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Photo: Estudiantes and Atletico-MG United

Bruno Romani — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:56:52 +0000

Estudiantes arrived in Argentina after title of Copa Libertadores. The detail is that the players had with them a flag of Atletico-MG, the main rival of Cruzeiro.

“Mineirazzo”: Estudiantes Lifts Libertadores in Brazil

Bruno Romani — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:34:27 +0000

The 50th edition of Copa Libertadores had its final match tonight at the Mineirao, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. After the nil draw in Argentina, it seemed Cruzeiro, the home team, was ready to lift the third title in the competition, the first since 1997.

However, a “Mineirazzo” took place and one more time Brazilian clubs failed at home. Estudiantes de La Plata won its first title since the 68/69/70 titles.

The match started nervous. Estudiantes liked to keep ball possession, exchanging many passes. Cruzeiro tried to explore the left side of its attacking field through Wagner and Gerson Magrao. In the counter attacks, Estudiantes looked dangerous. But, in the collective imaginary of Cruzeiro fans, the victory was a matter of time. In the group stage, these two clubs played at this same stadium and Cruzeiro crushed the visitors 3-0.

As time passed by, however, reality landed on the stadium. Cruzeiro did not create the chances. And the match looked extremely good for Estudiantes. They wasted time in every possible way and kept the attack of Cruzeiro innocuous. The 3 pillars from the blue team – Wagner, Ramires and Kleberg – had no space.

When the second-half started, destiny seemed to make a turn. Cruzeiro started more aggressive and with 6 minutes midfielder Henrique scored after trying a long range that deflected on Desabato. After the goal, the second goal seemed close. Too early for anything.

Instead of keeping the pace, Cruzeiro relaxed and laid back. Estudiantes relaxed too. It kept playing its game and five minutes later Fernandes tied the game after finishing a play started by Veron. Cruzeiro collapsed. Estudiantes really relaxed. And kept fighting.

Ramires, on his last match before joining Benfica, played his worst match for Cruzeiro. His passes were poorly executed. And he did not attempt any of those runs with the ball in the right side.

Wagner, also very shy in the second half, was replaced by Athirson, who expected to play with Gerson Magrao in the left.

On the 27th mark, the 3 thousand Argentineans at Mineirao got even louder. Boselli, the top scorer of Copa Libertadores, scored his 8th using his head after Veron took the corner. Cruzeiro’s world collapsed – too many historical marks were against the home team. “The Mineirazzo” was taking place.

The last time a Brazilian club lifted Copa Libertadores beating a foreign rival was in 1999. Since then, Brazilian clubs reached the final 8 times – two of them had 2 Brazilian clubs. The other 6, Brazil lost (Palmeiras 00, Sao Caetano 02, Santos 03, Gremio 07, Fluminense 08). All defeats were in Brazil.

Also, in 07 and 08, Gremio and Fluminense eliminated Sao Paulo of the tournament. This year Cruzeiro did the same. What a spell.

Thiago Ribeiro replaced Wellington Paulista. Cruzeiro passively lost at home. The fans started to demand more passion from the team. And Cruzeiro seemed to respond. In the final 5 minutes, Cruzeiro missed 3 chances. The one that probably won’t be forgotten is when Thiago Ribeiro hit the cross bar with powerful long range.

Conducted by Veron, Estudiantes controlled the time. The clock seemed faster as they did not Cruzeiro be faster. And Veron was making history himself by lifting the title of Libertadores for the same club as his father did in the late 60’s. A beautiful family story.

When the match ended, Cruzeiro did not even look sad. They were frustrated. The club did not play well the most important match of the year. But Estudiantes was ready for this title. A club that reaches the finals of Copa Sulamericana and Copa Libertadores in a matter of 6 months is ready for the title.

And, indeed, Brazilian clubs cannot face the ones from Argentina in the final. Argentina, now, reaches 22 titles of Copa Libertadores against 13 of Brazil. The last time a Brazilian club beat an Argentinean one in the final of the continental tournament was in 1992, when Sao Paulo beat Newell’s Old Boys.

Corinthians Lifts 2009 Copa do Brasil!

Bruno Romani — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:23:11 +0000

The second leg of the final of Copa do Brasil was no land for children.

And Corinthians was an adult side. The club stepped into the pitch after losing last year’s Copa do Brasil and with the difficult experience of spending one season in the second division.

Inter? The home team looked like an teenager, at most. It entered the match bringing the 2-0 in Sao Paulo. Its fans and players were fueled by its vice-president, who created a media circus in trying to prove that refs have consistently benefited Corinthians.

Before the 5th minute, two yellow cards were shown, one for each side. The first chance appeared with D’Alessandro.. The visitor’s midfield, however, marked with passion. Cristian and Elias gave no space to the skilled attacking players from Inter.

As Inter relied on short and quick passes, Corinthians seemed to get more and more dangerous every second. The passes that the home team exchanged were rushed. The red team was very nervous. 22 minutes into the match, the first time Corinthians shot on goal, the final was over. Andre Santos, straight from the Confederations Cup final, crossed and Jorge Henrique scored. At that point, Inter had to score 4 goals.

As the number 23 celebrated his goal like Michael Jackson, Inter got completely lost. It passively waited for the final hit. And it came faster than it imagined.

Six minutes later, Andre Santos, the best player of the match, scored a beautiful goal. With its second shot on goal, the final was really over. Inter not only gave up. It became a big zombie waiting for a bigger massacre.

Corinthians, however, relaxed. There was no need to rush. Ronaldo even had the chance of scoring the third, but Lauro denied him. On the other side, Felipe not only denied the home team its two chances. He denied Inter the chance to dream with the impossible.

But it was really to going be difficult. Glaydon played poorly. And the two players who were with the national team were very shy. It seems seating on the bench of Brazil got Nilmar and Kleber depressed. The number 6 not only knew that his chances with Dunga became ashes, but he also saw on the other side a great performance of Andre Santos, the man who sent Kleber to the bench (and possibly the limbo) of the national team.

When the second-half started, the only mission for Inter was to make it less humiliating. Corinthians had only to keep things. But as the action developed, Inter still seemed shocked by the defeat at home. Its player focused more on the referee than playing.

It took 20 minutes for Inter to absorb the loss of the title. And, ironically, it is when it started playing well. Without the pressure, inter seemed Inter.

In the 19th, Felipe saved it. In the 25th, Alecssandro, who replaced Glaydson, scored the first for the locals. Four minutes later, it scored again. Inter started to believe again. And this is when it sabotaged itself again.

D’Alessandro, the Argentine supposed to be the one with international experience, argued with the ref and with half of Corinthians team. He was the embodiment of what his vice-president did outside the pitch. The result? A red card. Time wasted when Inter gained momentum. Childish to say the least.

And the number 10 tried to take William with him. The defender, however, did not pay attention to him.

The match was over. And Ronaldo almost got the cherry on top of the ice cream. He missed it, but at that point, it made no difference. Corinthians, champions of 2009 Copa do Brasil.

It is the first title at the national level since Corinthians played the second division. It is the first title at national level for Ronaldo. The third Copa do Brasil title of Corinthians (other two in 95 and 02). And Corinthians will playing the year of its centenary Copa Libertadores. The fans are right. They sang at the end of the match, “Corinthians is back!”

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