Estudiantes were eliminated by Inter -Photo: Terra

Internacional of Brazil and Universidad de Chile advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores — South America’s biggest club competition — despite suffering defeats on Thursday night. They joined Chivas de Guadalajara and Sao Paulo in the final four of the competition, which resumes at the conclusion of the 2010 World Cup.

A 89th-minute goal from Giuliano assured Internacional of qualification on the away goals rule, even if they were beaten 2-1 by defending champions Estudiantes de La Plata. Estudiantes seemed on their way to the semi-finals after strikes from Leandro Gonzalez and Enzo Perez gave them a two-goal advantage, but Giuliano’s late goal ended up eliminating them.

Players from both teams were involved in violent clashes after the final whistle, with Estudiantes defender Leandro Desabato appearing to head-butt Internacional’s Argentine goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri.

In Thursday’s other quarter-final, Universidad de Chile lost 2-1 against Flamengo, but also went through on the away goals rule — after winning 3-2 in Rio de Janeiro last week.

Vagner Love put Flamengo ahead right before half-time, with a fine header from a Adriano overhead kick, and the Brazilians went looking for another goal after the break.

However, Argentine midfielder Walter Montillo drew Universidad de Chile level with an exquisite lob from the edge of the area in the 73rd minute.

Former Inter Milan striker Adriano fired Flamengo back into the lead five minutes later, after meeting a superb Leonardo Moura back-heel.

Flamengo went looking for a third goal that would have sent them through, but although they piled heavy pressure on the Chilean goal they ran out of time.

When the semi-finals kick-off after the World Cup, Internacional will be up against Sao Paulo in a repeat of the 2006 Copa Libertadores final won by Inter, while Universidad de Chile will lock horns with Chivas de Guadalajara.

Gregory Sica

Sao Paulo cruised past Cruzeiro 4-0 on aggregate

Sao Paulo advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores — South America’s premier club competition — after beating Brazilian rivals Cruzeiro 2-0 at the Morumbi stadium on Wednesday night. The result was identical to the one they picked up in the first leg in Belo Horizonte last week.

A goal from Hernanes in the first half and another from Dagoberto after the break gave the three-time winners of the tournament another comfortable win, and a comprehensive 4-0 aggregate victory over the two legs.

Cruzeiro — last year’s losing finalists to Estudiantes — needed at-least two goals to force a penalty shoot-out, but obtaining such a result was made impossible, especially after Kleber was sent-off in the first minute of the match for slapping the face of an opponent.

A brilliant play for Junior Cesar, down the flank, led to Sao Paulo’s first goal, which was converted by playmaker Hernanes in the 23rd minute.

After controlling great part of the match, Sao Paulo’s clincher came in the 52nd minute when in-form striker Dagoberto raced onto a Fernandao header and beat Fabio with a superb deft chip.

Sao Paulo continued to dominate their opponents, and created several clear-cut opportunities to add a third goal, but they ended up settling for a well-deserved two-goal win.

In the remaining quarter-finals to be played on Thursday, Universidad de Chile take a 3-2 lead into the return leg against Flamengo in Santiago, while defending champions Estudiantes will try to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Internacional in Buenos Aires.

Gregory Sica

Chivas sneaked into the semis despite a 2-0 defeat

Chivas de Guadalajara advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, despite suffering a 2-0 defeat against Libertad of Paraguay at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion on Tuesday. The Mexican giants went through 3-2 on aggregate after their 3-0 win in the first leg of the tie at the Jalisco stadium last week.

Adalberto Roman put Libertad ahead in the 19th minute and Manuel Macias added their second goal in the 68th minute, putting the Paraguayans within one goal from forcing a penalty shoot-out.

Libertad — coached by Gregorio Perez from Uruguay — pushed for a third goal in the final twenty-three minutes of the game, and although they came extremely close to finding it they were kept out by the heroic Chivas defense.

Chivas goalkeeper Liborio Sanchez was particularly impressive, making a number of important saves to help the Mexicans progress. When he was beaten, he was given a hand by the posts.

Libertad completely dominated their opponents — playing in their half for the entire second half — but they were unlucky not to have found a third goal.

Chivas, who entered the tournament at the round of 16 stage, held on to their slender advantage from the first leg, and are only two matches away from reaching the final of South America’s biggest club competition for the first time.

In the semi-finals they will face the winner of the tie between Universidad de Chile and Flamengo. The Chileans take a 3-2 advantage into the return leg in Santiago.

