Spicy 2nd Leg at the Maracaná.

By: Mauro | June 1st, 2008

Should Fluminense eliminate Boca Juniors in this week’s semi-final it will be the first time in their club’s history that they make it to the final match. Well, given that this year was the first year that Flu made it out of the group stage, as far as they’ve gotten is cause for celebration.

But the club directors have added a little spice to this Wednesday’s match. They have promised the players an extra $190,000 to split amongst themselves should they qualify for the finals of the Copa Libertadores.

And the fact that one squad is from Argentina and one from Brazil, there has been a fair amount of trash talking. Juan Roman Riquelme started right after the match with a not so combative statement about how Flu scored two goals but did not attack very much. I think it was a backhanded way of saying that they did not deserve to draw the match.

Then Thiago Silva added his two cents by saying that Boca’s players talk too much. That Boca’s “players shouldn’t say that they are more men than us.” Basically asking Boca to respect Flu and their chances. I think he might just be tired of hearing the press tell him that they haven’t accomplished anything by having the series even and two goals a piece. Boca can and most likely will come back. That’s not disrespect, that’s a fact.

Carlos Ischia and the players came out to support Pablo Migliore for the goal he gifted to Thiago Neves for Fluminense’s second goal. He said, “My team mates and coach made me understand that I am not to blame for anything.”

Apparently, there was quite the turn out for the opening sales of tickets for Wednesday’s match. Some fans even camped out all night to get a tickets costing between 30 reales (18 dollars) and 100 reales (92 dollars).

Flu need a 0-0 or 1-1 result to advance to the finals. A victory would also deliver them into the finals. Boca need a win by 2 or more goals.

Looks to be a great one coming up. Watch this space for more information. I’ll be uploading a nice preview and then a re-cap of both matches this week.

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.