LIBERTADORES CUP - SEMI-FINALS - DRAW
ROSARIO CENTRAL (Argentina) x CRUZ AZUL (Mexico)
PALMEIRAS (Brazil) x BOCA JUNIORS (Argentina)
30 MAY 2001
CRUZEIRO 2 : Alessandro 5, Cris 59
PALMEIRAS 2 : Arce 53, 85
(5x5 on aggregate; Palmeiras wins 4x3 in the penalty shootout)
Cruzeiro was heavy favourite to qualify, and scored early in the match, with
Alessandro. In the 23rd minute, Palmeiras could have tied the game, after
they were awarded a penalty. But Alex missed it, hitting the post. Cruzeiro
comfortably held on to their advantage until the end of the first half, but
eight minutes after the break, the visitors tied the match, with Arce
converting from a free kick in the corner of the box. Cruzeiro soon regained
its lead, with Cris deflecting home a cross by Ricardinho, in the 59th
minute. But this was Palmeiras' night. Five minutes from time, the 'Verdão'
was awarded a free kick near the box, and once again Arce took it and
scored. Since there's no away goals rule in the Libertadores Cup, this tie
had to be decided in the penalty shootout. It was tough to predict who would
win, since Cruzeiro had the support of the fans, while Palmeiras had 'St.
Marcos' in goal. And the goalie made a big difference, stopping four out of
seven shots (note that there were five straight misses at one point).
SHOOTOUT CRUZEIRO PALMEIRAS
Marcelo Ramos (goal) Alex (miss)
Cris (goal) Lopes (goal)
Luisão (miss) Galeano (miss)
Ricardinho (miss) Felipe (miss)
Jackson (miss) Arce (goal)
Marcos Vinícius (goal) Fernando (goal)
Marcos Paulo (miss) Muñoz (goal)
BOCA JUNIORS 3 : Matellán 10, Schelotto 20, 30
VASCO 0
(Boca Juniors wins 4x0 on aggregate)
Everything was against Vasco in this match. They were one goal down in the
series, their morale was low due to the defeat in the Rio de Janeiro State
championship and they were without Romário. Boca took full advantage of
that, and opened the scoring in the 10th minute: Riquelme crossed the ball,
goalkeeper Hélton deflected it to the middle of the box and Matellán took
advantage of that mistake to score a pretty goal. In the 20th minute,
another mistake by Vasco allowed Delgado to steal the ball and to enter all
alone in the box. The Boca player dribbled the goalkeeper, but then was
brought down by a defender, and the referee awarded the home side a penalty.
Schelotto stepped up and scored. Ten minutes later, Delgado made a nice
assist to Schelotto, who scored Boca's third goal. With the tie already
decided, the second half was a mere formality.
CRUZ AZUL 3 : Palencia 19, 25, Cardozo 43
RIVER PLATE 0
(Cruz Azul wins 3x0 on aggregate)
This match was completely dominated by Cruz Azul. Right from the start, it
was clear that it was just a matter of time before the home side scored. And
the first goal arrived in the 19th minute, when Palencia headed home a
precise cross from the right side. Six minutes later, the Mexican side made
it 2x0, with a very similar goal by Palencia. Two minutes before half time,
Cardozo put the nail in River Plate's coffin. In the second half, it was the
home side that had the best chances, and the Argentinean team was lucky to
leave Mexico City with just a three-goal defeat.
Red Card : Garce (River)
29 MAY 2001
AMÉRICA DE CALI 3 : Vásquez 5, Herrera 9, González 68
ROSARIO CENTRAL 2 : Pizzi 88, 90
(3x3 on aggregate; Rosario wins 4x3 in the penalty shootout)
Unbelievable ending! Really, really unbelievable. América de Cali leaded
this match 3x0 with just two minutes to go, but Rosario somehow managed to
score twice in the dying minutes to send the mach to the penalty shootout.
