Libertadores: Cruzeiro Gives Sao Paulo the Boot

Bruno Romani | Jun 19, 2009 | Comments 0

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It was the match for the two sides prove something. Sao Paulo needed to deliver a good performance in 2009. Cruzeiro needed to deliver a good match playing away. And the two sides had important players missing, some injured, some with the national team.

The match started and soon the vibe was set. The game was mild. Sao Paulo did not create and Cruzeiro wasted time.

The home team and the fans started to get nervous. With 20 minutes in, some booing started. Sao Paulo became more violent. And Cruzeiro started to take advantage of that. Suddenly, the blue team had the midfield and got closer to the first goal.

With two minutes left in the first-half, Eduardo Costa, a portray of how the home team was lost, was yellow carded for the second time, leaving Sao Paulo short of one man.

For the second-half, Muricy Ramalho sent Dagoberto and Hernanes to the match. Yes, Hernanes, the man said to be the best player in Brazil 6 months ago, was on the bench due to his poor performances. The two replacements changed very little. Or nothing.

Cruzeiro took over the midfield, and very calmly exchanged passes. Wagner and Kleber drove the Morumbi stadium crazy. The elimination seemed a matter of time.

And with 21 minutes in. What fans of both sides expected took place. Henrique tried a long range and scored a beautiful goal. No chance for Denis.

Sao Paulo had to score 2 goals to take the match to the penalties, short of one man and without having a single shot on goal after 60 minutes. Like in the state championship semifinal against Corinthians, the team collapsed. It passively handed the ticket to the semis for Cruzeiro.

“Not my problem”, thought Cruzeiro. The visitors kept the pace, involving the defense, exchanging passes and attacking Sao Paulo. The team that wasn’t good at playing away was breaking free.

In one of those chances, defender Andre Dias jumped towards the ball in order to block it using his arm. Penalty and red card for him. With 36 minutes, Cruzeiro had the chance to close the coffin. Kleber took it and killed Sao Paulo, who for the 4th year in a row was being eliminated by another Brazilian side.

The next 10 minutes, Cruzeiro could’ve reached a historical score board, but the players showed signs of over confidence (who wouldn’t?). For Sao Paulo fans, it was time to show anger against the players and coach Muricy Ramalho, the man behind the 4 eliminations.

With the end of the game, Cruzeiro finally was back to the top 4 clubs of South America in 12 years. it will now take on Gremio, on a great Brazilian clash.