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Tim Vickery Column- A look at what Brazilian clubs need to do to safely make the next round of the Copa Libertadores

The majority of Brazilian teams should escape Libertadores humiliation but why, with a huge financial advantage, is it even open for discussion?
Two defeats, three draws and just one win last week for Brazil’s representatives in the Copa Libertadores and some are looking to push the panic button.

On Sunday night I was on a show on TV Brasil where the audience were asked whether they thought the six local clubs would make it through to the competition’s knock out stages. Nearly 70% thought they would not.

Reigning champions Atletico Mineiro would seem to have few problems, however. They might not have played particularly well, and their group might be relatively straightforward, but that is hardly relevant. The only aim at this point in the competition is to get safely across the line and into the last sixteen, and in Atletico’s case one win from their remaining three games will surely be enough.

It is a task which looks even easier because two of those matches are at home, in their Belo Horizonte fortress, the Independencia stadium. Atletico have already picked up four points – a win and a draw – from their two away matches, and in the Libertadores this usually makes all the difference.

Away wins in South America are much rarer than in Europe. The Champions League and the European national team qualifiers often have a ratio of one and a half home wins to every triumph for the visitors. In South America, both in the Libertadores and in World Cup qualification, away wins are usually twice as rare; the standard ratio is three to one. In this year’s Libertadores the situation is even more extreme; the group phase has so far contained 30 home wins to just 6 away.

This is the challenge that now faces Gremio, who thus far have probably been the most impressive side in the competition. But they are in the most difficult group, and now face their hardest two games – away to Newell’s Old Boys of Argentina and then to Atletico Nacional of Colombia. Even with two defeats, though, they should be safe. A last round win at home to Nacional of Uruguay, the weakest team in the group, should be enough to secure a place in the knock out stage.

After these two teams, though, things become a bit more complicated.

Cruzeiro went into the Libertadores as tournament favourites; Brazilian teams have won the title in the last four years, and, playing an exciting brand of football, coach Marcelo Oliveira’s team cruised to the 2013 domestic title. It was always likely, however, that the Libertadores would prove to be more of a test, and so it is turning out. Cruzeiro have lost both of their away matches. A 5-1 home win over Universidad de Chile gives them a good goal difference, and means that two more home wins should be good enough. But now the pressure is on, especially this Thursday against Defensor of Uruguay, who beat them 2-0 in Montevideo last week.

Botafogo also have a crunch home tie against opponents who came out on top a week ago. This Tuesday they face Independiente del Valle, a small club from Ecuador with an excellent youth policy. On a waterlogged pitch in a tiny stadium at the altitude of Quito, Botafogo went down 2-1 last Wednesday. It should be a different story in the Maracana – but, as in the case of Cruzeiro, the pressure is on. A victory will leave Botafogo sitting pretty – and the away point they picked up against Union Espanola should serve them well even if they are held to a draw.

Atletico Paranense have two obstacles to overcome. One is Velez Sarsfield of Argentina, a splendid side who beat them comfortably in Buenos Aires and who will meet them next week in Curitiba. The other is the altitude of La Paz, where they will travel to meet The Strongest of Bolivia for their final group game. First comes what should be the home banker against Universitario of Peru, a side who have yet to score in their three matches. Atletico have only managed two goals – and need to go in search of plenty more against the Peruvians this Thursday; the group may well be defined on goal difference.

The most complicated case is that of Flamengo, who have already lost away to Leon of Mexico, and who dropped two vital home points with last week’s 2-2 draw against Bolivar of Bolivia. This week they take on the same opponents in La Paz, 3,600 metres above sea level, and without some of their most important players – especially Paraguayan midfielder Victor Caceres, the fighting heart of the team in recent weeks.

In the rarefied air of extreme altitude it is impossible for unacclimatised teams to play their normal game, but Flamengo will surely have to win either in La Paz or in their next game, away to Emelec of Ecuador – who, thankfully for the Rio giants, are from Guayaquil, at sea level, rather than Quito, the country’s mountain capital.

Even if they manage to pull it off, and all the Brazilian clubs battle their way through, a question will still remain; why is this competition proving so difficult?

After all, the gap in financial resources between Brazil’s clubs and those on the rest of the continent has become a chasm. Last year’s final, for example, was between Atletico Mineiro and Olimpia of Paraguay. The entire wage bill of the Paraguayan club would not even pay for Ronaldinho – but this difference was not visible on the pitch – so much so that the tie was only decided on a penalty shoot out. Although Brazilian teams have won the competition in each of the last four years, they are not dominating the Libertadores as one might expect from a glance at the finances. Indeed, had Atletico keeper Vitor not saved a stoppage time penalty in last year’s quarter final, there would have been no Brazilian participation in the closing stages of the 2013 Libertadores.

