Tears and sport-bras

I just watched the postponed 2020 Copa Libertadores final between Santos and Palmeiras. It was not a memorable match. It was tactical and physical, and in the entire first half not a single shot on goal. In fact, the match started only after the 90th minute, at the score 0-0, when the referee mysteriously added eight minutes of extra time as players were clearly tired in the humid heat of Rio de Janeiro. In those extra minutes the Santos manager, Cuca, received a red card in a situation where he did not seem to do much as a Palmeiras player pushed him. But after a long time of pushing and discussion, the match had only resumed for a few second when Breno Lopes scored on a beautiful header for Palmeiras. With another five minutes added Santos still had a bit of time, but in reality they hardly had the energy to put pressure on the winning Palmeiras side, who with the win have their second Libertadores title ever. The end of the match was full of tears, prayers, and a lot of players who took off their shirts to show their sports bras, something I had not seen before, but find welcoming as football struggles to becomes more tolerant.

Brazilian final

Yesterday Santos and Boca Juniors faced one another for the second final spot in the 2020 Copa America. Just as River Plate was unlucky against Palmeiras, Boca Juniors were poor as they never really rose to the occasion against an efficient and well-playing Santos side who won 3-0 on goals by Diego Pituca, Yeferson Soteldo and Lucas Braga. I was particularly impressed by the young Venezuelan, Soteldo, who scored a fantastic second goal, but all in all appeared as a fantastic player. It was the first time I saw him play, and hope to see him again.

With the all-Brazilian final we will at least be without the chaos of a River-Boca final as in 2018. After having watched both semifinals I see Santos as the favourites to take the title, which they took last time in 2011. Palmeiras are in their first final since 2000 (which they lost to Boca Juniors), and could take their first title since 1999.

The final will be played on January 30th on Maracana stadium.

Best teams of 2011

Here is my (personal) list of the best football teams of the year 2011:

10) Borussia Dortmund: The Germans won the 2010-11 Bundesliga title playing entertaining football and a very young team. They have nevertheless disappointed in the fall.

9) Manchester City: Proof that money can buy a team, they have nevertheless also worked hard under Roberto Mancini to become a new power in English football. They won the FA Cup and won a resounding 6-1 against their arch-rivals of Manchester United in the Premier League.

8) AC Milan: The Italian giants won the Serie A for the first time in seven years, and seem stronger than they have seemed for many years!

7) Real Madrid: Real Madrid's succes is apparently only measured against their arch-rivals of FC Barcelona. This year saw some crucial matches between these two sides, of which Real Madrid only managed to take the Spanish Cup title. Still, in the second half of the year the team under José Mourinho (whom I still consider the best coach in the world) seems only to have been getting better, although still not enough to beat the Catalonians.

6) FC Porto: The Portuguese side was awesome in the Portuguese league to take the title, and only sealed their strength by taking the UEFA Europa League title as well. In the second half they have looked weaker after selling out some stars, and were eliminated from the Champions League, but are still a strong team.

5) Universidad de Chile: The Chilean side won the Chilean torneo apertura playing very entertaining football under coach Jorge Sampaoli. In the fall, they were extraordinary in taking their first international title, the Copa Sudamericana, playing attacking football that surprised their opponents!

4) Venezuela: Venezuela have always been the footballing midgets of South America, but have this year, under coach César Farias grown to be a team to be reckoned with. In this year´s Copa América they were very unlucky not to make it to the final, and have in the fall taken the first steps to a World Cup by, among others, defeating Argentina for the first time in their history.

3) Santos: The Brazilian side won this years' Copa Libertadores title in a convincing way, and playing positive football they are raising the flag for Brazilian football in an otherwise meager year. They lost the World Club Cup final to FC Barcelona, but that does not take away their extraordinary year.

2) Uruguay: Forget Brazil and Argentina! There is no doubt that Uruguay is the best side in South America! They showed that their 4th place in the 2010 World Cup was no coincidence by taking the Copa América title in a convincing way on Argentina soil, and are clearly ahead in the World Cup qualifiers after some resounding victories!

1) FC Barcelona: No matter what you think about them, FC Barcelona plays awesome football, and has continued so this year, taking the Champions League title after a great victory against Manchester United and taking the Spanish League title. In spite of the pressure from Real Madrid, they crushed them when everyone thought Real Madrid had a chance, and took the World Club Championship after crushing Santos in the final.

Barcelona World Champion

Perhaps it was only a formality that Barcelona should officially proclaim itself the best team in the world in 2012 after their resounding victory against Real Madrid recently. But surely, their victory in the FIFA Club World Championship against Brazilian Santos was no less resounding. The final had been looked forward to, since Santos is also a club that plays entertaining attacking football and has some outstanding players. However, as Barcelona also did in this years' Champions League final, Barcelona seems to be awesome when against teams that are hailed as possible threats to their current footballing hegemony. There was never doubt as to the best team, and Barcelona won 4-0, with another extraordinary match by Lionel Messi, who will probably win the best footballer award of 2012 thanks to all his goals and antics at Barcelona.

Barcelona are surely the best team of 2012.

Libertadores final in Cuzco

I have been in Peru over the last two weeks, greatly enjoying that wonderful country, that has so many things to see, try and taste, that I forgot to dwell into their football history. What I did not miss though, was the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final between Santos and Peñarol. It was indeed a final that had footballing history written all over it, as Pelé's old club faced the mightiest club in Uruguay. The first match in Montevideo had ended 0-0, so Santos were rightfully favourites; besides having been awesome in the tournament, Peñarol had struggled greatly to make it to the final.
I saw the final in a small restaurant in Cuzco, where I had eaten some cuy (guinea pig) before the match. It was a good match: Santos dominated, but Peñarol were fighting tenaciously. In the second half Santos went ahead 2-0, and it did not seem that Peñarol could react, but they did. They pulled one up, and Santos' players did seem unnecessarily nervous in the end, but managed to hold the score and lift the most important South American club trophy to the delight of Pelé and other followers of the club.
As to me, having enjoyed this match, I continued to enjoy Perú!