Fluminense Do Their Fans Proud.

By: Mauro | June 5th, 2008

A Maracaná filled to the gills was witness to a historical moment last night. Fluminense fans were in tow and up to the challenge. When Boca’s players came out the fans that made the trip to the Brazil, cheered them on heartily but when Fluminense’s players came out it was unbelievable.

Smoke came from everywhere and filled the stadium. And I’m not talking about a small 30,000 seat arena, I’m talking about the fucking 100,000 seat Maracaná. So imagine how many flares and roman candles and fireworks that takes and then multiply it by two and you’re close to what it looked like.

With nerves clenched and heartbeats racing the first half started, predictably, with little possession, a few scoring chances, but nothing really to write home about.

As expected, it only took Boca 12 minutes to press Fluminense into their own half and wedge the defense into the penalty area for what was, effectively, the rest of the match. Fabián Vargas and Juan Román Riquelme had a great footballing dialog together on the right. Jesús Dátolo was almost always open on the left but had trouble getting his last touch just right. A few poor crosses and sloppy passes returned the ball right to the Fluminense defense.

While Boca dominated play, they did so with a very thoughtful, slow, methodical pace. Boca took their time and with Flu pinned to the penalty area, found holes in the their defense. Rodrigo Palacio was almost always the man receiving the ball on the right and on the left of the forward line. Sometimes Boca would attack with an occasional cross to Martín Palermo, who wasted chance after chance in the space where he is usually most lethal.

With Flu coach, Renato Gaucho losing his mind on the sidelines, his side continued to fail to respond. They’d get the ball, jam it upfield to the either Dario Conca or to Thiago Neves, whichever was open to begin the attack. But Boca’s defense was solid and avoided many mistakes early on, keeping Flu’s explosive pace under wraps.

Fluminense had the most success on the right where they were able to cross the ball into the area and give Washington a few chances on goal. But in the end, this type of play was all that Flu was allowed to do. They were pressed into their own half forced to try to create something on the counter using their speed up front. And when they did come forward they looked just as dangerous as Boca had on the other side of the pitch.

After the first 20 minutes or so, Washington was little more than a spectator giving Pablo Migliore little to no work. Especially since it seemed that Thiago Neves and Conca couldn’t shake the sticky defensive work by Boca in the midfield. Boca suffocated Flu with incessant chances on goal but due to poor finishing the first half ended 0-0.

The second half started, pretty much where the first left off. Boca again leaned into Flu, keeping them in their half, Flu playing the counter and running at the Boca defense the few times they got the ball. It seemed a matter of time really before the scoring opened up.

And then it happened. On the worst cross of the match, the worst and only goal-keeping mistake Fernando Henrique made, Palermo found the ball at the second post and, what can I say, he Palermo-ed it into the back of the net. It was a goal, an angle and a situation where only Palermo could have scored on. 1-0 to Boca and with this score, Boca are through to the final.

Flu then seemed to find a way to take the ball from Boca and had more presence and played with a bit more urgency in Boca’s half of the pitch. It was a few moments later that Flu earned a free kick which Washington exchanged for a goal off a fantastic strike. 1-1, with this result Flu are through to the final.

Boca surged but still lacked the goal scoring prowess that would have given them their second goal on the night. With Boca continually coming forward, Flu had few opportunities to get the ball and be able to surprise Boca when all their players were back on defense.

But on one play, Conca received the ball on the left and took a shot. That shot went off Hugo Ibarra and past Migliore who had dived the other way once the shot was taken. Own goal, and Boca were now down 2-1. This result clearly favors only Fluminense.

Boca press on yet again, because they are able to get to the penalty area so easily, they do just that and Fernando Henrique’s stature seems to build with each save and Boca missed opportunity. And the time ticked on and on and Boca’s players played with more and more urgency.

On one particular play, Palacio had gotten the ball near his own penalty area and in his rush to get the ball up the field, passed it directly in front of Dodo, who intercepted and buried it in the back of the net. 3-1 to Fluminense and that was all she wrote.

What beat Boca at the end of the day? Well, I would say bad luck but a few readers happen to think that luck and Boca don’t belong in the same sentence. Still, I think not having their stadium to play in, the poor finishing that had characterized Boca’s home leg matches, Mauricio Caranta’s injury and Pablo Migliore’s ham handed save on the Thiago Neves’ goal in the first leg all had something to do with Boca’s elimination. All it took was a team that was well organized in back, moved quickly in the middle and front to bring all these issues to light.

I particularly liked hearing Mariano Closs, Fernando Niembro and those other crazies calling the match, voting Martín Palermo the man of the match. I thought it was ridiculous when the guy keeping him from scoring was so much more spectacular, important and pivotal to his team and the spectacle of the match. Fernando Henrique was my man of the match. Without him Boca would have gone up two or three nil in the first half.

I had this one going to Boca 4-1. Boy, was I way off. But who was going to bet against Boca? I felt they did everything they could but it was just not their night.

Be sure to check the CONMEBOL website for any and all information regarding the Copa Libertadores, like stats, results and upcoming matches. It even has a pull down menu where you can check out past editions of the Libertadores.