World Soccer - UK (2021-03)

he 61st final of the

Copa Libertadores

will be hard for

fans of Palmeiras

to forget – and

difficult for anyone

else to remember.

A goal in the ninth minute of

stoppage time gave Palmeiras a1-0

win over Santos in an all-Brazilian

decider, played in Rio deJaneiro’s

Maracana. The unlikely hero was

substitute striker Breno Lopes,

plucked recently out of the second

division – so recently, in fact, that

he was too late for selection for the

Club World Cup. Had much-vaunted

teenager Gabriel Veron been fit, then

Breno Lopes would almost certainly

have not been on the pitch. But he

wasthereatthefarposttomeeta

lovely Rony cross from deep right, and

he headed firmly back across into the

corner to provide some late drama to

an eminently forgettable match.

The main villain here was the heat.

The game kicked off at 5pm in blazing

high summer. In the original schedule

the final would have taken place in

November – springtime. The pandemic

forced things back, but sadly not the

start time. It seems that free-to-air

Brazilian TV insisted, and so the

players were forced into a sauna.

The conditions clearly made it

impossible for Santos to reproduce

what they had done in the two

previous rounds. Broke, banned from

signing players and with the club

president impeached, Santos were

forced to go with what they had.

Coach Cuca marshalled his resources,

putting his faith in youth and the team

opened up the campaign with a

succession of hard-fought, single goal

victories. Growing in confidence, they

went bold against the big guns. In the

quarters and semis they earned draws

away from home against Gremio of

Brazil and BocaJuniors of Argentina

• teams who are at the business end
  of the competition every year – then
  pressed them aggressively at home
  in midfield on their way to impressive
  4-1 and 3-0 victories.

Palmeiras are crowned

champions of South America

Sao Paulo side win all-Brazilian final, while Argentine side Defensa y Justicia

lift the Copa Sudamericana

CONMEBOL Copas

TIM VICKERY

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Match-winner...

Breno Lopes

celebrates

Copa Libertadores...

Palmeiras lift the famous

trophy at the Maracana