Update from Thursday’s matches. 03/27/08

By: Mauro | March 29th, 2008

Danubio vs. Deportivo Cuenca (Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay)

Another surprise result from this competition. I figured Danubio were dead in the water and really had nothing left to play for but they do. They could ruin Cuenca’s decent run and give the leaders of the group a hand. Which they did.

Cuenca was unbeaten and looked to be decisive in determining the top two teams of their group but Danubio changed all that with an early goal and Lembo put it away later in the match. Now, we wait to see Estudiantes travel to south Buenos Aires to play Lanús.

I had this one going 1-1, but I also thought Cuenca were more than they showed tonight. 2-0 to Danubio.

Boca Juniors vs., Colo Colo (La Bombonera Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

I’m not sure what you guys think, but this Boca Juniors team is pretty unbeatable at home. With 10 men from the 23 minute of the first half, Boca was able to beat Colo Colo, in an unbelievable match at La Bombonera. Boca came back to tie the match twice. Rodrigo Palacio had one of the best night’s of his career in a Boca jersey. He was mobile and deadly in the final quarter of the pitch. A nightmare for Colo Colo’s defenders. Palermo missed his opportunity for 183rd goal off a questionable penalty call but a few moments later he was able to get it off a rebound (when does he not score when the ball has caromed anywhere in the penalty area?) and was able to add #183 to his tally. And all this without the supposed best player in Argentina on the pitch, Juan Roman Riquelme.

The headline on the cover of today’s Olé is the fitting summary of that match, “10 hombres, 1000 huevos.” and they don’t mean eggs. This was easily one of the best matches of the tournament so far. I had Boca winning this one 2-1, I guessed the margin but would have never believed it would have been 4-3. By the way, Boca have not lost in the last five years at home in the Libertadores. Check the stats at the bottom of this page.

Cúcuta Deportivo vs. Chivas de Guadalajara (Estadio General Santander, Cúcuta, Colombia)

Tough match, Cucuta played with 10 men behind the ball and then counterattacked dangerously on a few occasions. Magnelly Torres was intrical to Cúcuta’s success as was the goal scorer of this match, Matias Urbano. If I write something about this match it’s gotta include something about the goal celebration by Urbano. Hilarious, it’s supposed to be an imitation of a fish out of water.

Aside from this, the play that opened up Urbano so he could score was phenomenal. Urbano also scored in the away match in Guadalajara. Note to Urbano; DO NOT vacation anywhere near Guadalajara this summer. I thought this was going to be 0-0, thanks for the serving of crow Cúcuta.