Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Copa Libertadores - Boca To Take On Fluminense

Manchester United has already proven they are the best in Europe. Now it is obvious that they’re next conquest is for global domination, which will be at FIFA Club World Cup tournament later this year.

They could start doing their homework right now by paying attention to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The Copa Libertadores that is. After all, it is highly likely that the Final will be contested between Europe and South American’s finest.

One thing that I can guarantee is that, Argentina (whether it is in the form of a certain player or team) will have a winner.

One team that will grab most of the attention among Mundo’s reader will definitely be Boca Juniors. How can we all forget last year’s edition, which saw the Juan Roman RIQUELME inspired Boca capturing glory from the hands of Gremio from Brazil? We all know the love-hate relationship between Brazil, and us, which will continue again this year when Boca take on Fluminense in the semis.


Now I have to admit that my knowledge may be limited on the football scene in South America due to the lack of coverage here in Malaysia (the only staple diet that I have is either from Seba or Sam from HEGS). But it doesn’t take a genius to understand Boca’s deadly offensive trio of Roman, Martin PALERMO and Rodrigo PALACIO.

On his best and given half a chance, Roman can provide some delicious splitting passes against the tightest defense. PALERMO will benefit the most from this. Add to PALACIO mobility and trickery on the field, Boca does look good enough to go all the way.

From what I read, Roman has established a highly productive performance alongside Jesús DATOLO in midfield. Someone which I’m keen to look forward too. Not to forget, Gabriel PALETTA returning after a ill-fated stint at Liverpool. He could come in handy from set piece situations.

As for the rest, I’m sure plenty of you hardcore Boca supporters out there might want to share interesting stuffs about them. I would love to hear more about them.

My personal reason why I picked Boca to win (forgive me if I might sound controversial here) is the fact that Roman has never dissapointed anyone in a Boca’s shirt. Period.

Boca’s rival in the semis Fluminense will also bring their own Albiceleste flavour into the pitch, in the form Darío CONCA. The ex-River has been on loan for the past four years playing in Chile & Brazil. What amazes me the most, that how even Brazllian teams love to have an Argentine on roster (Carlitos, Javier etc.).

The other semi-final, which was played today, saw Club América of Mexico taking on Liga Deportiva Universitaria (LDU) from Ecuador at home. The match ended in 1-1 draw.

Sebastian DOMINGUEZ was sent off for a sliding tackle in the 73rd minute. Federico HIGUAIN (the brother of Gonzalo of Real Madrid) also came into action as a second half substitute. The Mexican side of course were playing without Federico INSUA who was still out injured (It seems his out for about 6-8 months).

While LDU was not short of Albiceleste talent in their line up with all three players, Damián MANSO, Norberto ARAUJO and Claudio BIELER, was in starting eleven.

LDU success on becoming the first side from the country reaching the semis in a decade is just another milestone for Ecuadorean football in this decade.

20 comments:

johnny said...

Hi John ! Thanks for the Boca feature ! I could write for a long time about Boca, so I'll try to keep it brief. Suffice to say, they have been in very good form recently, resting players so that everyone is in tip top shape for the Libertadores matches, and displaying the expected Boca grit when confronted by tough matches. Roman has not been at the very top of his game scoring wise, but still is the leader and coordinating play as always. A piece of good news is that Hugo Ibarra is now healthy and may start tonight. If not, he will be available from the bench. The only real weak link at present is that Mauricio Caranta, Boca's first string goalkeeper is not available(either injured or has irritated some people), and the much less experienced Pablo Migliore is in goal. My personal opinion is that if Boca can get by Fluminense and Migliore stands up to the pressure, Boca should be the champs again. Cheers !!

Anonymous said...

damnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!
i was just going going to write abt romans goal and the fluminesse just scored....darnn...but the game is soo fast its being hard for me to get the ball...will write more...
vamos boca...
vamos roman...

Anonymous said...

half time...1-1 guys...honestly...i never saw any south american league game for full and i couldn belive how fast they run and how brutal are the challenges....hundreds of c ronaldo over there of i talk abt the speed..wht a game....roman is just faboulous and the i will be really upset if we dun win this game...the other team had their chances but we are the better team i can tell tht for sure...
vamos boca...
vamos roman...

Anonymous said...

proud2bnepali, Please keep us updated!

Vamos Boca!

Anonymous said...

hello guys...
the second half is on now....if u want u can goto the myp2p site to watch the game live...i will still keep updating...

vamos boca...
vamos roman...

Anonymous said...

nealy an hr...and still one one....but the way we are attacking...i really hope we win this match....the opponent keeper made 3-4 very good save and we made some pretty bad mistake..and now first substitution for boca in the form of ibara....ayte guys back to the game...
vamos boca...
vamos roman...

Anonymous said...

free kick boca...roman yellow..roman goallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll....right between the bar and the keepers post and a wonderful celebration....
vamos boca...
vamos roman....