In part this can be explained by the inherent difficulty of the Libertadores. Playing away from home will always present problems in such a large continent with so many climatic variations. But it is also impossible not to come to the conclusion that domestic Brazilian football continues to punch beneath its weight.

There was plenty of evidence in last week’s draw between Flamengo and Bolivar. The visiting team were outgunned in technical and physical terms. But tactically they were a surprise. In his first game in charge of the club, Bolivar coach Xavier Azkargorta set up his team to be compact and difficult to play through. A leading Rio football journalist sitting beside me was astonished. “Even a Bolivian team is more modern than we are,” he exclaimed.

It is worth noting that of those last four Brazilian winners of the Libertadores, only one came back from the World Club Cup with the trophy. The others all crawled home with their tail between their legs, trying to hide the humiliation. The exception, of course was the Corinthians of 2012, set up by coach Tite to play in a compact block which seems so hard for other contemporary Brazilian teams to achieve.

Spændende kamp i nat mellem Newell´s x Grêmio.. Den som vinder den kamp har et ben i playoff kampene. Dets er lidt skræmmende ud, hvis vi taber til Newell´s, da vi skal møde Atletico Nacional i Colombia.. For helvede, vi har nogle dårlige minder derfra..

Botafogo ser i hvert fald godt kørende ud i deres gruppe!

Kampe: 19/03-2014: Copa Libertadores

Botafogo RJ (Bra) 1 x 0 Independiente del Valle (Ecu)
Santa Fé (Col) 2 x 2 Zamora (Ven)
Velez Sarsfield 2 x 0 The Strongest (Bol)
Santos Laguna 3 x 0 Anzoategui

Santos Laguna ligner det første hold som kvalificere sig videre, det samme gør Atletíco Mineiro, hvis de vinder deres hjemmebane kamp mod Nacional Asuncion

Nattens kampe:

Atletíco-MG x Nacional
Newell´s Old Boys x Grêmio
Bolivar x Flamengo
León x Emelec (Ligner en god kamp!)
Peñarol x Arsenal de Sarandi

Spændende kamp i nat mellem Newell´s x Grêmio.. Den som vinder den kamp har et ben i playoff kampene. Dets er lidt skræmmende ud, hvis vi taber til Newell´s, da vi skal møde Atletico Nacional i Colombia.. For helvede, vi har nogle dårlige minder derfra..

Presset er på de langhårede de skal bruge 3 point, de smed jo 3 point i Medellín, og colombianerne hentede 3 point i nat i Montevideo - det skal nok gå....det ender nok med det bliver Gremio og Atl Nacional der går videre fra gruppen.

Af Serie A holdene, er jeg mest bekymret for Flamengo, de fuckede op mod Bolivar og kan ikke se dem hente 3 point i La Paz i nat, de er uden bla. Cáceres og Elano, Fatty Santos er ikke ligefrem en vårhare i den tynde luft - Det bliver en crunch match i Guayaquil mod EMELEC er jeg bange for, ikke ligefrem det fedeste scenarie.

MARCO ETCHEVERRY AND THE TWO-TOUCH WORLD CUP

Few sports teams can lay claim to having been all-conquering right off the bat. DC United´s beginnings might have been at a modest standard of football compared to the true global icons of the game, but they quickly established themselves as the leading team in the new Major League Soccer in the United States of America by taking on all comers - and winning - right from the start. For a while, at least.

Bolivia´s Marco Etcheverry was a crucial factor. Listed as his honours in MLS are three MLS Cup winners´ medals, a US Open Cup medal and a CONCACAF Champions Cup medal. They were all awarded, polished and locked away for safekeeping by the end of 1999, the fourth season of the fledgling league´s existence. United´s league and cup double in 1996 had set the tone and was followed by a flurry of trophies that also included the last ever Copa Interamericana, a title of which Etcheverry remains proud despite its long forgotten prestige.

For a South American player to beat Vasco da Gama over two legs despite being a goal down after the first was a worthwhile achievement in any circumstances; to do it as part of a team from Washington, DC in its third year would have been quite something for a player from Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

For everything he achieved in the USA Etcheverry is regarded by DC United supporters as a true icon of the best time in their history. Trophies are all well and good, but Etcheverry´s football is what really etched him into the American soccer consciousness in the second half of the 1990s.

