established in 1999. Prior to this setup, many complex fixtures and stages were used. One of the worst was the 1996-1997 cup, that actually was played for 18 months, from July 1996 to December 1997. The excuse to make exceptionally complex cups has usually been an effort to "spice" the tournament.
Several famous Colombian coaches have expressed a dislike of the new format and several teams have been in first place throughout the entire league stage while not even reaching the final.
TV Broadcasting
The rights for presenting matches in TV for the tournament are hold by RCN TV and other subscription channels as Telmex in a contract for five years since 2006. In the first phase of the tournament both I and II Mustang, there are five matches in RCN TV and other three by Telmex, in case there is any match on a Friday Telmex will be broadcastong it.
Current teams
List of Colombian Champions
Statistics
Performance by club
| Historic Position | Team | Nº of Champions | Nº of Runner-Ups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1° | Millonarios | 13 | 9 |
| 2° | América de Cali | 12 | 7 |
| 3° | Atlético Nacional | 10 | 10 |
| 4° | Deportivo Cali | 8 | 12 |
| 5° | Independiente Santa Fe | 6 | 3 |
| 6° | Atlético Junior | 5 | 5 |
| 7° | Independiente Medellín | 4 | 5 |
| 8° | Once Caldas | 2 | 1 |
| 9° | Deportes Tolima | 1 | 4 |
| 10° | Deportes Quindío | 1 | 2 |
| 11° | Cúcuta Deportivo | 1 | 1 |
| 11° | Deportivo Pasto | 1 | 1 |
| 13° | Unión Magdalena | 1 | 0 |
| 14° | Boyacá Chicó | 1 | 0 |
| 15° | Boca Juniors de Cali | 0 | 2 |
| 16° | Atlético Bucaramanga | 0 | 1 |
| 16° | Real Cartagena | 0 | 1 |
| 16° | La Equidad | 0 | 1 |
Top Goalscorers of the Copa Mustang
References
External links
Template:Colombian Football Seasons
| National teams | |
|---|---|
| League competitions | |
| Domestic cups | |
| Defunct competitions | |