Internacional sneaked past the defending champs

Uruguayan centre-back Gonzalo Sorondo scored a header two minutes from full-time to give Internacional a 1-0 victory over Estudiantes de La Plata in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarter-final match-up at the Beira-Rio stadium in Porto Alegre on Thursday night. The Brazilians are only a draw away from reaching the semi-finals of South America’s biggest club competition.

Estudiantes, the defending champions of the Libertadores, arrived in Brazil in search of a draw, and the Argentines seemed to have done enough to achieve this, until they conceded a late unexpected goal.

It was a very evenly contested match, between two high-quality teams who cancelled each other out in the midfield.

Juan Sebastian Veron, the captain of Estudiantes, orchestrated his team’s best attacking moves, with striker Mauro Boselli looking extremely dangerous each time he entered the Internacional area.

The entrance of Taison mid-way through the second half added an extra dimension to Inter’s attack, but it still seemed that the match would ended scoreless.

However, in the 88th minute Sorondo connected to a Andrezinho free-kick with a well-directed header to give Internacional a 1-0 victory that was seen as a relief by the 40,000 crowd.

Internacional will progress to the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores with a draw in Buenos Aires next week — even a narrow loss could take them through — where they will meet either Cruzeiro or Sao Paulo.

Sao Paulo are on course for a semi-finals berth

Sao Paulo shocked Cruzeiro with a 2-0 win in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores all-Brazilian quarter-final match-up in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday. The Tricolor Paulista claimed a crucial victory that puts them in a good position to advance to the semi-finals of the competition ahead of the return leg at the Morumbi stadium next week.

Dagoberto opened the scoring for Sao Paulo in the 24th minute, when he poked the ball home after meeting a low right-wing cross from Marlos.

Hernanes — Sao Paulo’s key player — scored their second goal of the night in the 66th minute, when he slotted the ball past Cruzeiro goalkeeper Fabio after a superb Fernandao back-heel left him unmarked in the area.

Roared on by 50,000 fans, Cruzeiro did their best to pull a goal back, but they found little luck, with firstly a Thiago Ribeiro strike being disallowed for a dubious offside infringement, and secondly a Roger shot that hit both posts before being cleared by the Sao Paulo defense.

In another surprising result, Universidad de Chile claimed a 3-2 victory over Flamengo at Maracana stadium.

Uruguayan defender Mauricio Victorino gave the Chileans the lead in the 5th minute, when he blasted the ball into the back of the net after a horrible error in the Flamengo defense.

Rafael Olarra added a second goal for la ‘U’ in the 25th minute, to the devastation of the 72,000 crowd.

Adriano pulled a goal back for Flamengo in the 40th minute, with a powerful header, but despite being a man down Alvaro Fernandez — another Uruguayan — converted a third goal for the side from Santiago, when he met a left-wing cross from Jorge Rojas with a simple finish.

Juan scored a second goal for Flamengo in the final minute of regular time, with a long-range drive that deflected past Miguel Pinto in the Chilean goal. The strike renewed Flamengo’s hopes of advancing ahead of the return leg next week.

Bravo scored twice in Chivas' 3-0 win over Libertad

Chivas de Guadalajara are just a step away from the Copa Libertadores semi-finals after hammering Libertad of Paraguay 3-0 in the first leg of the quarter-finals at the Jalisco stadium on Tuesday. Chivas proved far superior to their opponents, and kept alive their chances of becoming the first Mexican team to lift the prestigious South American title.

Omar Bravo put Chivas ahead in the 8th minute, when he met a left-wing free-kick with a fine header. Ricardo Vazquez doubled their lead with a shot from the edge of the area in the 30th minute.

Libertad had a perfect opportunity to pull a goal back in the 48th minute, but Rodolfo Vicente Gamarra failed to convert a penalty kick.

Bravo sealed a comprehensive victory for Chivas in the 81st minute with a shot from the edge of the area. The sparce crowd of 19,000 at the 80,000-capacity Jalisco stadium celebrated Chivas’ second straight 3-0 home win of the tournament — the first coming against Velez Sarsfield of Argentina.

Chivas, who were without five first-choice players due to national team commitments with Mexico, dominated their opponents from the start to the finish, and are on course for a semi-finals appearance.

The first legs of the other quarter-finals are between Flamengo and Universidad de Chile and Cruzeiro and Sao Paulo — both matches will be played on Wednesday — and defending champions Estudiantes de La Plata up against Internacional on Thursday.

