The first competition was established by then
Boca Juniors president
Alberto Armando, who had shown his interest in moving the main
Primera División teams to the city of
Mar del Plata, the biggest seaside
beach resort in Argentina. As a result, two competitions were held in the city in 1968, with the games played at
General San Martín Stadium, the main venue of the city by then. The first of them, "Copa Libertad" was held in January 1968, with
San Lorenzo as winner of a tournament also contested by
Boca Juniors,
Rosario Central and Uruguayan side
Peñarol. Another competition, "Copa Ciudad de Mar del Plata", was held in February. The Hungarian team
Vasas – which the
de facto government led by
Juan Carlos Onganía did not want to allow to enter the country due to Hungary being under
communist rule – was the winner after beating favorites
Racing Club de Avellaneda (current
Intercontinental champion) and
River Plate (3–0 in the final). In 1969 the "Copa de Oro" had its inaugural season as a friendly tournament between Argentine and foreign clubs. In its first edition,
Brazilian
Palmeiras,
Austrian
SK Rapid Wien,
Hungarian MTK Budapest and
Czechoslovak Slovan Bratislava participated of the tournament, together with
Boca Juniors,
Estudiantes L.P., and the Mar del Plata XI team. Later editions only had Brazilian,
Uruguayan or
Paraguayan teams, with occasional
European clubs or national teams, mainly
Hungary and
Czechoslovakia. Since the 1980s it has only 3 to 5 Argentine teams, which varied from year to year, but included the
Big Five (
Boca Juniors,
Independiente,
Racing,
River Plate and
San Lorenzo) and sometimes Estudiantes and
Vélez Sársfield. Even though they coexisted for several years, the "Copa Ciudad de Mar del Plata" eventually replaced the Copa de Oro as the most important summer tournament. The "Torneo Pentagonal de Verano" (previously "Copa de Verano"), in which the
Big Five participate, was the most important tournament and usually took place in
Mar del Plata until 2009. Copa de Oro is the longest competition, with 40 editions held between 1969 and 2017. leaving General San Martín Stadium for regional competitions only, until it was demolished in 1996. Maradona was still banned by
FIFA and he had arrived in Racing Club to coach the team until the term of the ban expired so he could resume his career as player in the club. Nevertheless, the tenure of Maradona on Racing did not last so long (only 11 matches) before leaving the club. The "Copa Desafío" and Copa Revancha" are currently one-match cups disputed only between
Boca Juniors and
River Plate. Other cups are organized by cities or sponsors, but their continuity is more irregular. Some are organized without any of the
Big Five. For instance, the "Ciudad de Córdoba" includes clubs from the
Córdoba Province, and occasionally some from
Santa Fe Province; and the "Copa Ciudad de Tandil" or "Copa del Sur" includes teams from the southern area of the
Gran Buenos Aires:
Arsenal,
Quilmes,
Lanús,
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP), and occasionally a guest like
Rosario Central. After several years of being host in
San Juan, in 2022 the seat of summer tournaments moved to
La Plata, with only one competition held, being named simply "Torneo de Verano". It was contested by six teams, four from Argentina and two from Chile. == Famous matches ==