Copa Libertadores 2004 [R]

[Canuck Oranje]

That's an over generalization. I agree there have been troubles in Brazil in the past and it continues to work from under those. And yes, Brazilians take the sport as seriously as any country.

quote:Originally posted by amacpher

They take the sport seriously relative to, say, Canada. But, come on, the management of clubs is a farce, the players are major head-cases and many (especially older) fans are getting tired of it all!

Personally, I hope all 5 Brazilian teams do get eliminated before the quarterfinals. Might be a wake-up call!

[amacpher]

REPECHAJE (28 de abril)

REP 1: BARCELONA 6:1 MARACAIBO

REP 2: SAO CAETANO* 2:2 INDEPENDIENTE

Round of 16 (first leg May 4-6, second May 11-13)</u>

SAO CAETANO (Sao Paulo, BRA) 2:1, 1:1 AMÉRICA (Mexico City, MEX)

CRISTAL (Lima, PERU) 2:3 BOCA (Buenos Aires, ARG)

SANTOS LAGUNA (Torreón, MEX) 0:1, 2:1* RIVER (Buenos Aires, ARG)

D. CALI (Cali, Colombia) 1:0 CRUZEIRO (Belo Horizonte, BRA)

BARCELONA (Guayaquil, ECU) 0:0 CALDAS (Manizales, COL)

LDU (Quito, ECU) 4:2, 0:2* SANTOS (Sao Paulo, BRA)

ROSARIO (Rosario, ARG) 1:0 SAO PAULO (Sao Paulo, BRA)

TÁCHIRA (San Cristóbal, VEN) 3:0 NACIONAL (Montevideo, URU)

geez, a hair-raising night for River fans! Needed a late goal just to lose by only one-goal at home and equalize on aggregate. In the shootout, the linesman over-ruled a saved-penalty by the Santos-keeper after judging him to be off his line (which BTW was total nonsense).

Sao Caetano and Santos (Brazil) also advance by the skin of their teeth!

[beachesl]

So, I take it there is no away-goals rule in this competition, right?

[amacpher]

quote:Originally posted by beachesl

So, I take it there is no away-goals rule in this competition, right?

Right - no away goals rule. No extra time either.

[amacpher]

REPECHAJE (28 de abril)

REP 1: BARCELONA 6:1 MARACAIBO

REP 2: SAO CAETANO* 2:2 INDEPENDIENTE

Round of 16 (first leg May 4-6, second May 11-13)</u>

SAO CAETANO (Sao Paulo, BRA) 2:1, 1:1 AMÉRICA (Mexico City, MEX)

CRISTAL (Lima, PERU) 2:3, 1:2 BOCA (Buenos Aires, ARG)

SANTOS LAGUNA (Torreón, MEX) 0:1, 2:1* RIVER (Buenos Aires, ARG)

D. CALI (Cali, Colombia) 1:0, *1:2 CRUZEIRO (Belo Horizonte, BRA)

BARCELONA (Guayaquil, ECU) 0:0, 1:1* CALDAS (Manizales, COL)

LDU (Quito, ECU) 4:2, 0:2* SANTOS (Sao Paulo, BRA)

ROSARIO (Rosario, ARG) 1:0, 1:2* SAO PAULO (Sao Paulo, BRA)

TÁCHIRA (San Cristóbal, VEN) 3:0, 2:2 NACIONAL (Montevideo, URU)

Five of the round-of-16 matchups came down to penalties! YikeS!

Quarter-finals (first leg May 18-20, second May 25-27)</u>

SAO CAETANO (Sao Paulo, BRA) x BOCA (Buenos Aires, ARG)

RIVER (Buenos Aires, ARG) x D. CALI (Cali, Colombia)

SANTOS (Sao Paulo, BRA) x CALDAS (Manizales, COL)

SAO PAULO (Sao Paulo, BRA) x TÁCHIRA (San Cristóbal, VEN)

[amacpher]

Cruzeiro fire manager after Copa Libertadores exit! It's the 6th coaching change in Brasil since the season began all of 4 weeks ago!! [)]

Brazil rivals Cruzeiro, Santos in unusual coaching swap

From here.

