1996 Intercontinental Cup

February 2020 1996 Intercontinental Cup ToyotaCup1996.JPG 200 Match programme cover Juventus ITA 30px 1 River Plate ARG 30px 0 26 November 1996 National Stadium Tokyo Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)https://www.rsssf.org/tablest/toyotamvp.html Toyota Cup - Most Valuable Player of the Match Award Leme de Arruda Marcelo Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 9 February 2026 24 December 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081224143201/http://www.rsssf.com/tablest/toyotamvp.html live Márcio Rezende de Freitas (Brazil)https://www.rsssf.org/tablest/toyota96.html Intercontinental Club Cup 1996 Leme de Arruda Marcelo Gorgazzi Osvaldo José Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 9 February 2026 48,305 1995 1997 The 1996 Intercontinental Cup was a football match between Juventus of Italy and River Plate of Argentina on 26 November 1996 at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The annual Intercontinental Cup, it was contested between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores. Juventus were appearing in their third Intercontinental Cup. They had lost the competition in 1973 before winning the 1985 edition. River Plate were making their second appearance after their victory in 1986. The teams had qualified for the competition by winning their continent's primary cup competition. Juventus won the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League by beating Dutch team AFC Ajax 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out after the match finished 1–1. River Plate were the 1996 Copa Libertadores champions after winning the two-legged final 2–1 against América de Cali of Colombia. Watched by a crowd of 48,305, the first half was goalless. Juventus took the lead late in the second half when Alessandro Del Piero scored. They held this lead to win the match 1–0, securing their second Intercontinental Cup win. Background thumb|left|300px|The National Stadium in Tokyo hosted the matchJuventus qualified for the Intercontinental Cup as a result of winning the UEFA Champions League. They won the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League by beating Dutch team AFC Ajax 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out after the match finished 1–1. This was their third appearance in the competition. Juventus had first played Independiente in the 1973 edition, losing 1–0. In 1985 they faced Argentinos Juniors, who they beat in a penalty shoot-out, after the match finished 2–2.Stokkermans Karel Magnani Loris 30 April 2005 Intercontinental Club Cup https://www.rsssf.org/tablest/toyota.html 9 February 2026 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 5 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013323/http://rsssf.com/tablest/toyota.html live River Plate qualified for the Intercontinental Cup as the reigning 1996 Copa Libertadores champions. They beat América de Cali of Colombia 2–1 on aggregate to win their second Copa Libertadores. River Plate were making their second appearance in the competition. Their previous appearance in 1986 resulted in a 1–0 win against Romanian team Steaua București. Juventus' last match before the Intercontinental Cup was against AC Milan in the 1996–97 Serie A, which finished in a scoreless draw.Italy Championship 1996/97 https://www.rsssf.org/tablesi/ital97.html 2026-02-10 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Mariani Maurizio 20 July 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220720002039/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesi/ital97.html live The last match River Plate played before the competition was against San Lorenzo in the 1996 Torneo Apertura. They won 4–0 courtesy of two goals from Julio Cruz and one apiece from Marcelo Salas and Ramón Medina Bello.Argentina 1996/97 https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/arg97.html 2026-02-10 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation King Ian Ciullini Pablo 20 November 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221120052137/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/arg97.html live Match Summary First half From the start of the match, Juventus applied consistent pressure, as they looked to negate River Plate from orchestrating any opportunity product of their ball possession. For this purpose, they positioned their defense high up the field, and managed to suffocate their opposition courtesy of their anticipatory defending and recoveries by the midfield of Didier Deschamps, Angelo Di Livio and Vladimir Jugović.Mauri Claudio 1996-11-27 River a la deriva y sin excusas https://www.lanacion.com.ar/deportes/river-a-la-deriva-y-sin-excusas-nid174217/ 2026-02-10 LA NACION es Furthermore, it allowed them to catch the opposition attackers offside twice.