Copa Sudamericana

The Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana (in Spanish) or Copa Bridgestone Sul-Americana (in Portuguese), known simply as the Copa Sudamericana (in Spanish) or Copa Sul-Americana (in Portuguese), is an annual international club football competition organized by the CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second most prestigious club competition in South American football. Despite being organized by CONMEBOL, CONCACAF clubs were invited between 2004 and 2008. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.

The competition began in 2002 after the discontinuation of the Copa Merconorte and Copa Mercosur. Since its introduction, the competition has been a pure elimination tournament with the number of rounds and teams varying from year to year. As of April 2010, 39 teams qualify to the Copa Sudamericana. The tournament has been won by seven different teams and played eight times. The Copa Sudamericana is considered a merger of defunct tournaments such as the Copa CONMEBOL, Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte. The winner faces the Copa Libertadores' champion the following year in the Recopa Sudamericana.

The current champion is Argentine club Independiente, while the most successful team...
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