Emerson Leao, who last

year led Santos to second place in the Brazilian championship,

was named coach of title holders Cruzeiro on Monday.

The former Brazil goalkeeper´s appointment came 10 days

after Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who last year coached Cruzeiro, took

charge of Santos.

Leao, who played in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, will coach

the Belo Horizonte team until the end of the year, Cruzeiro said

on their official website.

The unusual role swap has left Leao in charge of a team

which is fourth in the Brazilian championship but has been

knocked out of the Libertadores Cup.

Luxemburgo, on the other hand, has taken over a side which

has reached the Libertadores quarter-finals but is 17th in the

domestic competition.

Leao resigned from Santos two weeks ago after they lost 4-2

at Ecuadorean champions Liga de Quito in a Libertadores Cup

second round, first leg match.

Luxemburgo replaced him 48 hours later and was in charge

when Santos won the return match 2-0 and qualified for the

quarter-finals on penalties.

RIVALDO WALKOUT

Cruzeiro fired Luxemburgo in February, only three months

after he led the club to their first Brazilian championship

title.

He was initially replaced by Paulo Cesar Gusmao who, like

Leao, was given a contract until the end of the year. But Gusmao

was sacked on Sunday, three days after Cruzeiro were knocked out

of the Libertadores by Colombia´s Deportivo Cali.

The elimination added to a frustrating spell for Cruzeiro,

who were unable to prevent Brazilian World Cup winner Rivaldo

walking out in solidarity with Luxemburgo after he had played

only 10 matches for his new club.

They are the sixth club to change coaches since the

championship began on April 23, following Santos, Atletico

Paranaense, Botafogo, Guarani and Paysandu.

Leao had an outstanding two years at Santos, winning the

Brazilian championship in 2002 and guiding them to the

Libertadores final last year for the first time in 40 years.

He has followed in Luxemburgo´s footsteps before, taking

over as Brazil coach in late 2000 after Luxemburgo was sacked

following a dismal showing at the Sydney Olympics ().

Leao lasted only eight months before he too was fired

[Canuck Oranje]

Just back from Sao Paulo.. Arrived the day of the Sao Paulo leg of the Rosario Central Series. I was staying in a Hotel about 5km from Morumbi Stadium... The hotel was surrounded by Condominiums.. I was too tired to watch the game but it was funny to hear the tension being released on the balconies during the shootout... It was obvious some Brazilians could not watch... Well, the city exploded with fireworks when Sao Paulo won the series on penalties..

I was on the road coming back from Sorocaba when the first of the Tachira series was played.. but it was a zoo on the roads around the stadium. Then Sao Paulo traffic is terrible at the best of times.

I had the pleasure of walking onto the field at Morumbi stadium on Saturday... Awesome.. field is like a top golf fairway...

[amacpher]

Quarter-final second leg result

(from Avelleneda):

Boca - 1 (Barijho 65)*

Sao Caetano - 1 (Gilberto 57)

*Boca win 4-3 on penalties.

Boca 'keeper Abbondancieri was the hero stopping 3 penalties and scoring one.

A dream semifinal matchup with River could become a reality tonight.

Quarter-finals (first leg May 18-20, second May 25-27)</u>

SAO CAETANO (Sao Paulo, BRA) 0:0, 1:1* BOCA (Buenos Aires, ARG)

RIVER (Buenos Aires, ARG) 1:0, 3:1 D. CALI (Cali, Colombia)

SANTOS (Sao Paulo, BRA) 1:1, 0:1 CALDAS (Manizales, COL)

SAO PAULO (Sao Paulo, BRA) 3:0, 4:1 TÁCHIRA (San Cristóbal, VEN)

[Canuck Oranje]

Not really any surprises in the quarterfinals. Santos is very inconsistent these days. The only real toss up would have been the Sao Caetano-Boca series.

The semi-finals are set:

Boca Juniors (ARG)x River Plate (ARG)

Once Caldas (COL)x São Paulo (BRA)

Likely another Argentina - Brazil final...

[amacpher]

Boca Juniors stadium suspension has been lifted!!! Great news! It just would not have been the same had Boca and River played each other at a neutral venue.

However, my money is still on River Plate. They simply have a much better team than Boca right now (Maxi Lopez has been particularily good). Not to mention, Boca's players are all being guarded 24-7 by the police after the latest kidnapping threat.

