2009 Draw Date is Set.

Well, this news is about a month old, but for those of you who don’t follow the Libertadores like I do, this is news nonetheless. While I do hope it’s a little more professional than the picture here, the draw date for the 2009 Copa Libertadores has been set which means that CONMEBOL now have a date a time to be late to.

But really, I kid. Look for the groups of the Copa Libertadores to be released on November the 25th. The draw of the 50th edition of this competition will take place in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.

For those of you who were under a rock, LDU Quito won this year’s edition, the first Ecuadorian club to ever win it. We witnessed a fantastic set of games from the champs as well as Fluminense, the losing team in the final, on their way to said destination and this next year’s competition should be just as promising.

So far we have 16 teams qualified. Defensor Sporting, Nacional and Peñarol all qualified earlier this year and will represent Uruguay, taking up their three alloted spots in the competition. Caracas FC, Deportivo Táchira and Deportivo Anzoátegui will be representing Venezuela, taking up their three alloted spaces.

Also, because LDU Quito are the defending champions they won’t have to qualify for the competition, Ecuador will be represented by 4 teams next year.

At least one club has qualified for the competition from every South American country. The Mexican clubs have yet to play the InterLiga to decide who is going to qualify in their spaces, so no Mexican club has qualified for this competition yet.

Palmeiras and Gremio stand a good chance of qualifying for this competition as they battle it out for the first place in the Brasileirao, chased by a formidable group of teams, including the likes of Cruzeiro, Flamengo, São Paulo and Botafogo, looking to qualify as well.

Argentine sides River Plate and Lanús are also already qualified and wait to see what will happen in the Apertura 08 to see who will join them as neither team look to win that competition. Lanús have an outside chance to claim the title and River are tied in the penultimate position on the table and have their sights set on winning the Copa Sudamericana.

In any case, be sure to watch this space for the groups and whatnot in the next few weeks since this event is not televised.

For sneak preview of a few of the teams possibly qualifying. And check out the Copa Libertadores 2009 wikipedia page to see which teams have qualified or are going to qualify for the 2009 edition.

Category: Tournament News