Flu’s Dream Lives On.

Earlier in this tournament, Flu happened to qualify for the round of 16. Not a big deal for most teams but given that it was something they had never done before it was a historic right of passage of sorts and a huge deal the supporters and the club. After last night, Flu has become one of the best four clubs on the American continent. I don’t think I need to tell you how big a deal this is for them since they have never gotten this far before.

Coming into this match, Sao Paulo were completely the favorites. They had Adriano, together with Riquelme, one of two of the most influential players in the competition, and they had a pretty good squad but lacked the great team play that characterizes Brazilian football and Sao Paulo’s history. They had great role players in certain positions, especially up front and in goal and sometimes they came together brilliantly but it was never for long enough periods of time in order to dominate their opposition.

Flu, on the other hand, were coming into this match as the underdogs. After having lost the first leg of this match at the Morumbi last week by a single goal, Flu needed the support of their fans and the momentum to beat what were the tournament favorites in their stadium. And the fans responded in spades. The crowd was unbelievable and the atmosphere was electric.

With Dario Conca (man of the match, in my opinion) on the pitch from the start of the match last night, Flu was able to create a huge volume of football. Great flowing, beautiful football that stifled the visitors for the first 15 or so minutes of the match. Washington was the first to break the stalemate with a surprise goal coming off a broken play in the area. The ball seemed to just come to him. 1-0 to the home side and the fans began to dream.

Sao Paulo seemed convinced that they could defend the result from last week’s match and lined up their players in a defensive posture on the pitch with a counter attacking offense hoping for an Adriano wonder-goal. This was the picture of the first half, Flu creating, and Sao Paulo destroying and hoping for a miracle up front.

The second half was completely different. Sao Paulo came out and attacked Flu’s defense and at certain points had them cornered in their own area. And it was under such pressure that Flu’s defense was going to break.

Flu coach, Renato Gaucho, made a substitution that may have given Sao Paulo the tying goal. he took off midfielder Arouca and subbed on Dodo to pair up in the front with Washington. I get it, he wanted more of a presence up front but he sacrificed the possession in the midfield and Sao Paulo’s men settled right in. I don’t mean to be too critical but it’s this type of mistake that could cause you to lose a match.

The man credited with finally breaking Flu’s defense? None other than Adriano. Appearing what seemed completely unmarked, Adriano put away a goal on a header with fantastic precision and without hesitation. Aloisio was the man with the fine footwork on the left who served up the cross for Adriano. 1-1.

Only one minute later, Flu, lead by Conca, were on the attack again. Conca who gave and went and then lobbed the ball over the left of the Sao Paulo defense for a streaking Dodo to put it away underneath a diving Rogerio Ceni. 2-1 to Flu. They only needed one more to qualify outright. With this result they were forcing penalties.

Sao Paulo played a much more open brand of football looking to keep possession and to see if they could find the goal that would place them in the semis. But in the 80th minute, Joilson made the mistake of tugging at Jancarlos’ jersey on what seemed like a common play but the referee was tired of this type of play and awarded him his second yellow card on the night and left Sao Paulo with only ten men.

With the numeric advantage, Flu search and searched for the goal that would send them through to the semis with reckless abandon. Flu had more clarity when the play went through Conca (in the middle and not so much on the flanks) who pulled the strings and gave the squad a much needed pause in the attack from time to time.

Rogerio Ceni finally appeared and saved Sao Paulo from certain elimination on two occasions. The goal finally came in the waning moments of the match. On a free kick taken by Thiago Neves, Washington rose above defenders and team mates alike and put Flu in the semis. A few moments later, the ref blew the whistle and the stadium exploded. 80,000 fans gave their squad a very dignified and very loud/colorful celebration. Check out the pics here.

On one historic jump, Washington put his squad in the semis, a place they have never been and allowed the entire franchise and fans to dream of a historic Copa Libertadores to grace their trophy case, at least for a few more nights.

I had this one going 2-1 to Sao Paulo. Once again, the underdog, in my book anyway, served me up a nice portion of crow. I’m still digesting the ones that San Lorenzo and América were nice enough to give me. But who could blame me?

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

Category: Tournament News