´El Diablo´ was the player who was loved by his own supporters and loathed by those on the other side. His fiery temper rubbed opposition fans up the wrong way, perhaps most notably in MLS those of Chicago Fire. He liked to chip away at opponents while referees looked the other way, not that it seemed to bother him too much if they saw. Etcheverry, classy and elegant on the ball and blessed with tremendous vision, was equally adept at complaining about officials both to their faces and to the media.

But his famously dangerous left foot outweighed all of that for those supporters in a position to adore him. His friendship with compatriot Jaime Moreno, a genuine DC United and MLS legend in his own right, blossomed into a beautiful and deadly partnership on the fields of Major League Soccer and the silverware flowed to the capital.

As well as winning multiple championships in North and South America, Etcheverry had an impressive international career that spanned fourteen years. He made his name with 13 goals in 71 caps and was part of a team that took Bolivia as far as any other.

Their qualification for USA ´94 demonstrated both the importance of Etcheverry and the distinct advantage, now lore, of playing home games in La Paz. The effects of playing at over 3,500 metres above sea level do nothing for the performances of away teams and La Paz was a crucial factor in World Cup 1994 qualification as Bolivia finished second behind Brazil in CONMEBOL´s Group 2.

They began away from home, however, and dismantled a poor Venezuela side to the tune of 7-1 before Etcheverry began to write his World Cup story by scoring the opening goal against Brazil in La Paz in July 1993. Bolivia won 2-0 and condemned Brazil to their first ever defeat in World Cup qualifying at the 32nd time of asking. A 6-0 loss in Recife the following month highlights the severe impact of altitude as well as shortness of breath ever could.

Etcheverry scored the second goal in a 3-1 win over Uruguay and twice in another demolition of Venezuela, taking his total to four as La Verde made that home advantage count. They lost in Uruguay and drew in Ecuador, qualifying automatically behind the Brazilian side that went on to win the main event in the United States. It was the first time Bolivia had won a World Cup place outright by way of a qualifying campaign.

But, with the qualifying round in the books and the summer tournament on the horizon, Etcheverry found himself with another battle to fight in between. A serious knee injury sustained in November forced the Colo Colo playmaker into surgery and a seven-month period of rehabilitation that had his World Cup participation doubtful right up to the wire.

Indeed, his injury and a lack of match fitness kept him on the bench for his return match, the small matter of the opening game of World Cup USA ´94, in which Bolivia faced reigning world champions Germany at Chicago´s Soldier Field.

Bolivia coach Xabier Azkargorta held Etcheverry back until the last eleven minutes, hoping to capitalise on tired German legs and El Diablo´s natural ability to make something, anything, happen for his side. Sure enough the headlines went Etcheverry´s way, but they weren´t the headlines he and Azkargorta had been hoping for.

Four minutes after replacing Oriente Petrolero´s William Ramallo, Etcheverry clashed with Lothar Matthäus. He kicked out as the two squared up and was sent off by referee Arturo Brizio Carter. The kick was risky and petulant but not dangerous, and it had no possibility of doing the German any damage if indeed any contact was made at all. It was a devastating conclusion to a long recovery.

Etcheverry was remorseful and conciliatory after the match but the German was no innocent party. His flailing arm had instigated the incident, not for the first time or the last. Matthäus had a Major League Soccer spell of his own in 2000 and is remembered by fans of the league with the kind of fondness that might be reserved for the discovery of chewing gum, or worse, on the bottom of one´s shoe.

El Diablo, on the other hand, went on to great success in the United States but never again played in a World Cup; Bolivia have not participated in the finals since their ill-fated dalliance in 1994. So, Etcheverry´s total World Cup finals contribution consists of four minutes, two touches and a badly chosen retaliation that became little more than a pub quiz question. As supporters of the Black-and-Red will tell you, that incident tells barely a fraction of the Etcheverry story.

Boca: ensayo formal con Riquelme

BUENOS AIRES -- Con el partido ante Quilmes como objetivo próximo, el plantel de Boca se entrenó apenas comenzada la mañana del miércoles y su entrenador, Carlos Bianchi, programó una práctica de fútbol formal, de la cual participó Juan Román Riquelme.

El histórico enganche Xeneize se había entrenador diferenciado y en la Boca ya comenzaba a ser una posibilidad que Bianchi decida preservarlo, teniendo en cuenta que en poco más de una semana se jugará el Superclásico. Sin embargo, Riquelme fue probado, rindió y todo indica que jugará el domingo ante Quilmes.

