Copa Libertadores map - 2009 season

The 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores kicked off this month and we've got a map from Bill Turianski to showcase it. The Copa Libertadores (The Liberator's Cup) is named in honor of Simon Bolivar and the other liberators who led many South American countries to independence in the first half of the 19th century. It began life a few years after the launch of the European Cup as a way to provide a South American representative to challenge the Europeans for world-wide supremacy. As you might expect the tournament has been dominated by clubs from Brazil and Argentina over the years with the Uruguayan pair of Nacional and Peñarol also winning an impressive number of titles, especially in the early days.

For many years the tournament featured exactly 20 teams, two from each country in South America plus the holders. Over the last decade the number of teams per country has grown (as many as five for Brazil and Argentina), the tournament has expanded to include Mexico and a preliminary round has been introduced before the group stage begins with 32 teams. The competitors are divided into eight groups of four and the top two from each group advance to a second round of 16. From there it is home and away all the way until the final in July.

The map highlights the location of each of the 32 teams contesting the group stage as well as brief profiles of each team (including the six eliminated in the preliminary round). I always find it enjoyable to check out the emblems of clubs in South America and other parts of the world, simply for their relative freshness compared to those of Manchester United, Real Madrid etc that we've all seen a thousand times. Ten previous winners are amongst the crowd this time around, led by six-time champions Boca Juniors, who will be aiming to equal record winners Independiente. Also in the mix will be surprise 2008 winners LDU Quito and a pair of first-time entrants - San Luis of Mexico and Universitario of Bolivia.

Bill Turianski runs the website Bill's Sports Maps - which features many, many maps, profiles of teams and a whole lot more.