The 1981 football season is 's 86th year of existence, their 70th football season, and their 69th season in the top division of the Campeonato Carioca, the Rio de Janeiro state football league. In addition, it is their 11th in the top division of the Brazilian national football league, having never been relegated from either. Internationally, Flamengo participated in the 1981 Copa Libertadores, qualifying through winning the 1980 Brazilian Série A Championship.
The 1981 season is regarded as the most successful and iconic season in Flamengo's history, in which they captured their first ever Copa Libertadores championship and defeated European Cup champions Liverpool by a score of 3 – 0 in the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, Japan. The team accomplished the feat of winning three trophies (the Copa Libertadores final, the Campeonato Carioca final, and the Intercontinental Cup) in a span of 21 days. This made Zico's Flamengo only the second Brazilian club to win a Mundial (world championship), after Pelé's Santos.
Friendlies
National friendly
Flamengo played one pre-season match against São Paulo before the start of the national league season.
Copa Punta del Este
The 1981 Copa Punta del Este was a friendly invitational tournament contested by Flamengo, Grêmio, Peñarol of Uruguay, and the Seleção of Maldonado, the state capital near Punta del Este, Uruguay. It was played in a single-elimination format with semi-finals and a final. Both Brazilian clubs eliminated the Uruguayan squads in the semi-finals in February 1981.
Following that, heavy rain in Uruguay and diminished interest from the organizers in a final without Peñarol delayed the final between Grêmio and Flamengo for nearly three months. It was ultimately played outside of Uruguay, at the Estádio Olímpico, in Porto Alegre. Scheduled to be played at 21:00, The match was further delayed an hour and a half due to a power outage. At nearly 1:00 the following morning the match was decided by coin toss: president Dunshee de Abranches selected 'heads' and the tournament was awarded to Flamengo.
Torneio João Havelange
The 1981 João Havelange Tournament was a three-team interstate friendly competition hosted by Democrata of Minas Gerais and named in honor of João Havelange, the Brazilian president of FIFA. Flamengo's state rivals Vasco da Gama won the tournament after defeating Democrata (3 - 2) and Flamengo (1 – 0).
At this time, Zico and Júnior of Flamengo were at Wembley Stadium representing the Seleção against England, with Zico scoring the lone goal in a 1 – 0 win.
Torneio Internacional de Nápoles
In the middle of their Carioca campaign, Zico and Flamengo traveled to Italy for a pair of friendlies in the Naples International Tournament. Flamengo, Avellino, and Northern Irish club Linfield were hosted by Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo. In front of a crowd of 80,000 Zico impressed against Ruud Krol and third-place Serie A team Napoli, scoring a hat trick. It would be the first time many Italians saw the Brazilian, before the 1982 World Cup in Spain and his eventual move to Udinense in 1983.
Paulo César Carpegiani testimonial
During the Campeonato Carioca, and with one eye looking ahead to the Copa Libertadores semi-final stage in October, Flamengo scheduled a match with Argentine giants Boca Juniors and their rising superstar Diego Maradona. Both teams rested their starters in preceding matches before this friendly at the Maracanã in front of 65,000 and broadcast on live television. The "Taça da Raça" match served as a farewell to Flamengo midfielder Paulo César Carpegiani, who had already retired from play and was serving as Flamengo's manager (eventually leading the club to a first Libertadores title and world championship in a matter of months).
The two icons, Zico (28 years old) and Maradona (20), had not yet met on the field and fans were clamoring to watch the two face each other. Zico scored both goals of the match, and Maradona had a scoring chance at the end of the first half. The two would meet again representing their nations in the 1982 World Cup, with Zico scoring and Maradona being sent off.
Campeonato Brasileiro (Taça de Ouro) Flamengo qualified for the 1981 Brazilian Championship (officially the Taça de Ouro or "Gold Cup") through finishing 3rd in the 1980 Campeonato Carioca. Grêmio were ultimately champions of the league with Flamengo finishing 6th overall out of 44 total participating teams.