It was a fluke. That curious trajectory you speak of is the deflection off of Diego Rivero. Orion had the the angle as the ball was played off of Carletos boot. Worst case scenario if that ball goes through untouched is possibly on a short hop. The way Orion has been playing for a while now that ball is saved more often than not. Nothing against Carletos as his shots and service the rest of the night was better than solid. His approach to the ball on fk's reminds me a little of Roberto Carlos.
Well, Neymar and Ganso missed a lot of games in the Brasilerao last year but played in most (all?) of the Paulista'12 matches. Combining that with the obvious fact that the Brasilerao is a tougher competition leads to the results we've witnessed.
Velez is playing with 10 men after Barovero was ejected but are holding on to the scoreless draw that will see them through. Santos and Neymar haven't shown up yet. Lets see what happens in the second half.
LOL! Velez is parking the bus in front of the goal. I doubt they can survive playing that way against Santos.
They are doing some brave defending though. And Martinez is looking deadly on the counters. Santos could use a bit more patience in attack, I feel. Maybe being just a bit less direct will solve the Velez puzzle. Can Velez hang on for 20-23 more minutes?
Ganso makes a pass like Riquelme and it's 1-0. With this result they go to penalties. Can Velez hang on?
Gutsy performance from Velez tonight. Down a player to Santos in Brazil and still a chance with the penalties. I hope Cosmos isn't having a heart attack.
Santos takes it. I have absolutely nothing against Velez, but I am quite glad Santos made it for one very simple reason. A staffperson from Velez's press corps Twittered a rude comment about a Santos great, Chico Formiga, who recently died. Carlos Marino published a photograph of Marino's wake and wrote, "is this a prognostic for today? hahaha!" Classless and crass. I know that Velez's players have nothing to do with a journalist's misbehavior, but I wouldn't have wanted him to "jajajaja" all the way back to Buenos Aires with a semifinal berth. Good for Santos. Their title reign lasts at least two more matches. Onto Corinthians for an unforgettable all-Brazilian semifinal.
The number 6 from La U kicked it perfectly - high, strong, nearly indefensible. And La U has advanced. I watched little of the match, but what I did notice was that of the four semifinal return legs, La U's fans provided the best atmosphere. Better than Engenhao, better than Vila Belmiro (who did pop a lot of fireworks), and better than Pacaembu. These Chilean fans seem quite passionate, and theirs is a large stadium. It will make a fitting stage for the return leg against Boca. So now we move on to international friendlies (I myself will be at Rutherford in New Jersey to watch Brazil and Argentina. It will be my second time watching Neymar in person.)... and to World Cup qualifying. Y'all enjoy your evening and the upcoming NT matches. I look forward to the semifinals.
That feel when Chileans hate you for supporting a team that will most likely smash their only hope for success in anything. Feels good You n your hate should get a room. PDA not allowed on the boards.
Speaking of nationalities, I was impressed with Osses, the Chilean ref who did the Boca Flu match yesterday. We've talked a lot here about horrible refs (and rightly so), but I thought he did an outstanding job in a very intimidating environment. He didn't buy the dives and fake injuries -particularly from Carletto- he wasn't influenced by the crowd, and I thought he made the right calls most of the time. My only doubt is if Rivero's shot went into the goal, but it was a tough call either way, and anyway Silva's follow-up made it a moot point. How is he seen in Chile, is he generally known as a fair and competent ref, or was it a fluke?
??? Why would anyone mock a foreign fan of Brasilian football? There's nothing wrong with that. The reason Europe became so strong is because of foreign fans. Latin football should always welcome foreign fans with open arms.
Exactly. I have a friend from El Salvador who is a huge Boca fan and he doesn't miss a Copa Libertadores game. We were watching the game and he was suffering as much as I was and when Silva scored I think we gave the neighbors a heart attack the way we yelled the goal. It's nice to see people from other parts of the world get into Libertadores and appreciate it for the great tournament that it is.