With the Beira-Rio in all it’s glory, bathed in 50,000 + red shirts and lit with red flares, the drama started early. Really early. During the national anthems, in fact.

The Brazilian band hired to play the anthems cut the Mexican anthem short and to show their displeasure, Adolfo “El Bofo” Bautista walked away and started warming up while his teammates started talking to each other DURING the Brazilian anthem. Of course, the Beira-Rio started to boo the Chivas team immediately.

Inter came out looking to close the book early on in this match. Chivas was forced to take a reactionary role where they were forced back into their penalty area. So much so that it wasn’t odd to see Omar Bravo in the penalty area helping to clear crosses. And what that created was a Chivas side that could get the ball in their half but without enough players forward to create any kind of danger on Inter’s penalty area.

But still, the physicality of Omar Bravo and El Bofo still warranted some tight marking by the Inter defensive line. Without the ball, Chivas resorted to some rough play including a couple of hard fouls on Andrés D’Alessandro by Patricio Araujo.

The word was out, D’Alessandro was a wanted man. In the last 15 minutes of the first half, Chivas came out of the back a little and had a couple of great plays where Omar Arellano, Omar Bravo and El Bofo found each other in Inter territory. But overall, the first half was mostly Inter’s who dominated with possession and open play, finding each other in the spaces that Chivas left for them.

But again, in the waning minutes (Celso Roth take a note here already) of the first half Omar Bravo headed the ball in the penalty area that he angled toward Marco Fabian who, in spectacular fashion, buried the ball into the net with his back to goal and over an Inter defender. With only two or three minutes left in the half, Inter could not react.

1-0 to Chivas at the half. And you could hear a pin drop in the Beira-Rio.

With the lead, Chivas began to take advantage of Inter’s desperation and stood a little closer to Renan’s goal. But when Inter got the ball from Chivas, they had a clarity and ability to get to the Chivas penalty area almost at will. And Chivas’ players weren’t altogether connected. They missed final passes or didn’t see an open teammate which meant that they didn’t turn the possessions they had into something fruitful.

Rafael Sobis’ hard work finally paid off in the 61st minute. Off a fantastic play where D’Alessandro, Tinga and then Kleber combined to leave Rafael Sobis face to face with Chivas keeper Luis Ernesto Michel.

1-1. The stadium exploded. The crowd chanted and my mouth drops at the replay of Kleber’s fantastic cross from the right.

But the match took a physical turn and that started with an interaction between Bolivar and Bravo, a play that earned the Brazilian central defender a yellow. From that point on, whenever there was a 50-50 ball, the Chivas players would follow through a little too rough and that play began to punctuate the match including a terrible play where Héctor Reynoso literally punched Sobis in the back away from the eyes of the referee.

In the 75 minute, Chivas’ innocence showed in the face of such a big event. A back pass to their defensive line was poorly executed and Leandro (with fresh legs having come on just 2 minutes earlier) took full advantage and ran the ball down, past two more Chivas defenders and took a shot that went off Michel, ending up in the back of the net.

Last nail.

2-1 to Inter. Right? Wrong.

Chivas desperately searched for the equalizer that would allow them back into this match. But they found little space or didn’t have enough players up front to really create some continuous danger. Chivas deflated after Inter’s second goal. But the match was not over yet.

With the match out of their hands, Omar Arellano, with a studs up tackle, took his turn at taking down D’Alessandro earning himself a straight red. Red card for Chivas.

On the ensuing play, Reynoso took down D’Alessandro again with an elbow to the back narrowly dodging his own red card. The match was slipping from Chivas and instead of looking to play football, it seemed they resorted to cheating, playing roughly and disgracing themselves.

In the 89th minute, Inter extended their lead. Marked by two Chivas defenders, Giuliano gets the ball at the edge of the area and while both defenders expected him to take a shot, he flicked the ball between both defenders and then followed the ball through them only to then also beat Chivas keeper Michel.

Ok, now it’s over. 3-1 to Inter.

Well, not really. Because Inter’s players and their fans, may have started celebrating a bit too early. And in the waning minutes (Again, Celso Roth, take a note man!!) Chivas was able to win a free kick just outside the penalty area. El Bofo takes a rocket of a free kick and it rebounds off the crossbar into Bravo’s path where he scores for Chivas.

Too little. Too late. 3-2 to Inter. Final Score. Nail, coffin. Jello, giggling.

But I wish the drama was over. It wasn’t.

