Copa Libertadores 2012 - Cuartos de Final [R]

Groups 4 and 5 the only ones that have both of their qualified teams still in the tournament.

Cracking matches, all of them.

Anyone want to help me out by predicting the Velez-Santos matches? I feel like this one is going to be epic.

I wouldn't dare... it could go either way... I suppose I'm slightly inclined to say Santos will go through via the Neymar factor. At this stage there are no weak teams and the balance of the sides can be broken by the brilliance of a few individuals out there. These are the matches were the stars of each team can tip the balance.

Talking about not loosing... Corinthians have been looking very solid at the back, this is usually the sign of a finalist, we had an impressive defensive record in Copa Sudamericana before the final... this may be Corinthian's greatest chance.

I'm really hoping that we play as confident against Flu as we did in Brazil. I hope we have learned from what happened in 08' and the fact we haven't made qualified for the cup for two years,especially since we've gotten this far. It's going to be a real nail biter! I tell you that. Not taking off my jersey for one second.

I'd like to say that we'd wipe the floor with Santos but the fact of the matter is that we have been playing like absolute crap. Then this Sunday we play Boca in an honor match which could decide the Clausura. Playing Santos seems like next month. These next two games decide how are year will go.

This is my assessment as well. Once the round of 16 was set, I predicted Santos reaching the semifinals. I actually (incorrectly) predicted Vélez Sarsfield being eliminated by Atlético Nacional, and while I respect this current Vélez team, it is a clearly lesser side than the team which nearly reached the 2011 final. Vélez may prove us wrong and reach the semifinal, but right now, Santos looks extremely solid and strong, and I doubt they will not score at least one goal in Argentina - and this away goal may well prove pivotal for the return leg in Brazil.

EDIT: Vélez Sarsfield and Boca Juniors, the two surviving teams from your country in this Libertadores, have pivotal league matches today: against each other. I took a look at the website of a sports daily published in your country, and the news stated that Vélez will deploy the best it has, minus a few injuries. Boca likewise will field its best possible squad, although Ledesma, Silva, and Somoza are injured and Insaurralde is suspended. I wonder if there might be any injuries tonight which would further deplete either team against their confrontations vs. the visiting Brazilians, Santos and Fluminense, this week. Fluminense and Santos also have important domestic confrontations tonight, but of lesser importance because whereas the match in your country may determine the fate of who wins the local league, Fluminense’s match against Botafogo and Santos’ match against Guarani are the return legs for their respective state tournaments, and both teams have 3-goal victory margins going in. In other words, they’re effectively state champions already. Abel Braga and Muricy Ramalho therefore, technically, COULD rest some of their better players to save them for the more significant fixtures at Brandsen and at Liniers - something that Julio Falcioni and RIcardo Gareca apparently cannot afford to do.

Boca managed to tie at home with 10 for the whole second half. Interesting team, Boca: they play ugly, but can close their lines well. Actually, they give me the impression of always hold something back, of having more cards to play than what they've shown so far.

Wagner and He-Man.. Rafael Moura, should be able to do a decent job in the absence of Deco e Fred.

4°s de final, ida:

Libertad(PAR)-Universidad de Chile(CHI) 1:1
Víctor Cáceres(L) y Gustavo Lorenzetti(U).

Vasco da Gama(BRA)-Corinthians(BRA) 0:0

La U jugó mal anoche: todos los generalmentes jugadores "importantes" como Aránguiz, Mena, Díaz, Rodríguez estuvieron muy por bajo de su nivel habitual. Y en defensa González estuvo irreconocible: sobre todo en el mano a mano. A eso agregaría que al arquero de Libertad (uruguayo Muñoz) apenas se le vió: los chunchos apenas generaron ocasiones de gol.

Ahora bien, el empate tampoco cae tan mal sobre todo considerando como se dió el partido.

We have been playing average matches all season (compared to last year) with the ocasional kick ass whoppings here and there.

Last season it was incredibly hard for teams to score against us, now it seems we are giving away a goal every other match. This is unacceptable if we wish to win anything. We have seen Marcos Gonzalez was clearly more important to this team than Edu Vargas. We have replaced Edu with Junior and the youth academy product Angelo Henriquez. Both have stepped up to the plate in admirable fashion.

I can't say the same about Martinez and Lichnovsky. As much as I admire their efforts, they are no Marcos. In truth they were never meant to be starters. That position was meant for the main signing of the season, the Ecuadorian NT player Morante, who got injured as soon as he got off the plane and hasn't played a single official match for us.

The fact that we've made it this far without improving our defensive game just goes to show how competent Sampaoli is. Either that, or Copa Libertadores is getting weaker and weaker every year.

Lichnovsky had a very good game yesterday, imo: rarely--if ever--did he get beat one-one-one and on top of that is more than dilligent when challenged in the air. Plus, has a touch of class when playing the ball out of the back.

You're right: he's not Marcos González but then again to expect a 17 YO with little to no experience to fill that big void is a big ask and so far Lichnovsky has done so competently (I expect him to play a big role with the U20s next year but that's for a different discussion).

Regarding Morantes, even if he does return to "playable" fitness, he's gonna be lacking so much match fitness he may not play a role for a long while, anyway. The best of what he can offer we're probably have to wait for 'till 2013 I am afraid...unless he's one of those guys that can hit the ground running after a long injury layoff and that's very improbable, considering he got hurt in his one game vs. San Felipe...after coming back from his original injury.

I personally feel like we are going to advance on a tie. I gotta say we played really well, notable players Riquelme, Mouche, Schavi and Roncaglia. Rivero was pressuring really well in the middle. It made Flu. look as if they were out of place most of the time.

Yeah towards the last couple minutes we almost gave up two goals. One by Roncaglia and the other by Orion.
I know I heard something about that but I didn't actually see it. The relatos mentioned something about someone looking like Neymar.

We didn't have Fred, Deco, Wellington Nem, Diguinho & Valencia, we were a man down most of the match and we played at La Bombonera and it was only 1-0, you guys should've taken advantage of all that.. I think my Fluzao is gonna bring everything next week, and I'm going to be there cheering my team on. I'm really confident about this one =D