“Come to Marlboro country”. A famous tagline used by Marlboro back in 1966. Twenty-one years later, in 1987, the Ameican tobacco giant (a division of Altria Group) put its name to an international soccer competition that attracted iconic clubs like Juventus, Benfica, Flamengo, Colo Colo and some of the most decorated national teams: Uruguay, Mexico and Soviet Union.
The Marlboro Cup was a series of four-team international soccer tournaments held in five United States cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Antonio and Miami. Apart from the rare combination of clubs and national teams in one competition, an interesting fact about the Marlboro Cup was that it occurred four times a year!
The turnout for the games was large during the first editions. A crowd of 27,433 had turned out to see the 1988 final between Sporting Cristal of Peru and Barcelona of Guayaquil at Giants Stadium in New York. The same year a crowd of 32,121 had witnessed two doubleheaders in Miami 32,121, while Los Angeles had attracted 34,033. The organizers’ aim was to develop and establish an interest and enthusiasm for world-class soccer turning the tournament into a 1990 World Cup preview.
Clive Toye was the chairman of the Mundial Sports Group, which promoted the Marlboro Cup tournaments. Given that Toye had served as the president of the New York Cosmos of the now defunct North American Soccer League, the expertise was undoubtedly there. And the Marlboro Cup did attract big names such as Salvatore Schilacci, Rene Higuita, Freddy Rincon, Oleg Protasov, Rui Barros, William Castro, Valdo and Renato Gaucho. However, the interest soon declined, around 1990, the Cup’s last year. By that time the Team USA led by Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Eric Wynalda and Bruce Murray had managed to play in five Finals winning two, while the Fort Lauderdale Strikers featured in San Antonio in 1989.
All the 12 editions, the results and the scorers are below:
Edition I: Miami (March 1987)
Venue: Orange Bowl
Semifinals
March 12: Millonarios (COL) – São Paulo (BRA) 3-2 (Carlos Karavin 20′, Rafael Bobadilla 76′, 78′- Oscar 23′, Pita 60′)
*sent off: Netto (São Paulo)
March 12: USA – Deportivo Cali (COL) 1-0 (Brent Goulet 29′)
Third Place Match
March 14: São Paulo (BRA) – Deportivo Cali (COL) 2-1 (Pita 9′, 45′ – Sergio Bolanos 68′)
*Jorge Olaechea missed a penalty at 39′ for Deportivo Cali)
Final
March 14: Millonarios (COL) – USA 3-1 (Gabriel Gomez 14′, Oscar Juarez 54′, Carlos Estrada 72′ – Brent Goulet 32′)
*MVP: Carlos Karavin (Millonarios)
Edition II: Miami (March 1988)
Semifinals
March 4: Colo Colo (CHI) – Atletico Nacional (COL) 0-1 (Juan Galeano 57′)
March 4: USA – Millonarios (COL) 2-1 (Bruce Murray 73′, 79′ – Jorge Raigoza 56′)
Third Place Match
March 6: Colo Colo (CHI) – Millonarios (COL) 2-1 (Leonardo Montenegro 5′, Jaime Pizarro 10′ pen – Jair Abonia)
Final
March 6: Atletico Nacional (COL) – USA 3-2 (Rene Higuita 32′ pen, Alex Valderrama 50′, 83′ – Tab Ramos 14′, Peter Vermes 49′)
Edition III: San Antonio (April 1988)
Venue: Alamo Stadium
Semifinals
April 6: Fort Lauderdale Strikers (USA) – Universidad Autonoma De Mexico (MEX) 2-6
April 6: Universidad de Guadalajara (MEX) – Alianza de El Salvador (SAL) 1-0 (Daniel Guzmán)
Third Place Match
April 8: Fort Lauderdale Strikers – Alianza de El Salvador (SAL) 0-0, pen 5-3
Final
April 8: Universidad de Guadalajara (MEX) – Universidad Autonoma De Mexico (MEX) 1-0
Edition III: Los Angeles (August 1988)
Venue: LA Memorial Coliseum
Semifinals
August 5: Universidad de Guadalajara (MEX) – Ireland Olympic Team 3-0 (Michael Neville 19′ OG, Alfonso Sosa 63′, Octavio Mora 67′)
August 5: El Salvador – Guatemala 1-2 (Salvador Coreas 15′ – Adan Paniagua 18′, Carlos Castaneda 62′)
Third Place
August 7: El Salvador – Ireland Olympic Team 1-0 (Osmel Zapata 56′)
Final
August 7: Guatemala – Universidad de Guadalajara (MEX) 3-2 (Carlos Castaneda 16′, Byron Perez 26′, 57′ – Luis Plascencia 39′, Octavio Mora 70′)
Edition IV: New York (August 1988)
Semifinals
August 19: Sporting Cristal (PER) – Benfica (POR) 1-1, pen 6-5
August 19: Barcelona Guayaquil (ECU) – Atlético Nacional (COL) 0-0, pen 7-6
Third Place Match