The rumor is that one of the younger assistants that was brought onto the pitch to put together the stage for the trophy ceremony, spat and yelled at Marco Fabian. Hector Reynoso retaliated by walking over towards the Inter players and swinging at someone who looked like an assistant coach. All hell broke loose. I saw white Chivas shirts surrounded by red Inter shirts. I saw old men (possibly part of the coaching staff?) swinging and kicking at Chivas players and by the time everyone was broken up Patricio Araujo had a split eyebrow.

SHAMEFUL.

Shameful hosting by the Brazilian side. From the beginning to the end. CONMEBOL should be ashamed that a team that is basically invited to this tournament is treated this way. So disrespectful. I hope they step up and demand sanctions be paid or prize money be withheld.

I had his match going 1-1. I gave Chivas way more credit than they deserved. When the going got tough, they resorted to rough, dirty play and in then end, got their just desserts. This is an international final match and if tough times show what you’re made of this does not bode well for Chivas. But still, they are a young side that could make another run, which I fully expect them to if they qualify for the Copa Libertadores 2011, and I hope they do. I always, sincerely, enjoy the Mexican clubs’ participation in this tournament.

Inter on the other hand, played a great match. When their playmaker D’Alessandro was marked out of the game, Tinga and Guiñazu stepped up and played out of their skins. In the end, Chivas didn’t have enough fingers to plug all the holes on the pitch. Inter had too many talented players and Chivas couldn’t stop them all. And when Inter need a goal, they MUST put on Giuliano. Giuliano = Goals. Period.

I hope you all enjoyed tonight’s match. It was an epic affair with a little too much drama for my taste. I find that matches like tonight’s are the reason why European clubs and fans don’t take our leagues and continent seriously. Imagine C. Ronaldo getting spat at by a stadium worker. Unthinkable.

Well, I’d like to thank my readers for picking up my blog again. I know I only covered the end of this tournament but it was fantastic to get back to it. Please stay tuned to my other blog, Copa Sudamericana. There are some good match ups coming our way and the last two years have been pretty good.

So this is it. The BIG match. The one we’ve been waiting for since the end of January when the first stage matches began for this edition of the Copa Libertadores.

But it feels like we’ve been here before. You see, if you’ve been following along, (ok, I know I was MIA for a long while there) in the 2008 Copa Sudamericana semifinals, Inter and Chivas met for a shot at the final match. Then Inter won the away match in Mexico 2-0, only to crush Chivas in the return leg at the Beira-Rio, 4-0 with two goals by Andrés D’Alessandro. So really, we have been here before. Inter scoring two goals on the away leg and heading home to host a very wounded (read: very dangerous) Mexican side.

Employing a 4-2-3-1 formation with two holding midfielders, two offensive wing midfielders, and one creative midfielder behind a single striker, Celso Roth has implemented a very physical, organized style of play for Inter who had trouble winning outside of the Beira-Rio under former coach Jorge Fossati.

Also, Inter have managed to build a great team around Andrés D’Alessandro, easily the team’s most important player. But it’d be easy to write him off as only being gifted with the ball at his feet when, in all honesty, it’s his vision on the pitch that makes him special. And that’s something that you’ll likely get to see plenty of, since most of Inter’s offensive plays involve him in one way or another.

If Inter have an achilles’ heel, it could be the blunders their keeper Renan has made in the semifinals and in the first leg of the final when Adolfo Bautista lobbed a header over his head, match commentators argued that he was too far off his line. But that’s about it. They are a pretty complete side with several bench players that could easily start as well.

If this team looks so good, it’s no surprise. This is Celso Roth’s 4th stint as Inter coach, so it’s something that isn’t new to him although if his side win tonight, it’ll be his first international cup/honor. And after coaching for 22 years, it’s about time.

But let’s not hand the cup over to Inter just yet. There are 90 minutes left to play and I haven’t written Chivas off completely just yet.

In the first leg of this final, they failed to find the form they found against U de Chile in the semis, yet they still they managed to score a goal (that for me came out of nowhere) in the waning minutes of the first half. We could blame the Inter keeper for being out of position or we could give props to “El Bofo” Bautista for a great header from the edge of the penalty area no less. Either way, you have to be physically gifted to put that one in the back of the net.