And there was more drama: the two sides combined for 16 penalty shots, from
which 9 were stopped by the goalkeepers. América had a perfect start,
scoring twice in the opening ten minutes, thus reversing Rosario's one goal
advantage. Down in the series, Rosario had to attack, and América took
advantage of that, creating dangerous scoring chances in counter-attacks.
When América added an insurance goal, though González, who scored from a
free kick, the match seemed decided. Things became even worse for the
visitors in the 76th minute, when Arias was sent off. But in the final two
minutes, Rosario finally woke up, and managed to tie the match thanks to two
goals by Pizzi, who took advantage of two successive mistakes by the América
keeper. In the penalty shootout, there was plenty of drama, and in the end
Rosario Central took full advantage of their psychological superiority.
Red Card : Arias (Rosario)
SHOOTOUT
AMÉRICA : Ferreira, Cardona and Vásquez scored; Maziri, Barbat, Navarro,
Herrera and Zapata missed.
ROSARIO : Díaz, Pizzi, Vespa and Erroz scored; Lequi, Cuberas, De Bruno and
Fabianesi missed.
23 MAY 2001
PALMEIRAS 3 : Lopes 17, 62, 90
CRUZEIRO 3 : Oséas 41, Geovanni 43, Wagner 82
Cruzeiro surprisingly displayed an offensive formation, but it was Palmeiras
that opened the scoring. Cruzeiro defender Cris made an awful blunder,
leaving Lopes all-alone to score. Palmeiras controlled the match until the
37th minute, when Magrão was sent off. Four minutes later, Cruzeiro
equalised, through former Palmeiras player Oséas, who poked the ball home
after Marcos was unable to control a shot by Sorín. Less than two minutes
later, the visitors took the lead, in a very fast play by Geovanni, who
scored from long range. Cruzeiro saw the opportunity and maintained the
pressure in the second half. But once again, it was Palmeiras that found the
net, with Lopes' second goal. But Cruzeiro was playing better, and took the
lead in the 82nd minute, thanks to a well-taken free kick by Wagner.
Palmeiras refused to buckle, and in injury time tied the match, once again
through Lopes, who was the man of the match. Nevertheless, Cruzeiro is
clear favourite to qualify.
Red Cards : Magrão (Palmeiras), Geovanni (Cruzeiro)
VASCO 0
BOCA JUNIORS 1 : Schelotto 69
Boca Juniors took a commanding lead in the tie thanks to this unexpected
away victory. Vasco now needs an unlikely two-goal win at the La Bombonera
Stadium in order to qualify. During the entire match, the Argentineans
played with more passion, and that made the difference. The truth is that
this match was somewhat disappointing. Scoring chances were few and far
between. Boca was more efficient, and scored a goal in the 69th minute,
through Schelotto, who took advantage of a nap by the Brazilian defenders.
In the final minutes, it was Boca that came closest to scoring.
RIVER PLATE 0
CRUZ AZUL 0
Cruz Azul turned into favourites to qualify to the semi-finals after getting
an away draw against River Plate. Surprisingly, it was the Mexican side that
made most of the attacking in the first half. After the break, River finally
took command of the match, but at this point Cruz Azul's defence was well
settled, and the Argentineans had few scoring chances. Let's see how they
do in Mexico...
22 MAY 2001
ROSARIO CENTRAL 1 : Pizzi 21
AMÉRICA DE CALI 0
Early in the match, Rosario Central was resolute about winning this match,
and in the 21st minute Pizzi opened the scoring, with a beautiful shot from
30 yards out. After scoring, the home side kept the pressure on, but found
it difficult to break América's rearguard. On the other hand, the Colombian
side created a couple of scoring chances on counter attacks. Five minutes
from time, Quinteros and Roganovich were sent off for a mutual scuffle, and
will not be available for the return leg.
Red Cards : Quinteros (Rosario), Roganovich (América)
Tomaz R. Alves
tomaz@trivela.com
http://trivela.com
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