Flamengo rejoices at moving on to the quarterfinals
Despite losing to Corinthians 2-1 on Wednesday night at the Pacaembu stadium in Sao Paulo, Flamengo advanced to the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. The Mengao advanced thanks to the away goals rule after defeating their opponents 1-0 in the first leg of the match last week in Rio de Janeiro.
Flamengo defender David’s own goal in the 28th minute gave Corinthians the lead, much to the joy of the boisterous 38,000 spectators in attendance.
In the 38th minute, Ronaldo added to Corinthians’ lead with a powerful header in response to a well-placed cross.
However, in the 50th minute, Vagner Love scored an important away goal for Flamengo with a crossing shot from the left side of the box, turning the match in their favor.
The heroics of Flamengo goalkeeper Bruno, who made a series of critical stops, prevented Corinthians from scoring the third goal that would have advanced them. Corinthians made every effort to achieve the goal that would have advanced them.
The Timao forfeited the match and are now stuck waiting for their first Copa Libertadores championship in their 100-year existence.
Cruzeiro, a team from Brazil, beat Nacional of Uruguay 3-0 in the Parque Central stadium in Montevideo to go to the quarterfinals.
Cruzeiro entered the second leg with a 3-1 lead, and despite being under relentless pressure early on, forward Thiago Ribeiro, who had scored a hat-trick in the first leg, calmly completed a free-kick to turn the tide in their favor in the 30th minute.
Renan and Gilberto added two more goals in the 48th and 81st minutes to give the Belo Horizonte giants a commanding 6-1 overall triumph.
Estudiantes de La Plata, the defending champions, defeated San Luis of Mexico 3-1 in Buenos Aires to win the match 4-1 overall.
Leandro Gonzalez gave Estudiantes the lead immediately, but Diego De La Torre quickly answered for the Mexicans. The team led by playmaker Juan Sebastian Veron won the game thanks to two goals in the second half from Leandro Benitez.
On Thursday, the following matches will take place to wrap off the Copa Libertadores round of 16 stages: Internacional vs. Banfield, Libertad vs. Once Caldas, and Universidad de Chile vs. Alianza Lima.
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