Copa Libertadores 2013

I hope to watch a great match between Grêmio vs LDU today. I believe in the Grêmio win.

 

São Paulo scores first off a corner - Luís Fabiano.

 

The feed I'm getting On FoxDeportes is damn near unwatchable.

 

Early goal it is.

 

Jadson, for São Paulo, makes it 0-2.

 

Yep. Pure embarrassment.

 

Arena do Grêmio makes a lot of pressure. It's a beautiful stadium. But the field is in poor condition.

 

Did you bet the over, though?

 

LOL.

 

Indeed; it's a gorgeous venue. But they need to work on that pitch. Hamburg players complained about the poor quality of the grass.

Vargas with a very close shot - the goalkeeper was beaten. If Grêmio keeps this up, they should open up the scoreboard soon.

 

LDU done anything so far, only defends itself. And Vargas is very incisive...

 

Yes, but Bauza probably planned it this way. He deployed Liga defensively to withstand Grêmio's initial onslaught. No team can blitz for 45 minutes straight. Eventually Grêmio will tire; already Liga is advancing its marking of Grêmio. Grêmio must be careful. If Liga scores first, the psychological pressure will be huge.

 

LDU is making Gremio only resort to long passes, and it is frustrating them.... really good game though.

 

Osvaldo and Jadson with a nice back and forth pass combination. A 3rd goal for São Paulo. EDIT: Ferreira makes it 1-3.

 

Elano're ending the attacks that Zé and Vargas create.

And the defensive system of the Gremio is flawed; defenders are bad.

If which Century spokes materialize, Gremio will have serious difficulties to win...

 

Liga holding the fort pretty well, it looks pretty bleak for Gremio if nothing changes in the second half...

Good game.

 

Halftime in Bolivia and in Brazil.

SPFC with a commanding 1-3 lead after starting off 0-3. I only concern myself now with SPFC returning to Brazil without any injured players and without any accrued yellow cards. Our first match in the group stage will be against Atlético Mineiro in Belo Horizonte, and this will be a huge match. Our debut; a tough match against one of Brazil's best teams and the 2012 Brazilian league 2nd place team; and, a team with a historic rivalry against Cruzeiro. Cruzeiro and SPFC organized fan clubs are "brethren" - before matches, they often congregate and socialize. Atlético Mineiro's hardcore fans will not ignore this fact come match day.

Grêmio disappointing me so far. They have the talent but Liga is tactically very well deployed. A duel of two master tacticians - let's see if Luxemburgo can outcoach Bauza come the 2nd half and secure the win. Vargas came very close earlier on. It would suck for Vargas if Grêmio is eliminated - he won't play the Libertadores in 2013. He could have, ironically, had he signed with SPFC instead (although SPFC is loaded up front).

On a different note for those here who watch the matches on Fox Deportes:
1. This year, Fox is running 30-minute episodes with introductory information on the teams from each country. They began with Argentina today. I missed the beginning during which Fox probably covered Boca, but there were tidbits on Velez, Arsenal, Newell's, and Tigre. The next "episode" is on Mexican teams.
2. The two Fox anchormen (I think they are Mexican) who spoke a little before kickoff of the current match said that both teams are previous winners - and while he correctly stated Liga won it in 2008, he said Grêmio won it on 2007 - which is untrue, as Grêmio lost in the final that year. The last time Grêmio won the Libertadores was 18 years ago. I would think that they'd vet the commentators so that they'd get these basic facts straight.

 

Seriously?

Wow... will be a great game in the first round.

 

It sure will be. The group also has The Strongest (so this match serves as a great preparation for this upcoming trip to Bolivia) and Arsenal of Sarandí. São Paulo should advance along with Atlético Mineiro – although we won’t know until the matches are played. Still, I’m confident.

 

Atletico-MG vs Sao Paulo in Mineirão would be fantastic. But I think the Atletico send your games in Independencia

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Grêmio vai pro tudo ou nada.

 

Liga's players wasting time. That one player acted as if someone shot him with a sniper rifle.

Bolivar makes it 2-3.

 

Oh my!

 

Grêmio! Elano with a scorcher.

The Grêmio fans' avalanche damaged the railing and a few fans fell down the ditch. The match is paused for now.

Grêmio fans still going nuts.

 

Yikes - that looks safe. .

 

Beautiful goal!

Avalanche ended the stadium... Just want to see what will happen if the Grêmio score the second goal.