Stadium Story

Kidnapping Story

[argh1]

amacpher.......I see you're online here . Is there an internet feed for to-days Boca v River Plate game ??

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by argh1

amacpher.......I see you're online here . Is there an internet feed for to-days Boca v River Plate game ??

In Spanish, sure, there'll be more than one. I don't understand Spanish but I still find it worthwhile to listen (even if only because those commentators go nuts). See the links given here.

I have used both Radio Mitre and Radio Continental in the past (actually, as recently as Brazil vs. Argentina last week), but there will be lots of users so you might not be able to connect to one or both --- not a bad idea to get on early (kickoff is at 8:10 PM EDT).

I find it helpful to follow this text matchtracker while I listen.

!!!GO RIVER!!!

[amacpher]

Well it was Sao Paulo - 0 , Once Caldes - 0.

Boca - 1, River - 0 on a goal by defender Schiavi.

I lost alot of respect for Gallardo in this game. During the 8-minute melee in the first-half and after being sent-off, Gallardo tried to rip-off Boca's keeper, Abbondanzieri's, face off with his finger nails! Montenegro will be seing alot of playing time now while Gallardo serves what ought to be a lengthy suspension. Not sure why Boca's Cascini was sent-off. He didn't do anything!

Also Boca scored another goal which was waved-off, but clearly should have counted.

Then in the 96th minute there was a clear hand-ball by River in the penalty area... no call was made.

Overall this game should have ended at least 3-0, but now River will probably win the tie and the Copa Libertadores.

[Canuck Oranje]

The Sao Paulo game was played in the rain at Morumbi (part of it anyway). Over 70,000 in the stands (which means capacity). Apparently, Once Caldes played very defensively in this game but I didn't see it myself.

[DJT]

I guess amacpher has been too busy in Lisboa to post updates...

Second legs of the semis (June 16/17): River beat Boca 2-1 in another card-filled match, tying the series on aggregate, so they went to PKs and Boca came out on top; Once Caldas beat São Paulo 2-1 back in Colombia on a 90th-minute winner, taking the series 2-1 on aggregate.

Final: Once Caldas held Boca scoreless at La Bombonera on June 23, then drew 1-1 at home on July 1 before winning the PK shootout 2-0 to lift the Copa Libertadores for the first time ever (second time for a Colombian club)...

From AP/CP through canada.com:

Once Caldas defeats Boca Juniors on penalties to lift Copa Libertadores

JAIRO ANCHIQUE

Canadian Press

Thursday, July 01, 2004

MANIZALES, Colombia (AP) - Goalie Juan Carlos Henao blocked two spot kicks as Once Caldas upset Argentina's Boca Juniors 2-0 in a penalty shootout Thursday in the Copa Libertadores final, becoming only the second Colombian team to lift South America's premier cup trophy.

The two sides were tied 1-1 when the final whistle blew. Boca Juniors then missed all four of its spot kicks, while Once netted two shots thanks to Elkin Soto and Jorge Agudelo.

Earlier, John Viafara opened for the Colombians in the seventh minute with a powerful 25-metre shot. But Nicolas Burdisso tied the game with a header off a Franco Calgele pass from deep in the right corner in the 51st minute.

Once's victory was a stunning upset, never before having made it past the first round of the Libertadores. But the team's ironclad defence ensured that it was never beaten at home in Manizales, high in Colombia's mountainous coffee country.

"Thanks to god we won! It is an enormous achievement," Once coach Luis Fernando Montoya said after the match.

"We are the best, this is for Colombia," shouted midfielder Arnulf Valentierra.

Valentierra and Wilmer Ortegon's spot kicks were both deflected by Boca goalie Roberto Abondanzzieri, but it wasn't enough for the Argentines and the 40,000 home fans packing the stadium went into a frenzy when the victory bell sounded.

The two sides had played to a scoreless draw in last week's first-leg final in Buenos Aires.

The loss was extra bitter for Boca - which won three of the past four Libertadores - after losing the Argentine championship to archrival River Plate last week.

Medellin's Nacional, in 1989, was the only Colombian side previously to lift the trophy.