Santos Need a Win to Advance, Cúcuta Will Cruise Through Regardless.
By: Mauro | April 16th, 2008Santos FC vs. Cúcuta Deportivo (Estadio Vila Belmiro, Santos, Brazil)
Tape Delay, Wednesday the 16th at 10pm on Fox Sports Español.
Santos host Cucuta in this one. Lots on the line for Santos. They need a win or a draw to advance. Santos are coming off a 3-2 loss to Chivas in Mexico. Emerson Leao’s boys qualification is in their own hands. A win qualifies them outright which isn’t impossible for them to manage that since they are at home. If they draw, they’ll need help from San José who will need to hold Chivas to a draw or loss.
The reason for the Santos squad’s worry? Cúcuta have managed two away wins, one in Mexico and one in Oruro, Bolivia, both tough places to play for their own reasons. In other words, Cúcuta will most likely not be rolling over in this one. The only thing that Cúcuta can gain in this match is to be the team that has earned the most points (alongside Cruzeiro) in the group stage of the competition. How well they play depends on how badly Pedro Sarmiento and his boys want that title.
Bottom Line: Santos should win this one hands down, Cúcuta are a tough team to break down defensively but the fact that they’ve already qualified for the next round might make them not run down every Santos break and not chase every loose ball. My pick: 1-1. Santos have not been necessarily dominant in this group and will have trouble here, they’ll also have to hope that San José repeat the treatment they gave Santos when they visited in Oruro. Also, Santos will have to consider the Matías Urbano factor.
Check the CONMEBOL website for updated standings, results and upcoming matches.
Category: Tournament News
Tags: Cúcuta Deportivo, Chivas de Guadalajara, Copa Libertadores, San José, Santos FC, Tournament NewsSubscribe
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[...] I had this one going 1-1 but I also believed that Matías Urbano was going to be on the pitch and he wasn’t. Ah well, you can’t guess them all. [...]
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[...] I had this one going 1-1 but I also believed that Matías Urbano was going to be on the pitch and he wasn’t. Ah well, you can’t guess them all. [...]
Posted from
United States
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