Copa Sudamericana 2014

Hazaña de Atlético Nacional en Luque, ganándole 3-1 a General Díaz, con 10 hombres desde el minute 28.

Los últimos 10 minutos han sido muy emocionantes.

PS: Wilder Guisao, in beast mode today. Guy was everywhere: defending, connecting, shooting at Medina. Top player.

 

Heroic away victory by São Paulo, palying 60 minutes with 10 men following a nonsensical red card. São Paulo never trailed and led the scoreboard on 3 different occasions. Huachipato made it 2-2 with a few minutes left in the 2nd half, but it would have needed 2 more to advance - and São Paulo's Boschilia sealed the deal with his goal.

São Paulo now faces the winner of the Emelec-Goiás match which is later tonight.

 

Didn't see that coming
Woah props to Capiata though

 

Capiata's goalkeeper went to La Bambonera last year as a tourist lol

 

Precocious Paraguayans, Capiata's players. Six years of age and already have "hijos."

 

If Libertad can't afford to pay the electric bill put the game in Defensores del Chaco. This is a disgrace. Lights out for the 2nd time 6 minutes after the restart. Disgraceful.

In Argentina, we don't allow small clubs to play international tournaments in their stadiums, paraguay should do the same. Pathetic

 

Justice served as River beats Libertad 3-1 with the lights going out twice in a stadium that is better equipped for 4th division matches rather than an international cup competition.

Hopefully this is the last time we see that place host a copa sudamericana or libertadores game. Also disgusting to see Leoz just sitting there smiling with the lights going out.

 

What a foolish elbow by Bareiro of Libertad against a River Plate player, leaving his team with 10 men in a hostile stadium against a team who had won 1-3 in the first match.

I wonder if Deportivo Capiatá will win at home tomorrow. It'd then give us 2 same-country quarterfinals: Capiatá vs. Cerro Porteño and CARP vs. Estudiantes (although some say that Boca Juniors is Bolivian/Paraguayan, so if Boca advances, some fans would call that an all-Paraguay matchup as well ).

 

I don't like the format of the sudamericana and i feel we have too many same country clashes in this tournament. Its possible that my club could make the final by playing just one opponent from another country (Libertad) as we have already faced Godoy Cruz, we now face Estudiantes, and there is a possibility of a semifinal with Boca if both teams progress.

This makes everything more difficult. For Argentine clubs, its much harder to face another team from our league. First of all, it means your opponents know you better and the rivalries between teams from argentina are far bigger than those we have with foreign teams and the games tend to be too intense. Not to mention, for the most part, Agrentine clubs are better teams than their counterparts from places like peru, ecuador, venezuela, or colombia.

I think its unfair, and I question why all the argentine teams are on one side of the bracket and all the brasilian teams on the other side of the bracket... In addition part of what makes an international cup fun and interesting is you play teams you don't know from another country and you test yourself against this strange/unknown opposition. Now River has to play Estudiantes 3 times in the span of a week... 2 in the sudamericana and 1 in the campeonato. I'd much rather face a brasilian team like goias or bahia

 

The format feeds far more teams from your country and mine than it does from other CONMEBOL countries. This year, because Lanús, an Argentine team, was the defending champion, Argentina had 7 teams - 6 is the usual, plus Lanús. Brazil has 8 each time, and we had 9 in 2013 given my São Paulo won it in 2012. Every other country only gets 4.

Same-country difficulties are the same for all countries. Team coaching staff has to scramble to get information on players, coaches, formations, videos of matches from other leagues; this information is more readily available for local teams. The Internet age has made this easier, but it's still more of a challenge. Not to mention the logistical issues such as getting to stadiums far from foreign capitals, the precarious conditions, etc. São Paulo would find a match vs. Corinthians or Palmeiras or Santos in a Sul-Americana elimination round to be bitterly competitive - and whenever we play them, it's already a derby.

There is an advantage though. Traveling to Rio or Belo Horizonte or Porto Alegre is less logistically challenging than traveling to Santiago, La Plata, Montevideo, Quito, Caracas, etc. It's going to be interesting for River Plate to face Estudiantes 3 times in a week, but going to La Plata from Buenos Aires isn't the same as going to Barranquilla, which is quite far from where your team and mine are based. Heck, we now have to go to Guayaquil.

 

Well in this River has an advantage because Estudiantes is 11 points back in the league and will most likely use an alternative squad to face River in El Monumental on November 2nd for the campeonato argentino since their basically out of contention, while River as the leaders of the tournament will field a full strength squad for that match to hold onto our 4 point advantage over Lanus.

Despite that, I'd rather have faced Peñarol than Estudiantes... It also would have been interesting since our coach Marcelo gallardo used to coach Nacional, but we won't be seeing that match up now.

As for Guayequil, good luck, its never an easy place to go especially not this time of year with the heat

 

São Paulo will have to decide in Emelec. Thankfully, Emelec isn't Quito in terms of altitude, and Emelec isn't doing too well in its league; we're second in Brazil. Having said that, there are no easy opponents; I wouldn't be surprised if Emelec parks the bus.

River Plate is going to have home field advantage the entire tournament unless it faces Deportivo Capiatá. If Deportivo Capiatá advances tonight, I would predict Cerro Porteño to advance, and Cerro Porteño will be a thorn on either your side or Estudiantes'.

 

São Paulo, not "San Pablo." Ah, whatever. I'm going back to Rio da Prata, São Lourenço, Liberdade, Cúcuta Esportivo, etc.

 

Not mad. But just for you, I'll write RiBer Plate.