The 2017 CONMEBOL Libertadores de Beach Soccer was the second edition of the Copa Libertadores de Beach Soccer (known natively in Spanish as the Copa Libertadores de Futbol Playa), an annual continental beach soccer club tournament contested primarily between the champions of the domestic leagues of South American nations who are members of CONMEBOL.
The tournament was confirmed in December 2015[1] and was originally organised to take place in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.[2] However, due to "state interference" in the work of the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF), CONMEBOL decided to move the tournament to Lambare, Paraguay in October 2017.[3]
The championship took place between 11 and 18 November in cooperation with the Paraguayan Football Association (APF), which saw an increase of the number of participating teams, up from nine in the first edition to twelve and an additional 12 matches.[4]
Brazilians Vasco da Gama were the defending champions and successfully retained their title, beating Uruguayan side Malvín 8–5 in the final to secure their second Copa Libertadores crown.[5]
Format
The tournament started with a group stage, played in a round robin format. The winners, runners-up and two best third placed teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage, in which the teams then competed in single-elimination matches, beginning with the quarter-finals and ending with the final. A third-place deciding match was also contested by the losing semi-finalists. The nations knocked out of title winning contention played in a series of consolation matches to decide fifth through twelfth place.[6]
Teams
Twelve teams qualified to take part; each of the domestic league champions from the ten South American nations which are members of CONMEBOL, plus an additional club from the host country and the defending champions.[6][7]
1. Vasco da Gama qualified as reigning champions. They were also domestic league champions. Therefore the Brazilian league runners-up, Sampaio Corrêa, took the Brazilian champions berth.[4]
2. Garden club qualified as Paraguayan league champions. As the host country, Paraguay were awarded with a second berth which was given to the domestic league runners-up, Universidad Autónoma.[4]
Each team had to submit a squad of 12 players, including a minimum of two goalkeepers (Regulations Article 3.1).[6]
Referees
Sixteen officials were appointed by CONMEBOL on 1 November, instructed to arrive in Lambare by the 9th.[9]
Pablo Defelippi
Dario Colombani
Rolando Arteaga
Juan Gutierrez
Lucas Estevão
Mayron dos Reis
Victor Lara
Juan Carlos Amaya
Wilson Bravo
Fabricio Quintero
Silvio Coronel
Jorge Martinez
Ramon Blanco
Alex Valdiviezo
Andres Olivera
Luis Eduardo Coy
Draw
The draw to split the twelve teams into three groups of four took place on November 3 in Asunción, Paraguay at the headquarters of the Paraguayan Football Association.[10] The draw was conducted based on Regulations Article 6.3 as follows:[6]
Initially, three teams were automatically assigned to the groups:
to Group A: runners-up and additional representatives of the host association, Universidad Autónoma
to Group B: champions of the host association, Garden Club
The remaining nine teams were split into three pots of three, shown in the below table.[10]
The clubs were seeded based on the final placement of their national association's club in the previous edition of the championship, with the highest seeds placed in Pot 1 and lowest in Pot 3. From each pot, one team was drawn into Group A, one into B and one into C. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
The match schedule was revealed on 8 November.[11]
Each team earns three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in extra time, one point for a win in a penalty shoot-out, and no points for a defeat. The top two teams of each group, plus the two best ranked third-placed teams, advance to the quarter-finals. The rankings of teams in each group are determined as follows (Regulations Article 6.2):[6]
points obtained in all group matches;
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above criterion, their rankings are determined as follows:
points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned;
number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
As per Regulations Article 6.1, it was decided the third place teams would take the following berths in the quarter-final draw:[6]
1st Group A vs 2nd best third place team
1st Group B vs 1st best third place team
1st Group C vs 2nd Group A
2nd Group B vs 2nd Group C
9th–12th place play-offs
The teams finishing in fourth place and one unsuccessful third placed team were knocked out of title-winning contention, receding to play in consolation matches to determine 9th through 12th place in the final standings.
Note1^ The official CONMEBOL match schedule has the match of Defin v Arturo Prat as the match for 9th and 10th place,[11] with the losers of the 5th-8th place semi-finals (Deportivo Provincial, Hamacas) finishing in 7th and 8th place. The article has been written based on this information, including the ranking of teams shown in the final standings for 7th-10th place. However, note the match report issued by the co-organisers claims the Defin v Artuo Prat match was actually for 7th and 8th place, with the losers of the 5th-8th place semi-finals finishing in 9th and 10th. In this case, the final standings would be (7. Delfin, 8. Arturo Prat 9. Deportivo Provincial, 10. Hamacas)