Álvarez Robert 1996-11-27 Del Piero corona a la Juventus https://elpais.com/diario/1996/11/27/deportes/849049204_850215.html 2026-02-12 El País es 1134-6582 On one such occasion, however, River Plate were denied a chance when the assistant referee raised his flag, halting the play even though defenders Paolo Montero and Sergio Porrini were caught on a late run. Nonetheless, the Juventus game plan rendered the Argentine team unable to get ahold of the ball. In the midst of this pressure, goalkeeper Roberto Bonano stepped up to hold off the scoring prospects from the Italians, denying Alen Bokšić three times. Juan Pablo Sorín also contributed to maintaining the tie by saving a shot from Zinedine Zidane that was headed for the net. In response to this pressure, River Plate were only able to force a couple corner kicks. The offensive line for their side would produce their first shot on target at the 38-minute mark, through attacking midfielder Enzo Francescoli. In total, Juventus registered eight shots on target, while their opposition managed two. Nevertheless, the goalless scoreline remained at half-time. Second half The Argentine side made a recovery after the restart, as they managed ball possession in Juventus' half. During this time, the Italians started to rely on fouls to prevent the opposing efforts. Although this caused their attacks to lack depth, River Plate were able to threaten their opposition through crosses. In this context, Francescoli stepped up for his team, taking the set pieces and managing to funnel danger into the Juventus area. In the 51st minute, his first delivery met Sorín, whose header went wide. A minute later, a follow up cross was connected by Eduardo Berizzo, but the centre-back sent the ball across the goal. For their part, Juventus continued to have scoring prospects thanks to their offensive line, but Bonano kept fending off their efforts. Among them, he successfully defended a header from striker Alessandro Del Piero in the 57th minute.Ap 1996-11-27 JUVENTUS, BICAMPEÓN DE LA INTERCONTINENTAL https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/mam-602035 2026-02-10 El Tiempo spanishthumb|250x250px|Alessandro Del Piero, who scored the solitary goal of the match.At the 74-minute mark, River Plate manager Ramón Díaz made the first substitution of the match when he subbed Leonel Gancedo in for fellow midfielder Sergio Berti. Shortly after, the Argentine team had another chance through a free kick from Francescoli, which Hernán Díaz headed wide. Right afterward, their side would have their clearest opportunity through a play from the right, in which Roberto Monserrat linked up with the full-back. The sequence would eventually give way to a passing play involving Francescoli and Ariel Ortega, which resulted in the forward rattling the crossbar. Following the finish, Juventus goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi brought down Ortega inside the area, but the action went unnoticed by Brazilian referee Márcio Rezende de Freitas.2023-11-26 A 27 años de la polémica Final entre River y Juventus por la Copa Intercontinental 1996 https://bolavip.com/ar/river/a-27-anos-de-la-polemica-final-entre-river-y-juventus-por-la-copa-intercontinental-1996-20231126-BAR-85095.html 2026-02-10 Bolavip Argentina es-AR Nine minutes from injury time, the Italian side found the opening goal after a Di Livio corner was headed by Zidane. The ball then fell to Del Piero, who unleashed a shot from the edge of the six-yard box to put his team ahead. River Plate attempted to launch two responses at an equaliser, but the efforts from Gancedo and Celso Ayala were unsuccessful. In between shots, they switched strikers by replacing Julio Cruz with Marcelo Salas. Although Juventus possessed counter-attacking chances, neither squad managed to score any further goals, and thus