Por otro lado, fueron cuatro las variantes con respecto a los once que igualaron ante Argentinos Juniors. Ingresaron al equipo Hernán Grana, Claudio Pérez, Emanuel Insúa y Fernando Gago, en lugar de Leandro Marín (desgarrado), Daniel Díaz (suspendido por cinco amarillas), Nahuel Zárate (táctico) y Cristian Erbes (también suspendido por acumulación de tarjetas).

En definitiva, los once que paró Bianchi y que jugarían desde el inicio frente a Quilems son: Agustín Orion; Hernán Grana, Claudio Pérez, Juan Forlín, Emanuel Insúa; Fernando Gago, Fedeirco Bravo, Juan Sánchez Miño; Juan Román Riquelme; Luciano Acosta y Emannuel Gigliotti.

Boca visitará a Quilmes desde las 21:30 hs. del domingo, con el arbitraje de Dario Herrera. Un dato a tener en cuenta es que en las próximas horas se definirá cuál será la sanción al estadio de Quilmes. Todo indica que el partido se jugaría sin la presencia de público.

Barcelona: Revelan primera lista de los refuerzos del Tata Martino

BARCELONA - ESPN Brasil tuvo acceso a la primera lista de jugadores que el técnico del Barcelona, Gerardo Martino, entregó a la directiva blaugrana para reforzar al equipo en el pasado mercado de invierno y del cual ningún elemento de la misma fue fichado.

La lista que el argentino entregó a Sandro Rosell el pasado 10 de octubre de 2013 contiene ocho nombres: cuatro defensas, dos mediocampistas y dos atacantes, entre los que destacan Sergio Agüero, Filipe Luís y el veterano delantero Miroslav Klose.

En la defensa Martino pidió a: Neven Subotic, del Borussia Dortmund, el argentino Santiago Vergini, quien está a préstamo en el Sunderland; el brasileño Dória y al lateral izquierdo del Atlético de Madrid, Filipe Luís.

En el mediocampo tenía dos cartas: Ilkay Gundogan, del Borussia Dortmund y el turco Arda Turan del Atlético, mientras que en la ofensiva las opciones son Segio Agüero o Klose de la Lazio de Italia, y de quien podría ser una "contratación de corto plazo" y un gasto de dos millones de euros.

Mientras que Agüero habría sido de "28 millones de euros, un jugador de la cantera y dos partidos amistosos con el Manchester City".

De esos elementos el "Tata" tiene la prioridad de encontrar a un "9", dos zagueros centrales y un mediocampista. El delantero es pensando en las lesiones que tuvo la estrella del equipo, Lionel Messi.

Uno de los jugadores que fueron de los primeros en ser descartados fue Gundogan, quien tras ser evaluado por la directiva colocaron delante de su nombre a: "¡22 millones (de euros)! Fábregas y Sergi Roberto necesitan de tiempo de juego".

Ramón Díaz probó con Osmar Ferreyra

BUENOS AIRES -- Durante la mañana del miércoles, el plantel de River volvió a trabajar en Ezeiza y, en esta oportunidad, Ramón Díaz programó un ensayo de fútbol formal que tuvo a Osmar Ferreyra como titular.

El "Malevo" se paró en el lateral izquierdo ocupando el lugar de Leonel Vangioni, expulsado en el partido ante All Boys, y todo en indica que jugará como titular frente a Lanús.

Por otro lado, la preocupación por Teófilo Gutiérrez aumenta debido a que, por segundo día consecutivo, se entrenó diferenciado por una fatiga muscular. Por lo pronto, mientras se aguarda la evolución del colombiano, en la práctica de fútbol, Ramón Díaz paró a Daniel Villalba como acompañante de Fernando Cavenaghi.

De esta manera, con la incógnita en el ataque por despejar, los once titulares para recibir a Lanús serían: Marcelo Barovero; Gabriel Mercado, Jonatan Maidana, Éder Álvarez Balanta, Osmar Ferreyra; Carlos Carbonero, Cristian Ledesma, Ariel Rojas; Manuel Lanzini, Fernando Cavenaghi y Teófilo Gutiérrez o Daniel Villalba.

River recibirá a Lanús desde las 18:15 hs. del domingo, con el arbitraje de Mauro Vigliano. El conjunto de Ramón Díaz buscará volver a sumar de a tres en el partido previo al Superclásico que se jugará el próximo 30 de marzo, en la Bombonera.