And while Omar Bravo is easily this tournament’s most noticeable player for Chivas, I think it’s a real team effort all around. If Inter’s best feature is that they have better technical players, than Chivas’ best feature is their team play. I said it when they played against U de Chile and I am still overwhelmed by their performance in that second leg in Santiago, Chile, they are capable of playing some really great, dominating football. And that’s why I am not ready to count these guys out. At least until the final whistle is blown.

Where do they start? They’ve got quite the task ahead of them. But it’s simple. Sort of. See, the way I see it, they lost the last match in the midfield. They need to find a way to neutralize or find a way to keep Pablo Guiñazu busy. Because it was his good work in the midfield, cutting passing lanes and not giving any Chivas players an inch in his midfield.

Also, they need to find an answer or way to keep Kleber and Nei from coming forward, all while stopping Taison, keep Alecsandro from getting any touches and correctly marking D’Alessandro, Tinga and Sandro in the midfield. You can see by the amount of names I’m highlighting this will be no small feat.

But it can be done and that’s why these matches MUST be played and all minutes accounted for. At least, that’s what Chivas players and fans are counting on.

A similar situation occurred back in the 2001 Copa Libertadores final between Cruz Azul and Boca Juniors. Cruz Azul pushed Boca to the limit forcing penalties and winning in the always formidable La Bombonera Stadium, 1-0. And this was back when Boca was at their height, with Carlos Bianchi at the helm, when they too seemed unstoppable.

My pick: Wow, (deep breath) I’m going with Inter to win the cup but the scoreline will end up 1-1. I’m expecting a good match here people. Chivas will defend their country and their club’s history with dignity and Inter will defend South America, Brazil and their club’s history with resolve and the character that defines Brazilian football.

Chivas suffered early on. Inter caught the home side on their back foot, found more space and were able to spend the first ten minutes in Chivas’ half. They even had a shot by Kleber go wide.

But Chivas tried to come back with holding forward (yes, I just made up that position) Bautista trying to slow the game and look for either of the streaking Omars (Bravo or Arellano) in the area but with not much luck. Without much space, Inter’s midfield was marking very well and didn’t allowing the Mexicans to have much of the ball in the final quarter of the pitch.

Most of Inter’s plays went through D’Alessandro’s feet. He was the main cog of this Inter offense and because he was the main threat and distributor of the ball, he was on the synthetic pitch more than anyone else.

But near the end of the first half, Bautista met a long cross on the 18 yard box line for a fantastic lobbing header over Inter goalkeeper Renan. 1-0 to Chivas, and the stadium exploded, fans cheered and the announcers went quiet. A fantastic finish by Bautista and the spectre of a Mexican team winning this competition begins to sink in.

Half time score: Chivas up, 1-0 over Inter.

Chivas pressured Inter when they had the ball early on in the 2nd half. Something that could cause certain desperation among the Inter players. But Inter began to have more possession of the ball and more space on the pitch. Chivas defended themselves and when they attacked, they did it with fewer players, two or three only.

When he was required to be a part of the match, Inter keeper Renan looked shaky and not at all confident of his actions. I wonder if he was a little closer to his line, could he have kept out Bautista’s header?

Alecsandro was taken off in the 2nd half and replaced by Éverton, but I guess Celso Roth was not happy with his performance because only a few moments later, subbed off Éverton and on came Rafael Sobis. I’ve only seen this happen one or twice in my life.

Only a moment later, Kleber crossed the ball into the penalty area and Giuliano met that ball near the 8 yard box and headed it past Chivas keeper Michel to draw his side level. The Inter bench jumped up and the few Inter fans that made the trip to Jalisco, Mexico celebrated. Inter draw level, match now 1-1.

With Inter surging, Chivas couldn’t keep them from coming at them and off a broken free kick play, D’Alessandro crosses the ball into the area, 2nd post, XXXX heads the ball back into the 8 yard box where a diving header by Bolivar sent the ball into the net. Inter with the go ahead goal, Inter now up, 2-1.

And so much for my prediction. I suck again.

In the final 10 minutes, the stadium oddly quiet, Chivas couldn’t seem to cross the half line with the ball in their possession. And Inter would get the ball, play it in small spaces and make it really hard for Chivas to get the ball back.

Chivas seemed to be resigned to this score and would launch the ball from the defense forward to make their offensive players have to fight for headers. Gone were the short passes that made them look so good against U de Chile. And Inter would boot the ball back at Chivas to “ice” the ball and the match.

Final Score: Inter win, 2-1.

