Copa Sudamericana Preliminary Round 2nd Legs Part 2

Coritiba 2-0 Vitória
Vitória advances 5–3 on penalties
Libertad Asunción 1-1 Liga de Quito
Liga de Quito advances 4-1 on points
Unión Española 1-0 La Equidad Bogotá
Unión Española advances 4-1 on points
Flamengo 1-1 Fluminense
Fluminense advances on away goals
River Plate 2-1 Blooming Santa Cruz
River advances 6-0 on points
Emelec Guayacil 2-1 Zamora
Emelec Guayacil advances 6-0 on points


The 2008 Libertadores winners Liga de Quito advanced to the last 16 after a 1-1 draw in Asunción on Tuesday night. They did it the hard way though, coming from a Javier Gonzales goal down to snatch a draw thanks to a goal from Edison Méndez with 25 minutes to go. Despite defeating Vitória 2-0, Coritiba were eliminated after the tie went to a penalty shoot out. Marcelinho and Renathino got second half goals for Coritiba but they ultimately came up short from 12 yards. After a 2-2 draw in the first leg in Colombia, Unión Española triumphed 1-0 in the return leg to progress. The match winner, a 17th minute strike from Mauricio Aravena.

At the Maracaña, 9 man Flamengo were eliminated by bitter rivals Fluminense on away goals. Fluminense went ahead just before half time when Roni converted from the penalty spot. Flamengo, knowing they had to score twice to progress, threw everything bar the kitchen sink at Fluminense. They finally levelled on the hour after a shot from Denis Marques took a deflection and found the back of the net. Flamengo became frustrated as they chased a winner, with David and Gonzalo Fierro both seeing red in the last 10 minutes.

After the fun and games of the first leg, River Plate Montevideo and Blooming actually managed to complete their fixture in the Centenario. All the goals came in the last 10 minutes of the game, Jorge Córdoba putting River ahead. Blooming equalized almost immediately through Jose Luis Chavez but three minutes from time Bruno Montelongo grabbed the victory for River from close range. In Ecuador, Emelec came from a goal down to progress against Zamora. Giovanny Perez levelled the tie after 27 minutes and when the home side had Jose Lius Quinonez sent off 7 minutes later it was looking good for Zamora. Emelec though levelled through Franco Mendoza with 20 minutes to go and snatched the win in the last minute through Hernan Peirone. Zamora were then reduced to 9 players when Ruben Speroni and Ronald Castillo were both dismissed in injury time.

Copa Sudamericana Preliminary Round 1st Legs Part 4

Atlético Miniero 1-1 Goiás

Goiás grabbed what could be a crucial away goal against an out of sorts Atlético-MG in Belo Horizonte. Goiás were reduced to 10 men when goal machine Iarley was dismissed with 36 minutes gone. After Tcho put Atlético-MG ahead on the hour, they were reduced to 10 men when Pedro Oldoni was dimissed for 2 yellow cards. Felipe levelled for Goiás from the spot with 8 minutes left and grabbed what could be a vital away goal.

The last first leg tie takes place in Curitiba next week when Atlético Paranaense host Botafogo.

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Catch Up

Santos 3-3 Internacional
Botafogo 1-1 Cruzeiro

A couple of catch up games in the Brasileiro this week as rearranged games for various other committments take place.

On Wednesday night, Internacional staged a stunning comeback from two down only to let Santos back into a game which also featured 3 red cards. Santos were two up inside 15 minutes, Madson put the home side ahead on 13 minutes and two minutes later Kléber Pereira doubled the advantage. Inter hit back and were level before half time after scoring two goals in two minutes themselves with Alecsandro claiming both. Inter went ahead 5 minutes into the second half when Alecsandro completed his hat-trick. Santos levelled again on the hour when Kléber Pereira grabbed his second of the game, but he was dismissed alongside Gonzalo Sorondo with 14 minutes to go after a confrontation. Inter's Daniel Henrique became the third player to see red in injury time as the point lifts Inter above Avaí into fourth.

On Thursday night at the Engenhão, Botafogo remained in the last relegation place after a draw with Cruzeiro. This game, which was held over after Cruzeiro qualified for the Libertadores final burst into life when Lucio Flavio fired the home side ahead after 32 minutes. Botafogo were reduced to 10 men just after half time when Fahel received a second yellow card and Cruzeiro made the extra man tell to equalise through Thiago Ribiero with 22 minutes to go. Botafogo though, clung on to claim a valuable point.

Although Barueri and Corinthians opened Round 22 on Wednesday night, we'll cover that alongside the other 9 fixtures in the usual Monday round up.

Welcome

Some time ago, South American football was added to the coverage on Euroballs. As we look to expand from Serie A in Brazil and the Copa Sudamericana into the other domestic leagues and Copa Libertadores, it was decided to add a dedicated section to the football scene in the CONMEBOL region, hence CONMEBalls.
We'll have all the usual nonsense with a samba rhythm and Matt will be our main guide through the ever-controversial world of futbol Sudamericana.

We pick up from where we left at Euroballs.