1981 in association football

The following are the association football events of the year 1981 throughout the world. == Events == 1981 Copa Libertadores: Won by Flamengo after defeating Cobreloa on the playoff match 2–0. 1980–81 European Cup: Won by Liverpool FC after defeating Real Madrid in final match 1–0. World Club Championship: Won by Flamengo after defeating Liverpool FC on a single match 3–0. March 25 – Kees Rijvers makes his debut as the manager of Dutch national team with a 1–0 win in the World Cup Qualifier against France. One player makes his debut for the Dutch: defender Edo Ophof from Ajax Amsterdam. September 1 – Dutch striker Wim Kieft makes his debut for the Netherlands national football team in the friendly against Switzerland. It's the 400th game in the history of the Dutch national team. == Winners club national championship == === Asia === Qatar – Al-Sadd SC === Europe === Albania – KF Partizani Tirana Austria – Austria Wien Belgium – R.S.C. Anderlecht Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia Cyprus – AC Omonoia Czechoslovakia – Baník Ostrava Denmark – Hvidovre IF East Germany – Dynamo Berlin England – Aston Villa Faroe Islands – HB Torshavn Finland – HJK Helsinki France – AS Saint-Étienne Greece – Olympiacos F.C. Hungary – Ferencváros Iceland – Vikingur Ireland – Athlone Town A.F.C. Italy – Juventus Luxembourg – Progrès Niedercorn Malta – Hibernians F.C. Netherlands – AZ Alkmaar Northern Ireland – Glentoran F.C. Norway – Vålerenga IF Poland – Widzew Łódź Portugal – Benfica Romania – Universitatea Craiova Scotland – Celtic F.C. Spain – Real Sociedad Sweden – Östers IF Switzerland – FC Zürich Turkey – Trabzonspor Soviet Union – FC Dynamo Kiev West Germany – Bayern Munich Yugoslavia – Red Star Belgrade === North America === Mexico – UNAM United States / Canada – Chicago Sting (NASL) === Oceania === Australia – Sydney Slickers === South America === Argentina Metropolitano – Boca Juniors Nacional – River Plate Bolivia – Jorge Wilstermann Brazil – Grêmio Chile – Colo-Colo Colombia – Atlético Nacional Ecuador – Barcelona Paraguay Paraguay – Olimpia Asunción Peru – FBC Melgar Uruguay – Peñarol Venezuela – Deportivo Táchira == International tournaments == Mundialito in Montevideo, Uruguay (December 30, 1980 – January 10, 1981) Uruguay Brazil 1981 British Home Championship (May 16–23, 1981) Abandoned following severe civil unrest in Northern Ireland. == National teams == === Netherlands === == Movies == Escape to Victory == Births == January 1 – Mladen Petrić, Croatian international January 2 Hanno Balitsch, German footballer Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer January 9 – Ebi Smolarek, Polish international January 10 – James Coppinger, English club footballer January 15 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese international January 19 – Lucho González, Argentine international January 20 – Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born English footballer January 21 Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer Roberto Guana Italian footballer Mohd Amri Yahyah, Malaysian international January 23 – Lee Dong-geun, South Korean former footballer January 25 Rodrigo Calaça, Brazilian footballer Dmitry Izvekov, former Russian professional footballer January 26 – Fernando Curcio, Uruguayan footballer January 28 – Thomas Schlieter, German footballer January 30 Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer Afonso Alves, Brazilian footballer Peter Crouch, English footballer February 13 Durahim Jamaluddin, Malaysian international (d. 2018) Liam Miller, Irish international (d. 2018) February 18 – Ivan Sproule, Northern Ireland international February 21 – Nery Fernández, Paraguayan former professional footballer February 23 – Gareth Barry, English footballer February 24 Felipe Baloy, Panamanian international Mauro Rosales, Argentinian footballer February 25 – Park Ji Sung, South Korea footballer February 27 – Alessandro Rottoli, Italian professional footballer March 9 – Didi Longuet, former professional footballer March 10 – Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian international March 15 – Aymen Mnafeg, Tunisian footballer March 16 – Johannes Aigner, Austrian footballer March 18 – Cristián Basaure, Chilean former footballer March 19 Maksim Arap, former Russian footballer Matt Haddrell, English footballer Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer March 27 – Terry McFlynn, British footballer March 29 – Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (d. 2018) March 31 – Wolfgang Bubenik, Austrian footballer April 8 – Cédric Faivre, French professional football April 9 – Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish international April 12 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentinian footballer April 29 – George McCartney, Northern Ireland international May 