Boca and Flu, to Work it Out in Seven Days.

By: Mauro | May 29th, 2008

Boca was looking to take apart Fluminense from the get go and at times it seemed like they were going to be able to do it. With inspired play from Juan Román Riquelme and a seemingly unstoppable Rodrigo Palacio, Boca seemed poised to absolutely destroy Fluminense.

The stadium was filled to the gills of blue and yellow wearing fans, screaming in delight and cheering their teams on from their 60,000 seats.

Riquelme played the part of the creative play maker (Arouca played his shadow), which was no surprise, and he hooked up well with Cristian Chavez on the right and Jesús Dátolo, who seemed to be unmarked every time he received the ball, on the left. Also, Sebastián Battaglia seemed as if he was in charge of destroying Flu’s play and doing all he could to make Dario Conca a non-factor.

Riquelme opened scoring for his side in only the 11th minute. Palacio was a monster on the right where he drove Junior Cesar insane with cutting runs, and the ball seemingly stuck to his foot. Palacio received the ball, in his office, on the right and was able to cross it into the penalty area where the ball found Riquelme. 1-0 to Boca and the stadium erupts.

Only four minutes later, Paletta gave up a free kick and Thiago Neves, great match last night, crossed it into Thiago Silva for the spectacular header. The Thiagos combined for Flu’s first. 1-1.

For one reason or another, most times it was because Boca tried to touch the ball one time too many, they failed to show that difference on the score board. Don’t get me wrong, Flu keeper, Fernando Henrique, was fantastic when he had to be but Boca seemed like at many moments they had the match under control and at any moment could put the match away.

Flu had lots of success in the first half when Boca took their collective foot off the accelerator and Flu stepped in and took the match for a short amount of time. Their midfielders found space in the middle and were able to win a few plays in Boca area.

With Riquelme trying to lose Arouca’s nonstop marking, I think Arouca is probably still following Riquelme around today, and Palacio cutting up Flu’s defense on the right, the second half started on all cylinders. Boca seemed to corner Flu into their penalty area and couldn’t leave their half of the pitch.

When it seemed that Boca was going to put the match away, they’d make one pass to many or fail to take shots when necessary. They probably figured they had all kinds of space and time, which at times it seemed they did, but in reality, they didn’t.

Still, they found a way to break the 1-1 deadlock. Riquelme scored off a fantastic free kick. One where he had to fight the ref to make sure the Flu players were respecting the ten feet. Yellows flew, and finally Riquelme was able to get a shot off. If not for the slight deflection off the wall, Flu’s keeper would have had a chance to keep it out but it did go off the wall and past the keeper. 2-1 to Boca.

Flu had a few chances to draw themselves level with great precise play from Thiago Neves who when possible took shots or made great passes to his team mates. But then the blue and yellow sea seems to part for Flu. Battaglia is subbed off, he seems to not be feeling well, and Fabián Vargas comes on in his place.

The very next play, Thiago Neves collects the ball off a defense rebound and is able to shoot it into the hands of Pablo Migliore who then lets it slip through his hands and into the back of the net. With very little, Flu manages to draw level. 2-2.

The Battaglia substitution was pretty big in my estimation. He kept Flu under control, so much so that it wasn’t strange to see Morel Rodriguez at the left corner crossing balls into the area.

We must wait seven days to see who will advance to the finals from this tie since neither team did enough to impose their dominance (Boca) or luck (Flu) on the score board.

All in all, this was a fantastic match and a dignified semi-final match where both teams suffered and gambled to try to win it. Not nearly a disappointment like the Champions League semi-finals. Enjoy the second leg which will be much better than last night’s match.

I had this match going 2-1 and I was close for a while there but Thiago Neves put a damper on my parade. Ah well.

Check the CONMEBOL website for results, stats and upcoming matches.

Pic for the 1st leg of Boca vs. Flu match