Libertad needed a late goal to overcome Once Caldas

In a highly-dramatic clash played under torrential rainfall, Libertad came from behind to defeat Once Caldas of Colombia 2-1 in Asuncion on Thursday. The result assured the Paraguayans of a place in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores, after the first leg of the tie ended goalless in Manizales last week.

Libertad were presented with a perfect opportunity to take the lead when they were awarded a spot-kick in the 26th minute. But Pedro Velazquez’s effort was saved by Once Caldas goalkeeper Luis Martinez.

To the surprise of the hosts, Once Caldas — winners of the ’04 Copa Libertadores — went ahead in the 55th minute through attacker Dayro Moreno.

Substitute Roberto Gamarra drew Libertad level in the 72nd minute when he fired home a penalty kick, but the Paraguayans still needed another goal to go through.

To the dismay of the Colombians, Gamarra handed Libertad the victory and passage into the quarter-finals in second-half stoppage time, when he beat Martinez with a long-distance shot.

Libertad, who have never won the Copa Libertadores, will meet Chivas de Guadalajara in the final-eight of the competition.

In Porto Alegre, Internacional beat Banfield of Argentina 2-0 to advance to the quarter-finals on the away goals rule, after scoring a goal in their 3-1 defeat to Banfield in Buenos Aires last week.

In a tense encounter, Inter knew that they had to win by a two-goal margin to go through, and the Brazilians did exactly this with goals coming from Alecsandro and Walter.

Internacional — the fourth Brazilian team to assure qualification — will meet defending champions Estudiantes de La Plata in the quarter-finals.

After suffering a 1-0 defeat in Lima last week, Alianza Lima levelled the aggregate score against Universidad de Chile in Santiago, when Jose Fernandez found the back of the net in the 25th minute.

But after much pressure, the Chileans finally drew level in the 63rd minute courtesy of a goal from Eduardo Vargas.

It seemed that Alianza Lima would go through when Fernandez scored his second goal of the night with three minutes remaining in the second-half, however, a controversial goal from Felipe Seymour in stoppage-time earned La ‘U’ a draw, allowing them to progress.

Seymour’s deflected volley from outside of the area found itself in the back of the net, and the lines-man appeared to disallow the goal for offside, however, after discussion with match-referee Carlos Vela the goal was allowed to stand.

The furious Peruvians — players and the coaching staff — protested against the controversial decision, and the match officials needed to be surrounded by riot police to prevent aggressions against them.

Universidad de Chile will meet Brazilian champions Flamengo in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores. The teams already met in the group stage, with the Chileans winning at home and drawing on the road.

Quarter-finals match-ups

Flamengo vs Universidad de Chile

Libertad vs Chivas de Guadalajara

Estudiantes vs Internacional

Cruzeiro vs Sao Paulo

Gregory Sica

Southamericanfutbol.com

Become a fan of Southamericanfutbol.com on Facebook!

Click here: facebook.com/southamericanfutbol

Flamengo celebrate passage into the quarter-finals

Flamengo reached the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores despite suffering a 2-1 defeat to Corinthians at the Pacaembu stadium in Sao Paulo on Wednesday night. The Mengao went through on the away goals rule, after having beaten their rivals 1-0 in the first leg of the tie in Rio de Janeiro last week.

To the delight of the strong 38,000 crowd, Corinthians went ahead in the 28th minute when Flamengo defender David conceded an own-goal.

Ronaldo doubled Corinthians’ advantage in the 38th minute when he met a well-delivered cross with a well-directed header.

However, Vagner Love scored a crucial away goal for Flamengo in the 50th minute with a crossed shot from the left side of the area, which swinged the tie in his team’s favour.

Corinthians tried their best to score a third goal that would have taken them through, but they were kept out by the heroics of Flamengo goalkeeper Bruno, who made a number of crucial saves.

The Timao bowed out of the competition, and have no choice but to continue to wait for their first Copa Libertadores title in their 100-year history.

Fellow Brazilians Cruzeiro advanced to the quarter-finals after thrashing Nacional of Uruguay 3-0 at the Parque Central stadium in Montevideo.

Cruzeiro took a 3-1 advantage into the return leg, and although they were under constant pressure at the beginning of the match a perfectly executed free-kick from attacker Thiago Ribeiro — who scored a hat-trick in the first leg — swung the game in their direction in the 30th minute.

Further goals from Renan and Gilberto, in the 48th and 81st minutes, sealed a huge 6-1 aggregate victory for the Belo Horizonte giants.

In Buenos Aires, defending champions Estudiantes de La Plata beat San Luis of Mexico 3-1 for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory.