I had this match going to Chivas, 2-1. Apparently, I didn’t expect Inter to come out much like they did and in the end the difference, IMO, was the cold finishing on Inter’s part. Chivas had a few chances but didn’t put them away.

Stay tuned, this one is far from over. While Inter have home field advantage next week, never count out a Mexican side in a CONMEBOL tournament.

One of Mexico’s most popular clubs, Chivas de Guadalajara, is hosting, arguably, their most important international final match in the history of their club tonight. Club Sport Internacional come to town for the first leg of the final of the Copa Libertadores in Guadalajara at Chivas’ new Estadio Omnilife, in what would be it’s first official match.

In this kind of situation, I’d lean towards the home side, because in this case, Inter have had a long flight to Mexico and the Jalisco home crowd will most likely come out en force tonight for this one. Also, Chivas are riding one hell of a wave after not only eliminating a very tough Universidad de Chile side, but doing in emphatic style. At home, and being a Mexican side in a CONMEBOL tournament (you know my rule) Chivas are poised as the favorites for this match.

Also, this is the first Copa LIbertadores final to be played on artificial turf, another point in favor for Chivas as Inter do not regularly play on artificial turf.

But Inter are not a side to take for granted or believe they will fold easily. We are talking about a side that in the last 4 years have been champions of some of the continents most prestigious awards. Libertadores champs in 2006, Recopa Sudamericana winners in 2007, Copa Sudamericana winners in 2008, in short, you get what I’m saying… these guys know how to win. And while they’ve had some squad changes in the past few years (what team in South America hasn’t), they have managed to keep a small core of players together and their performances reflect this core’s work.

Also, in this year’s competition, Inter have had a poor streak of away form while getting more positive results at home. But, interestingly enough, they have been advancing based on their away goals so in tonight’s match we could see an Inter goal or two.

Chivas is only the second Mexican club to advance to the Libertadores final. Cruz Azul faced off with Boca Juniors way back in 1991, but failed to win it despite winning in La Bombonera. We’ll see a motivated Chivas side try to replicate that performance at home.

My pick: 2-1 to Chivas. Chivas will get the win tonight, I have no doubt, but they won’t be able to keep Inter at bay. Inter will get at least one goal and the match will be a good one to watch.

Fox Sports en Español will be airing this match LIVE at 8:30 EST. Tune in earlier if you want to see the preview show. I believe it starts an hour earlier.

Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is the way a semifinal of a major competition should be played. In front of almost 60,000 screaming fans, vuvuzelas blowing (That’s right U de Chile!), flares filling the stadium with smoke and on the pitch one of the best matches I’ve seen since the end of the World Cup.

I thought Inter were going to come out and take care of this one early but it took them a long while to find their feet (if they ever found them) and it didn’t help that a completely different São Paulo team showed up last night.

Last night, the local side were strong and decisive, taking over the midfield from the four or five players I mentioned in my match preview yesterday and spent the majority of this match in Inter’s half of the pitch.

São Paulo were tough and disciplined on defense so despite Inter’s sporadic and dangerous attacks, it seemed the local side had everything under control.

But Inter had their moments. When given just a few inches, you could see how dangerous they were with Andrés D’Alessandro pulling the strings in the midfield and Alecsandro and Tinga up front, they definitely were a handful for the Sao Paulo defenders.

And when you would least think it, off a nothing free kick, Inter’s starting keeper Renan, lets a ball get away from him that he should have been able to control. Going up for a ball inside the six yard box unfettered, it bounced off his chest and to a spot where only 6′ 4″ Alex Silva could put a head on it. 1-0 to São Paulo, and the stadium erupts.

With this result, São Paulo are forcing penalty kicks and they went to the dressing room at half time having not given Inter another inch. In fact, I don’t think Inter ever got the ball into São Paulo’s half with any real danger.

With Inter’s defense unsettled after Renan’s blooper and the announcer’s questioning Renan as the starter over more experienced Argentine Roberto Abbondanzieri (Jorge Fossati’s first choice as keeper) who was on the bench tonight, it seemed São Paulo was en route to the LIbertadores final. But in the 50th minute or so, off a free kick from D’Alessandro and a fantastic Alecsandro back heel, Inter managed to get the equalizer on the night. 1-1, all tied up. With this result Inter are in the final and São Paulo need two goals to advance.