the match ended 1–0 to the Italian side. Details 26 November 1996 19:10 JST Juventus ITA 1–0 https://web.archive.org/web/20200613135654/https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/61699/ ARG River Plate Del Piero 81 National Stadium, Tokyo 48,305 Márcio Rezende de Freitas (Brazil) _juve9497h _juventus9697H _juve9497h _juve9497h _juve3 FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF Juventus_riverplate9697i _riverplate9697H _riverplate9697d _river9697h _adidas_thick_stripes_red FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF 000000 FFFFFF River Plate GK 1 ITA Angelo Peruzzi (c)RB 3 ITA Moreno Torricelli 82CB 2 ITA Ciro FerraraCB 4URU Paolo Montero 51LB 5 ITA Sergio Porrini 67DM 14 FRA 1974 Didier DeschampsRM 7 ITA Angelo Di Livio LM 18FR Yugoslavia Vladimir Jugović 50AM 21FRA 1974 Zinedine Zidane 84 89CF 9CRO Alen BokšićCF 10ITA Alessandro Del PieroSubstitutes:GK 12ITA Michelangelo RampullaDF 13ITA Mark IulianoMF 20ITA Alessio Tacchinardi 89MF 19ITA Attilio LombardoMF 26ITA Raffaele AmetranoFW 11ITA Michele PadovanoFW 15ITA Christian VieriManager:ITA Marcello Lippi300px GK 1 ARG Roberto BonanoRB 4 ARG Hernán DíazCB 2 PAR 1990 Celso AyalaCB 6 ARG Eduardo BerizzoLB 3 ARG Juan Pablo SorínDM 5 ARG Leonardo Astrada 38RM 8ARG Roberto MonserratLM 11ARG Sergio Berti 74AM 9URU Enzo Francescoli (c)CF 10ARG Ariel OrtegaCF 7 ARG Julio Cruz 83Substitutes:GK 12 ARG Germán BurgosDF 13 ARG Guillermo RivarolaMF 18 ARG Leonel Gancedo 74MF 19 ARG Marcelo EscuderoMF 20 ARG Marcelo GallardoFW 21 ARG Ramón Medina BelloFW 16 CHI Marcelo Salas 83Manager:ARG Ramón Díaz Man of the Match:ITA Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) Post-match Ramón Díaz was interviewed shortly after the defeat. When asked about his team's performance, the River Plate manager stated: "Our opponent is very prominent; they're a very tough team to play. Their pace is very rare to see in Argentine football". He then added: "We didn't play well at all in the first half, but we improved in the second and at our best moment they scored. There's nothing to reproach." Regarding their upcoming fixtures, Díaz commented: "The squad was left disappointed after being unable to show the level of football they've been displaying in the league. They'll channel that frustration into the [Torneo Apertura], which I'm sure we'll win."¡Qué desilusión! El Gráfico November 1996 es Juventus reached the final of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League, which they lost to Borussia Dortmund 3–1.European Competitions 1996-97 https://www.rsssf.org/ec/ec199697.html 2026-02-10 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Ross James M. 21 February 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230221054818/https://www.rsssf.org/ec/ec199697.html live They would win the 1996–97 Serie A, however, which qualified them to the 1997–98 edition of the tournament. River Plate followed a similar suit, as they were also unable to retain their continental title.Copa Libertadores 1997 https://www.rsssf.org/sacups/copa97.html 2026-02-10 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Ciullini Pablo Stokkermans Karel 16 April 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230416140746/http://www.rsssf.org/sacups/copa97.html live Nevertheless, they were crowned champions of the 1996 Torneo Apertura, the first of the three consecutive league titles they would go on to win.Final Tables Argentina 1991-2000 https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/arghist-pro1990s.html 2026-02-10 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Gorgazzi Osvaldo José Kurhy Víctor Hugo 16 December 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20071216024747/http://www.rsssf.com/tablesa/arghist-pro1990s.html live See also 1995–96 UEFA Champions League 1996 Copa Libertadores Juventus F.C. in international football References i i Intercontinental Cup Category:Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004) i i Category:Intercontinental Cup (football) matches hosted by Japan Category:Football competitions in Tokyo Category:November 1996 sports events in Japan Category:1996 in Tokyo Category:1996–97 in Italian football Category:1996 in South American men's continental football Category:Argentina–Italy sports relations Category:1996 in association football Intercontinental