Estudiantes took an early lead through Leandro Gonzalez, but Diego De La Torre hit back for the Mexicans within minutes. Two second-half goals from Leandro Benitez won the match for the side captained by playmaker Juan Sebastian Veron.

The round of 16 stage of the Copa Libertadores concludes on Thursday with the following matches: Internacional vs Banfield, Libertad vs Once Caldas and Universidad de Chile vs Alianza Lima.

Gregory Sica

Southamericanfutbol.com

Become a fan of Southamericanfutbol.com on Facebook!

Click here: facebook.com/southamericanfutbol

Ceni saves two penalties as Sao Paulo reach quarters

Sao Paulo progressed to the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores after beating Universitario of Peru 3-1 on penalty kicks after the teams were deadlocked at 0-0 over both legs on Tuesday. Sao Paulo, three-time winners of the competition, were expected to breeze past the Peruvians, but lacked determination in their game and were fortunate to go through on penalties.

The Brazilians, who picked up a goalless draw in Lima last week, dominated their opponents for great part of the game, but couldn’t break down the resilient Peruvians, who stuck to their game-plan and defended in large numbers.

Sao Paulo’s best chances in regulation time fell to attackers Dagoberto and Washington in the second half.

With the aggregate scores level after both legs, there was no choice but to decide the series via the penalty spot.

Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni saw his spot-kick — Sao Paulo’s first — saved, however, he redeemed himself by saving two penalties from Universitario, before striker Dagoberto sealed Sao Paulo’s passage into the quarter-finals with a perfectly executed penalty kick.

The vocal 45,000 crowd at the Morumbi stadium celebrated the triumph with a great deal of joy, after having to bite their nails throughout the entire game.

In the quarter-finals Sao Paulo will be up against the winner of the match-up between Cruzeiro and Nacional of Uruguay that will be decided in Montevideo on Wednesday, with Cruzeiro ahead 3-1 after the first leg.

At the Jose Amalfitani stadium in Buenos Aires, 1994 champions Velez Sarsfield beat Chivas de Guadalajara 2-0, however, the Argentines bowed out of the competition 2-3 on aggregate over the two legs.

Uruguayan striker Santiago Silva gave Velez an early lead, but they had to wait until the 89th minute for their second goal, which came courtesy of Rolando Zarate.

Roared on by 37,000 fans, Velez pushed for a third goal — that would have forced a penalty shoot-out — in second half stoppage-time, but although they came close to scoring they ended up running out of time.

Chivas will clash with the winner of the match-up between Libertad and Once Caldas in the quarter-finals. The first leg ended in a goalless draw in Manizales, Colombia.

Gregory Sica

Southamericanfutbol.com

Become a fan of Southamericanfutbol.com on Facebook!

Click here: facebook.com/southamericanfutbol

Thiago scored a superb hat-trick in Cruzeiro's win

Cruzeiro are only a step away from the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals after defeating Nacional of Uruguay 3-1 at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte on Thursday night. The Brazilians dominated much of the match, taking a three-goal lead into the break after a superb hat-trick from attacker Thiago Ribeiro.

The Belo Horizonte giants pushed to the attack straight from the kick-off and went ahead inside the 6th minute when Thiago took advantage of a defensive error from Sebastian Coates with an easy finish through the legs of goalkeeper Rodrigo Munoz.

Cruzeiro dominated the lackluster Uruguayans, creating several clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities, before Thiago finally doubled their advantage in the 21st minute with a fine header.

The strong 50,000 crowd pushed their side forward, and three minutes before the half-time break Thiago completed his hat-trick with a good finish from the edge of the area.

Nacional came into the second half with a much different mentality and they created a couple of decent opportunities to pull a goal back, before striker Mario Regueiro finally did so in the 50th minute when he beat Cruzeiro goalkeeper Fabio with a close-range shot.

With a 2-0 victory over Cruzeiro at the Parque Central stadium in Montevideo next Wednesday Nacional will progress to the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores, even if at this stage it seems a difficult task.

In Lima, Universidad de Chile beat Alianza Lima 1-0 with a strike from Diego Rivarola five minutes from full-time. The Chileans claimed a valuable victory that should ease their passage towards the quarter-finals of the competition.

Thursday’s late game between Once Caldas and Libertad ended in a goalless draw at the Palo Grande stadium in Manizales, Colombia.

Gregory Sica

Southamericanfutbol.com

Become a fan of Southamericanfutbol.com on Facebook!

Click here: facebook.com/southamericanfutbol