The equalizer really put this match into overdrive. On what seemed like the next play, São Paulo found the go ahead goal. On another highlight for Renan’s blooper reel, he punched a ball out of the penalty area only to give the ball right back to a Sao Paulo midfielder who touches it to Ricardo Oliveira (ex-Betis) who was just onside and 2-1 to São Paulo. Only one goal away from the final.

With this goal, the defenses opened up and you saw two teams desperately looking for the next goal to finish the match off. Hernanes took São Paulo by the scruff of the neck and commanded them on and the Inter midfield strung passes to answer back. Then Tinga earned himself two yellow cards on the night leaving his side with only 10 men 12 minutes from time. But the final score on the night was already set.

Final score: São Paulo win 2-1.

With this result, Inter advance on away goals. I had this match ending 1-1 and I was the happiest guy on the planet for approximately 2 or 3 minutes and then Oliveira scored São Paulo’s second. Inter also earned the right to play the FIFA Club World Cup in December since Chivas is only an invitee to this tournament and cannot represent CONMEBOL as they are not from a member country.

So that was it. The first leg of the final will be played August 11th in Mexico. It’s at Chivas’ new stadium, Estadio Omnilife in Jalisco which seat 45,500 peeps. The return leg is scheduled for August 18th at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre where you know the fans bring the funk.

Side note: Thiago Ribeiro, of Cruzeiro, is the leading goal scorer of this competition with 8 goals to his credit. Only Alecsandro and Giuliano, both Inter players, and Omar Bravo, of Chivas, can catch him but they’d need to score 4 goals a piece over the next two legs.

Stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the Copa Sudamericana blog for info on matches taking place earlier next week. There have been some exciting matches, most notably the Defensor Sporting vs. Olimpia match and the Deportivo Quito vs. Universidad de San Martin match.

I’m looking forward to this match. While I may not be able to watch it live, I am recording it in case work rears it’s ugly head in the next few hours.

Last week, in Porto Alegre, Inter was dominant. They controlled the ball for most of the match and if you didn’t know what the score line was, you’d think they were the clear winners. And they were, 1-0, is a win, but it’s just a win. They had enough opportunities to send a message and didn’t. Plus, their defensive midfield and defenders did an excellent job of keeping Hernanes and Dagoberto at bay and from scoring. They were, without question, in control of the match, but not the scoreboard.

São Paulo, on the other hand, can hang their hats on the fact that they are only one goal down with the series closing in their stadium. And the great performances of their backline with Miranda and Alex Silva clearing out crosses and short passes by the bootful. But they’ll need some better performances from Hernanes, Junior Cesar and the front two, Dagoberto and Fernandao if they want to keep this match up interesting.

Also, the Colorado faithful and the Estadio Beira-Rio brought the funk and served up some great Copa Libertadores atmosphere to go with the match. I don’t think they were quiet for one minute. Let’s hope the Estadio Morumbi and the São Paulo fans can do the same or better tonight.

My pick: Inter earn a draw and a passport to the final, 1-1. Based on volume of play alone, Inter should be able to walk away with at very least a draw from this match. While São Paulo did get away with giving up only one goal in Porto Alegre, they could do very little to keep guys like Taison, Andrezinho, D’Alessandro, Alecsandro, Nei, Guiñazu and Kleber from running all over the São Paulo part of the pitch. I had the away match going 2-1 to Inter and they walked away with just a 1-0 win.

The winner of this match not only gets to play the final against Chivas of Mexico but also gets to represent the CONMEBOL in the Club World Cup later this year. Since Mexican clubs are not allowed to represent the region even if they win the Copa Libertadores trophy, the winner tonight is the only regional team left to play in Tokyo in December.

The match is being aired LIVE at 6pm on Fox Sports en Español. Tune in to watch these teams duke it out to be one of the two best teams in the Western hemisphere.

Well, the men have definitely separated from the boys in the first semifinal of the Copa Libertadores. Unfortunately for us South American purists, Chivas showed how men play this game and have placed themselves in the final of this South American competition in resounding fashion and brimming with confidence.

Far from being their biggest fan and, in all honesty, I’ve never been one to extoll the virtues of Club Deportivo Guadalajara, much less the entirety of the Mexican league, but it’s with a heavy heart that I say, they won me over last night and made watching them pick apart U de Chile an absolute pleasure.

With excellent marking in the midfield and then exploding on offense with Omar Bravo (mourning the loss of his father), Marco Fabian, Xavier Baez and Adolfo Bautista playing like a PlayStation versions of themselves. Chivas played with a cool, calm collectedness. They played like, dare I say it, champions. A team who knew how the match would end and had complete faith in one another and belief that they could do what they wanted and attempted.