José Flores: "Fue clave tener paciencia y tranquilidad"

BUENOS AIRES -- El director técnico de Velez Sarsfield, José Turu Flores, rescató como virtudes principales de la victoria sobre The Strongest de Bolivia por 2-0 a la "paciencia y tranquilidad" que el equipo de Liniers tuvo en el estadio José Amalfitani para quedarse con los tres puntos en el duelo por la zona I de la Copa Libertadores.

"Fue clave tener paciencia y tranquilidad", argumentó el entrenador velezano, una vez concluido el partido.

Para el DT, reemplazante de Ricardo Gareca, el éxito "costó porque ellos (The Strongest) se cerraron bien y poseen jugadores rápidos". Sin embargo, para el Turu Flores, el triunfo no corrió "nunca riesgo, porque jamás nos inquietaron".

El técnico no quiso atribuirse mayores méritos por los ingresos de Roberto Nanni y Jorge Correa, quienes entregaron mayor movilidad al ataque de Velez en el tramo final del cotejo.

"Teníamos que cambiar porque quedaba poco tiempo. Para eso están los jugadores en el banco también", bromeó Flores.

El entrenador se declaró "feliz" por el éxito, aunque aclaró que "no hay mucho tiempo para festejar".

Es que, en algunas horas más, el técnico velezano ya pondrá su mente en el próximo objetivo, Estudiantes de La Plata, rival al que enfrentará el sábado, a las 20.30, por la novena fecha del torneo Final.

"No hay respiro y ya tenemos que pensar en Estudiantes", confió Turu Flores, que este jueves estará comandando la práctica del plantel, a realizarse en la Villa OLímpica de Parque Leloir.

MoBay juggernaut rolls on

Montego Bay United maintained their three point lead atop of the premier league with a hard fought 1-0 away win over Tivoli Gardens.

Omar Gordon got the benefit of what appeared to be an offside call and fired home in the third minute propelling Montego Bay United to their 12th win from 25 games and onto 45 points.

However, it was a cruel blow to the chances of Tivoli Gardens in their push for a top four playoff spot and they remained in fifth spot on 34 points but missed a glorious chance of leapfrogging the inactive Arnett Gardens who are fourth on 35 points.

Tivoli Gardens’ coach, Glendon Admiral Bailey could not contain his disappointment with his teams performance and especially what he called poor officiating.

The game was decided by bad officiating and football was supposed to gone pass that now. It’s just one of those things…it’s a minor setback and we are really disappointed we didn’t enter the top four today but there is a lot of football still to play,” Bailey ranted.

Meanwhile Harbour View whipped Cavalier 3-0 to stay in touch with the leader in second spot on 42 points. It was the Stars of the East’s first win in their last seven games.

Bryan Brown netted his 12th goal of the season giving Harbour View a seventh minute lead before Damarley Oliver doubled the advantage in minute 30. Damion Harwood then put the icing on the cake in the 62nd minute.

Cavalier which was suffering their 11th loss of the campaign saw their hopes of a top four finish dented and stayed in seventh spot on 30 points. They are five points adrift of their target with some work to do.

At the Effortville Community Centre, Denzil Watson scored a late, late equalizer in the 90+1 minute in a 2-2 draw with Rivoli United. Devon Hodges grabbed a brace for Rivoli in the 41st and 77th minute to become the sole leader in the Golden Boots race with 13 goals. Earlier Kemeel Wolfe had scored from the spot in the 54th minute for Humble Lion.

The visitors would leave Clarendon a very disappointed team after looking like winners but instead had to take a point home and inched to 27 points but still in the relegation zone in 11th spot. Humble Lion would have been more appreciative as they inched to 29 points and slipped s pot to ninth.

At Collie Smith Drive, home team Boys Town and Sporting Central Academy battled to a 0-0 draw in a result that did little for both teams.

Sporting Central moved to 31 points but stayed in sixth spot and missed a chance to significantly close the gap on the teams above for that fight for the fourth spot. Instead, they remained three points behind Tivoli Gardens and four adrift of Arnett Gardens who has a game in hand. Boys Town stayed in ninth spot on 27 points but are still lying dangerously in the relegation zone.

In the late kickoff at Ferdie Neita Park, Portmore United climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over August Town and jumped two spots to eighth on 29 points. Ewan Grandison netted the all-important winner in the 84th minute. August Town, which was losing for the first time in their last nine games, stayed bottom of the 12-team league on 24 points.