August 21: Benfica (POR) – Atlético Nacional (COL) 3-2
Final
August 21: Sporting Cristal (PER) – Barcelona Guayaquil (ECU) 4-0
Edition V: Miami (April 1989)
Semifinals
April 8: USA – América de Cali (COL) 2-0 (Brent Goulet 31′, Bruce Murray 86′)
April 8: Independiente Santa Fe (COL) – Sporting Cristal (PER) 2-0 (Hector Sosa 39′, Wilmer Cabrera 86′)
Third Place Match
April 9: Sporting Cristal (PER) – América de Cali (COL) 0-1 (Sergio Angulo 42′)
Final
April 9: Independiente Santa Fe (COL) – USA 0-0, pen 3-0
Edition VI: New York (June 1989)
Semifinals
June 2: Peru – América de Cali (COL) 2-1 (Eduardo Rey Munoz 36′ 88′ / Sergio Santin 89′)
June 2: USA – Benfica (POR) 2-1 (Steve Trittschuh 30′, Philip Gyau 36′ – Valdo 55′ pen)
Third Place Match
June 4: Benfica (POR) – América de Cali (COL) 2-1 (Valdo 12′, Ricardo 67′ – Miguel Prince 82′ pen)
Final
June 4: USA – Peru 3-0 (Brian Bliss 14′, Tab Ramos 19′, Bruce Murray 44′)
*Post tournament exhibitions:
June 7, Toronto, Varsity Stadium (11,212): Toronto Italia (CAN) – Benfica (POR) 1-3 (Tony Morrison 49′ – Lima 23′, Vata (2))
Jun 10, San Jose: Benfica (POR) – Morelia (MEX) 3-2 (winning goal by Vata 73′)
Edition VII: Chicago (July 1989)
Venue: Soldier Field
Semifinals
July 20: Ruch Chorzów (POL) – USA 1-3 (Krzysztof Warzycha 3′ pen – Steve Trittschuh 47′, John Stollmeyer 69′, Bruce Murray 77′)
July 20: Chivas Guadalajara (MEX) – Guatemala 2-1 (Eduardo de la Torre 30′, Diego Silva 66′ – Carlos Castaneda 56′)
Third Place Match
July 22: Ruch Chorzów (POL) – Guatemala 4-0 (Krzysztof Warzycha 22′, 84′, 85′, Miroslaw Bak 89′)
Final
July 22: USA – Chivas Guadalajara (MEX) 1-1, pen 5-3 (Hugo Perez 40′ pen – Luis Antonio Valdez 78′)
*Tony Meola saved a penalty from Concepcion Rodriguez at 54′.
Edition VIII: Los Angeles (August 1989)
Semifinals
August 10: Juventus (ITA) – USA 2-0 (Barros 44, Schilacci 72)
August 10: Mexico – South Korea 4-2 (Pelaez 12’, 35’, 47’, 58’ – Gwan Hwang Bo 48’, 53’)
Third Place Match
August 13: USA – South Korea 1-2 (Harkes 63 – Banks 17 o.g., Hwang Seon-hong 21)
Final
August 13: Mexico – Juventus (ITA) 3-2 (Alcantara 68, Torres 73, Chavez 74 – Vaca 55 o.g., Brio 72)
Edition IX: Miami (February 1990)
Semifinals
February 2: Colombia – Uruguay 0-2 (Pedro Pedrucci 78, William Castro) att: 25,432
February 2: USA – Costa Rica 0-2 (Juan Cayasso 8, Enrique Diaz 61) att: 25,392
Third Place Match
February 4: USA – Colombia 1-1, pen 8-9 (Eric Wynalda 4 – Fajardo 25) att: 15,231
Final
February 4: Uruguay – Costa Rica 2-0 (William Castro 5pen, Sergio Martinez 11)
Edition X: Los Angeles (February 1990)
Semifinals
February 20: Colombia – USSR 0-0, pen 4-2
Colombia: Higuita, Herrera, Perea, Mendoza, Gomez, Cabrera, Alvarez, Rincon, Redin, Guerrero, Iguaran (Fajardo 46)
USSR: Chanov, Besonov (Tishenko 46), Kuznetov, Zigmantovich, Luzhny (Kolyvanov 44), Rats, Charkasov, Litovchenko, Yaremchuk, Protasov, Rodionov
February 20: Costa Rica – Guadalajara 0-3 (Eduardo de la Torre 29′, Benjamín Galindo 73′, Demetrio Madero 89′)
Third Place Match
February 22: USSR – Costa Rica 2-1 (Litovchenko 52, Cherenkov 60; Cayasso 34)
USSR: Chanov, Besonov, Kuznetov, Pteverva, Zigmantovich, Rats, Litovchenko, Yaremchuk (Tatarchuk 52), Cherenkov, Protasov, Rodionov;
Costa Rica: Cornejo, Garro, Flores, Camacho, Obando (Solano 46), Chavarria (Marchin 22), Marchchena (Montero 57), Diaz, Cayasso, Medford, Corondo
Final
February 22: Colombia – Guadalajara (MEX) 1-0 (Alexis Mendoza 53′)
Edition XI: Chicago (May 1990)
Semifinals
May 4: Colombia – Poland 2-1 (Carlos Estrada 11, Arnoldo Iguaran 17 – Roman Kosecki 36) att: 2,912
May 4: Atlas (MEX) – Costa Rica 2-0 (Daniel Pighin 28′, Gustavo Salgado 34′)
Third Place Match
May 6: Poland – Costa Rica 2-0 (Leszek Pisz 10, Piotr Nowak 89) att: 8,782
Final
May 6: Atlas (MEX)- Colombia 0-0, pen 4-1
Edition XII: New York (August 1990)
Venue: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Semifinals
August 10: Alianza Lima (PER) – Sporting Lisbon (POR) 1-0 (Rene Pinto 30′)
August 10: Flamengo (BRA) – USA 1-0 (Fernando 27′)
Third Place Match
August 12: USA – Sporting Lisbon (POR) 2-1 (Eric Wynalda 13′, John Harkes 85′ – Cadete 29′)
Final
August 12: Flamengo (BRA) – Alianza Lima (PER) 1-0 (Renato Gaucho 1′)