Despite losing budding star Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and a few other players, riding a crazy wave of friendlies (including vs. Manchester United in recent weeks) playing in a packed house on an opening night (after renovations) in Santiago, Chile, with all those airplane miles on their backs, Chivas came out and dominated the match from end to end. Don’t kid yourselves here, this was no small feat.

This result and campaign in this competition is also a huge reward to the club. Most of these players were groomed and taught the Chivas system and style in their own youth divisions with the single exception of Adolfo Bautista, who came from Tecos.

I wish I could say that U de Chile was a weaker team and that they weren’t the side that should have made it to the semi-finals because as a South American, it hurts to see a Mexican side best one of “our” sides but like I said, if you haven’t seen the match, I highly recommend you do so. It was a great showing of team football.

It’s not like U de Chile just showed up, they tried to implement their game, but Chivas did well to cut passing lanes and mark players correctly, forcing them to resort to trying to best Chivas’ players technically. Many times, I saw Montillo and Iturra dribbling the ball past Chivas players only to be met by another or forced into making a poor pass after outdribbling a Mexican player. Soon, it seemed each time a U de Chile player got the ball, he was the loneliest player on the pitch with no one to pass to.

Final score on this one: Chivas 2-0. I had this one going 2-0 the other way but only because I was skeptical whether or not Chivas could get it together under the circumstances. That and the fact that I didn’t want to see a Mexican side qualify for the final match. But hey, like I said, they won me over and played some decisive football. Respect.

Chivas is only the second Mexican side to qualify for the Copa Libertadores final (Cruz Azul reached the 2001 final against Boca Juniors and were barely edged out by the Argentines) and it’s the first time for this Mexican side to reach this final match.

Tune in on Thursday for the 2nd semifinal where Inter travel to São Paulo to play the local side for a chance to meet the Mexicans in the final. I’ll be posting a preview of that match come Thursday.

Ok, this is where we separate the men from the boys or like Alex Ferguson once said, “this is squeaky bum time.” Tonight, two of the four best teams in South America, and North America for that matter, face off to see who is going to earn a place for themselves in the final.

While the U de Chile people are beside themselves that their team has gotten this far, they are confident that they’ll get what they need to get done tonight to advance to the final match up.

U de Chile have no injuries so expect to see the same line up we saw last week in Mexico City. Chivas have two players who are not going to be available for tonight’s match. Defender Omar Esparza and striker Alberto Medina. Meanwhile, Omar Bravo (that’s right, the one that ran rampant all over the U de Chile penalty area) is mourning the loss of his father, so we’ll see if there is anything left in his tank for this match.

The winner of this match faces a Brazilian side, that’s certain. Inter and São Paulo are playing their match on Thursday to see which one of them will go through to the final.

Not much else to say really, it’s time to put up or shut up.

My pick: This one has U de Chile written all over it in my opinion. They played very conservatively in Mexico and I expect them to open up play and spend the majority of the match in Chivas half of the pitch. I’ll give this one a 2-0 for good measure. Plus, U de Chile is debuting their stadium, which has been closed down for quite some time due to some renovations.

Catch this match tonight after the opening match of the Copa Sudamericana.

U de Chile vs. Chivas starts at 9pm EST on Fox Sports en Español.

First off, hats of to those 40,000+ Inter fans who showed up and gave their side a proper show of support tonight. I was very impressed with their passion and chants throughout the match. And to São Paulo’s defense and keeper, thanks for keeping this a close and exciting match.

The match started out with plenty of hard fouls and poorly timed passes as both teams found their feet in the first minutes of this match. This type of play is what earned Bolivar his yellow card and consequently Inter’s only yellow card of the night.

With Inter showing far more flair ,with more order on the pitch, and with right back Nei bombing forward constantly and his great partnership with D’Alessandro and Sandro, they created lots of worry for the Sao Paulo back line. Fortunately, Rogerio Ceni weighed in with some key saves to keep his side in it.

Sao Paulo still refused to come out and seemed to look for the advantage from a more defensive posture while attacking with fewer players than Inter. This, of course, means that Inter had most of the possession. With Taison advancing forward and D’Alessandro, Andrezinho and Guiñazu exchanging short passes, Taison had a nice clear header that made Rogerio Ceni pull another fantastic save out of his hat.

