1997 CONCACAF Champions' Cup

1997 CONCACAF Champions' Cup

Tournament details
Host country	United States
City	Washington, D.C.
Dates	13 August – 24 August
Teams	8 (from 6 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Cruz Azul (5th title)
Runners-up	Los Angeles Galaxy
Tournament statistics
Matches played	8
Goals scored	27 (3.38 per match)

The 1997 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 33rd edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined that year's club champion of association football in the CONCACAF region.

The teams were split into 3 zones (North, Central and Caribbean). The North American zone qualified 3 teams direct into the quarterfinals and 2 teams played a play-off to get a 4th spot in the quarterfinals. The Central American zone played a regional tournament to get 3 spots in the quarterfinal. The winner of the Caribbean zone got a place in the quarterfinals.

1997 was the first year that teams from the United States' premier league, Major League Soccer, took part in the Champions' Cup. The competitors in the MLS Cup, both winner and runner-up, were each given berths in the tournament.

All but two of the eight games played in the final tournament were played in Washington, D.C.. The final was won by Cruz Azul, who captured their fifth Champions' Cup title with a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Preliminary Regional playoffs

North American Zone

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Los Angeles Galaxy	4 - 1	Santos Laguna

• Los Angeles Galaxy advance to the quarterfinal.

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Central American Zone

Preliminary Round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
A.F.C. Euro Kickers	5 - 6	Diriangén FC	4 - 2	1 - 4

First Round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
CS Cartaginés	9 - 2	Tauro	5 - 0	4 - 2
FAS	2 - 2 3-5 (pen)	CSD Comunicaciones	1 - 1	1 - 1
Xelajú MC	2 - 0	Real Verdes	0 - 0	2 - 0
Juventus	4 - 2	Real CD España	0 - 1	4 - 1
Luis Ángel Firpo	4 - 1	Olimpia	0 - 0	4 - 1
Diriangén FC	4 - 5	Alajuelense	3 - 2	1 - 3

Second Round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Juventus	2 - 8	CSD Comunicaciones	0 - 3	2 - 5
Xelajú MC	2 - 3	C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo	2 - 1	0 - 2
CS Cartaginés	4 - 1	L.D. Alajuelense	0 - 0	4 - 1

• Comunicaciones, Luis Ángel Firpo and Cartaginés advance to the quarterfinal.

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Caribbean Zone

1997 CFU Club Championship

Group 1

Team 1	Score	Team 2
L'Etoile de Morne-à-l'Eau	0 - 0	Notre Dame SC
United Petrotrin	2 - 0	Omai Gold Seekers
Omai Gold Seekers	0 - 2	Notre Dame SC
United Petrotrin	7 - 1	L'Etoile de Morne-à-l'Eau
Omai Gold Seekers	1 - 1	L'Etoile de Morne-à-l'Eau
United Petrotrin	5 - 0	Notre Dame SC

Group 2

Team 1	Score	Team 2
SV Transvaal	1 - 0	Stubborn Youth SC
Seba United	2 - 0	Club Franciscain
Club Franciscain	1 - 0	SV Transvaal
Seba United	5 - 1	Stubborn Youth SC
Club Franciscain	3 - 2	Stubborn Youth SC
Seba United	2 - 0	SV Transvaal

Qualifying playoff

Team 1	Score	Team 2
United Petrotrin	2 - 1	Seba United

• United Petrotrin advance to the quarterfinal.

Quarterfinal Qualified teams

North American zone

• Major League Soccer:
  D.C. United - 1996 MLS Cup winner
  Los Angeles Galaxy - 1996 MLS Cup Runner Up

• Primera División de México:
  Guadalajara - 1997 Verano winner
  Cruz Azul - 1997 Invierno winner

Central American zone

• Central American Qualifiers:
  C.S. Cartaginés - Second Round Series winner
  C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo - Second Round Series winner
  CSD Comunicaciones - Second Round Series winner

Caribbean zone

• Caribbean Football Union (CFU):
  United Petrotrin - 1997 CFU Club Championship winner

Bracket

	Quarterinals				Semifinals				Final
	D.C. United	1
	United Petrotrin	0
					D.C. United	0
					Los Angeles Galaxy	1
	Los Angeles Galaxy	2
	Luis Ángel Firpo	0
									Los Angeles Galaxy	3
									Cruz Azul	5
	Guadalajara	1
	Cartaginés	0
					Guadalajara	2			Third place
					Cruz Azul	3
	Cruz Azul	5
									D.C. United	2
	Comunicaciones	0
									Guadalajara	2

Quarterfinals

Los Angeles Galaxy v C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo

1997-08-12

Los Angeles Galaxy	2 – 0	C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo
Welton  45' Hurtado  78'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Washington, D.C. - United States

D.C. United v United Petrotrin

1997-08-12

D.C. United	1 – 0	United Petrotrin
Etcheverry  84'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Washington, D.C. - United States

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Cruz Azul v CSD Comunicaciones

1997-08-16

Cruz Azul	5 – 0	CSD Comunicaciones
Galindo  5', 57' Yegros  42' Hermosillo  56' Palencia  78'

Estadio Azul Mexico, D.F. - Mexico

Guadalajara v C.S. Cartaginés

1997-08-22

Guadalajara	1 – 0	C.S. Cartaginés
Robles  34'

Estadio Jalisco Guadalajara, Jalisco - Mexico

Semifinals

D.C. United v Los Angeles Galaxy

1997-08-22

D.C. United	0 – 1	Los Angeles Galaxy
		Jones  10'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Washington, D.C. - United States

Guadalajara v Cruz Azul

1997-08-22

Guadalajara	2 – 3	Cruz Azul
Sánchez  86' (pen.) Martínez  90'		Sánchez  26' (OG) Yegros  36' Adomaitis  77'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Washington, D.C. - United States

Third Place Match

D.C. United v Guadalajara

1997-08-24

D.C. United	2 – 2	Guadalajara
Díaz Arce  40' Iroha  89'		Acosta  55' Sánchez  86' (pen.)

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Washington, D.C. - United States

• Third place was shared.

Final

Los Angeles Galaxy v Cruz Azul

1997-08-24

Los Angeles Galaxy	3 – 5	Cruz Azul
Hurtado  8', 14' Campos  78'		Galindo  30' (pen.) Rodríguez  31' Adomaitis  36' Hermosillo  62', 66'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Washington, D.C. - United States

Champion

CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1997 Winners
Deportivo Cruz Azul Fifth Title