7 – Azrine Effendy Sa'duddin, Malaysian footballer May 8 Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer Sam Ketsekile, Mosotho footballer Shimane Kgope Ntshweu, Botswana footballer May 13 – Carciano, Brazilian footballer May 15 – Patrice Evra, Senegalese-born French international May 27 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer May 31 Josefine Krengel, German footballer Neddy Rose, Seychellois footballer June 4 – Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek international June 10 – Burton O'Brien, Scottish footballer June 13 – Danny Curran, English former footballer June 16 – David Buxo, Andorran footballer June 17 – Doddy Édouard, Mauritian footballer June 18 – Denis Shevelev, former Russian professional footballer June 21 – İbrahim Öztürk, Turkish club footballer June 22 Mathias Abel, German footballer Péter Bajzát, Hungarian footballer Ronald Spuller, Austrian retired professional footballer June 23 – Björn Schlicke, German youth international June 27 Jennifer Molina, Mexican female footballer Jean-Renaud Nemouthé, French retired footballer Cléber Santana, Brazilian footballer (d. 2016) July 2 – Baptiste Lafleuriel, former French professional footballer July 10 – Aleksandar Tunchev, Bulgarian international July 14 – Khaled Aziz, Saudi Arabian midfielder July 16 – Paulo (Gideon Paulo da Silva), Brazilian footballer July 19 – Anderson Luiz de Carvalho, Brazilian club footballer July 20 – Damien Delaney, Irish footballer July 28 – Michael Carrick, English footballer July 30 – Bruno Parente, retired Portuguese footballer August 4 – Hadson, Brazilian midfielder August 8 – Witold Sabela, Polish former professional footballer August 10 – Malek Mouath, Saudi Arabian footballer August 12 – Oliver Đokić, Serbian footballer August 21 – Benjamín Ruiz, Chilean footballer August 24 – Mickaël Germain, Guadelopean former professional footballer August 27 – Fernando Martín, Spanish footballer (d. 2025) September 1 Mana Nopnech, Thai retired professional footballer Maksim Rybalko, former Russian professional football player September 9 – Pacheta (Héctor Carrasco Rojo), Spanish professional footballer September 11 – Victor Kros, Dutch footballer September 22 – Alma Martinéz, Mexican female footballer September 23 – Jay Murray, English footballer October 1 – Ivan Semenets, former Russian professional footballer October 3 Zlatan Ibrahimović, Swedish footballer Andreas Isaksson, Swedish football goalkeeper Iván Pailós, Uruguayan footballer October 6 – Mikael Dorsin, Swedish footballer October 8 – Chris Killen, New Zealand international October 9 – Ryoichi Maeda, Japanese international October 12 - Shola Ameobi, Nigerian international October 13 - Koen Brack, Dutch footballer October 21 - Yohan Viola, Dominican Republic footballer October 23 Marcin Folc, Polish footballer Olivier Occéan, Canadian international October 24 – Soeris Baidjoe, Dutch footballer October 28 – Milan Baroš, Czech footballer November 8 – Joe Cole, English footballer November 20 Espen Hoff, Norwegian footballer İbrahim Toraman, Turkish international footballer November 21 – Martin van Leeuwen, Dutch footballer November 22 – Seweryn Gancarczyk, Polish international November 25 – Xabi Alonso, Spanish international December 3 – David Villa, Spanish footballer December 3 Ioannis Amanatidis, Greek footballer Aleksandr Galakhov, former Russian professional footballer December 6 – Gil Ferreira, Brazilian footballer December 12 – Federico Tafani, Italian footballer December 20 – Leo Bertos, New Zealand international December 21 – Cristian Zaccardo, Italian international defender December 28 – Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer December 30 – Umar Karsanov, former Russian professional footballer December 31 – Dadi Mayuma, Congolese former footballer == Deaths == === January === January 29 – Lajos Korányi, Hungarian international (b. 1907) === May === May 9 – Ralph Allen, English club footballer (b. 1906) May 14 – Michele Andreolo, Italian midfielder, winner of the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (68) === June === June 21 – Alberto Suppici, Uruguayan midfielder, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup as manager. (82) === August === August 15 – Carlo Buscaglia, Italian footballer (born 1900) === September === September 22 – Néstor Carballo, Uruguayan international footballer (born 1929) === October === October 9 – František Fadrhonc (66), Czech football manager (born 1914) === November === November 3 – Eraldo Monzeglio, Italian defender, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup and 1938 FIFA World Cup. (75) === December === December 4 – Zoilo Saldombide, Uruguayan striker, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. (76) == References == == External links == Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation VoetbalStats (in Dutch)