Seba said...

Proud2bnepali, I'm glad you're experiencing a South American match live for the first time.

Being an anti-Boca fan and having adopted Flamengo as my team when I lived in Brazil, I have no favourite for tonight. I want any from LDU or America to win the Libertadores.

The only great thing about tonight's game is the stadium! La Bombonera is closed because of a disciplinary action taken by the Conmebol after a fan threw an ice-cube and hit a linesman earlier in the Copa Libertadores. Therefore they are using Racing Club's stadium. The most beautiful in Argentina! ;)

Seba said...

Wonderkid Thiago NEVES has just scored a cracker of a goal for Fluminense. But to be honest, I can only think of Johnny and his hate-hate relantionship with MIGLIORE (Boca's keeper). It was a dodgy reaction by him and now it's 2-2, with less than 15 minutes to go.

Anonymous said...

mannnnnnnnnnn.....wht a stupid mistake by the keeper..its 2-2 again..arghhh...we have played too gooo to get anything less then a win!!i was afraid the keeper will do us bad!!seems so now...just 10 mins...
and seba ...well i really dun have much abt boca..its all because of roman....nth else..:-)...i want him to win for the wonderful game he has played...
vamos boca
vamos roman

Seba said...

p2bn, I understand perfectly. Let me ask you a question: Are you in Nepal at the moment? What time is it there?

If you want Boca to win the Libertadores, then don't get upset so quickly. It doesn't matter that they have conceded 2 away goals to Fluminense. They still have the experience and everything that's needed to win away and progress.

Anonymous said...

m at the uk my friend at the moment for like 4 yrs.studying here..my coments used to come as npl or sth like tht before...hehe...i used to write arnd copa america...this place is like holy grail for fans like me..while in nepal it was so hard to get info abt argentina but basically everyone is like crazy man of diego and the argentine team....everything argentinian is popular...i watched football frm 98 and batistuta was my god...i dun forget anything connected to him and the WC we played...the bettter team yet the looser...for me the most important thing aint any club...its the albiceleste...and my family used to say this to me when we used to manage to loose every freaking tournament some way..stop supporting argentina..maybe they will then win...and honestly i and my frens were seriously considering tht idea after the copa...it was such a pain...i still cant forget but hey....we are albiceleste for life...tht idea was gone the next day and here we go again...the pain and the hope continues....and i really want to thank u guys for ure hard work and dedication....
anyways great game for roman....he was just amazing...
anyways its 4 in the morning...take care friends...
vamos albiceleste
vamos roman....

Seba said...

Thanks for telling us your story. I remember you writing here during the Copa America.

My advice to you? Keep the faith! It's not like we are a team like Greece (no disrespect to them). We have a legit chance in every tournament we play. We will always be there or thereabouts and, most importantly, we will always try to play the beautiful football.

We've got a sensational generation coming up and the hope is to reach 2010 with a great bunch of players at the top of their game.

I'm amazed whenever I hear stories like yours and many other Albicelestes that never been to Argentina or don't even speak our language but yet, are diehard fans and they "fight" against fans of Brazil or England, especially in Asia (where those two national teams are very popular).

It's our pleasure to do this blog and it's also a way to be in touch with those who follow the same team we love.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, has the Boca-Fluminese game ended 2-2?

johnny said...

Yes Seba-hate, hate and more hate ! An even match at times, but clearly Boca had the upper hand. Migliore is just not going to cut it at this level. Every ball in the air is an adventure for him and he horribly misplayed that second goal. A shame. Boca was relentless in Flu's side of the field and I love the mix with Roman and Chavez. You can see that Roman is able to move up the field a little more with Chavez on the pitch. Nice effort from Palacio as well tonight. Same old situation for Boca, where they will have to go to Brazil next week and win the match outright.

Bibin said...

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=714549

See this news. Isn't it strange that Argentina cannot call upon their favorite son to fight for their country. Messi's father consider that it is natural for Barca to find a reason to retain their star. Why it not so natural for Argentina needing their biggest star represent the country. I have early wrote about this see the news : http://www.allaboutfcbarcelona.com/2008/05/barcelona-reportedly-unhappy-about.html

John said...

P2bn, listen to my man Seba. Always keep faith on our beloved team no matter what.

I'm from Malaysia, and together with Alwin and Bala we are the Crazy Albi-Malaysian Gang.

We f#@$ any other fans that condemn our team and players. Even it has been a long time we have never won any major honours.

When I get to hear stories like your, I know that I'm not alone in this world.

This is the BEST place for Argentina fans from all ages to gather and share our moment hapiness.

I'm sorry Seba, but I'm really hoping for Boca to come out on top in the 2nd leg.

johnny said...

There is article in Goal.com today where PATO states he wants to come back to Boca from Getafe. WHERE WAS HE LAST NIGHT ?! PATO ! GET ON THAT PLANE RIGHT NOW !!!!

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