With a very mobile Taison, Inter went into the dressing rooms being the far better side on the pitch. Kudos to the Inter players on the right (D’Alessandro, Guiñazu, Sandro and Nei) for shutting down Hernanes and keeping him out of the game so effectively.

Selecting a player of the half would be tough. For Inter, Taison ran his ass off and Rogerio Ceni had to save his side’s behind and kept a very talented Inter side to zero goals in the first 45 minutes. This ended a very rough half for Sao Paulo who could only boast one shot on goal.

The second half picks up where the first half left off. Sao Paulo unable to get to the penalty area because of their lack of committing more than two or three players to each attack. Because they refused to come at Inter with more players, many of their attacks ended in a long range, off target shots or poorly timed or wild crosses into the box.

But Inter never gave up hope on their style of play. Inter’s coach decided to make a substitution to see if fresh legs could give his side an edge they were missing and he wasn’t wrong in doing so.

Giuliano came on for Andrezinho in the 64th minute, and only three minutes later after a broken play, the ball ended up at his feet where he spun around and scored off the keeper’s right post. Inter’s fans exploded and the deserved difference was finally in place and Giuliano scored his fourth of the competition. Inter 1-0.

The rest of the match was more of the same. Inter attacking and São Paulo defending themselves with Miranda and Alex Silva in fine form holding the Colorados off. São Paulo’s newest signing Ricardo Oliveira made an appearance as did Rafael Sobis for Inter but neither came into play too often to make a difference.

Final Score: Inter 1-0.

Inter wasted far too many chances in my opinion and hopefully, they won’t be thinking about those missed chances at the end of next week’s return leg at the Morumbi.

We all know the Morumbi is a larger pitch and will prove to be a different match filled with São Paulo supporters. Let’s hope they bring the funk like Inter’s “Guarda Popular” did tonight.

I had this match going 2-1 to Inter. But the main difference between the two sides was one goal, so I got that right. I honestly expected a stronger showing from the Paulistas and was disappointed that Hernanes couldn’t do more but like I said earlier, I think that proper marking (Sandro and Guiñazu) and positioning by Nei coming forward so often, most likely kept Hernanes on the back foot more often than not.

The return leg is at the Morumbi Stadium, next Thursday, August 5th. Stay tuned.

With the return of goalkeeper Renan from Valencia, Inter coach Celso Roth has his starting keeper and ageless former Boca Juniors keeper Roberto Abbonanzieri will take a spot on the bench for the Colorado. Inter also signed another familiar face, Rafael Sobis who is back at the club that gave him his start in the Brazilian league. He had stints with Betis and Al-Jazira in Abu Dhabi, UAE most recently. Inter are also still featuring midfield maestro Andrés D’Alessandro and it will be interesting to see how he links up with Rafael Sobis on the forward line. Stay tuned.

Semi-final 2 fun fact #1: Rafael Sobis was recently a witness at Fernandao’s wedding. These players will find themselves on either side of the ball this evening.

Riding a nice four game win streak Inter come into this one with a nice head of steam. Especially after knocking off current Copa Lib champions Estudiantes de La Plata in the quarters with a 1-0 win in Porto Alegre and getting an all important away goal in Argentina, in a 1-2 loss, that allowed them to squeak by the team led by Juan Sebastian Veron.

Semi-final 2 fun fact #2: These two will be replaying the tie for the 2006 Copa Lib final match. The winners in that home and away final? Inter were the 2006 champs of the Copa Libertadores that year winning 4-3 on aggregate.

Things on the São Paulo side of the ball are a little different. They lost 35-year old striker Washington to Fluminense but signed Ricardo Oliveira, who at age 30, has played at nine clubs in his career thus far. That seems to be the only transfer moves they’ve made. They are winless since the restart of their season after the World Cup but had a great performance in the quarter-finals against Cruzeiro. They won both matches convincingly with the same scoreline and with the same goal scorers. Dagoberto and Hernanes both scored a goal each in each of the legs of the quarter-finals.

Semi-final 2 fun fact #3: Fernandão (starting for São Paulo tonight) was on the Inter team that won the 2006 Copa Lib, scoring a goal in that final tie as well.

My pick: Since this is a home match for Inter and they are clearly riding a better wave of form I’m picking Inter to take this one. I’ll venture a 2-1 scoreline since I have a feeling that either Dagoberto or Hernanes will find the back of the net at some point.

The second leg is on Thursday August 5th at the Estadio Morumbi in São Paulo.