Copa Libertadores 2010: The knockout stages

Its all starting to heat up. After a group phase that began with fireworks and ended with fisticuffs, the 2010 Copa Libertadores now gets interesting. This week sees the start of the knockout stages of the competition, and the juicy storylines and intriguing sub-plots are all falling nicely into place.

The last 16

Corinthians (BRA) vs Flamengo (BRA)
Sao Paulo (BRA) vs Universitario (PER)
Estudiantes (ARG) vs San Luis (MEX)
Velez Sarsfield (ARG) vs Chivas Guadalajara (MEX)
Libertad (PAR) vs Once Caldas (COL)
Internacional (BRA) vs Banfield (ARG)
Nacional (URU) vs Cruzeiro (BRA)
Universidad de Chile (CHI) vs Alianza Lima (PER)

So what is there in the way of stories? Well, arguably the biggest tie of the round sees Brazilian giants Corinthians and Flamengo go head-to-head for a place in the quarter finals.

Mengo vs Timao

The tie has plenty to excite. The two best supported clubs in Brazil. Continuation of the long-standing inter-city rivalry between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Copa do Brasil holders against Brazilian league champions. And of course, on a more personal level, Ronaldo vs Adriano – two icons of the modern Brazilian game in a battle of the strikers showdown.

To supporters of Flamengo, Ronaldo is far from Mr. Popular. The opposite applies.

A Flamengo supporter as a boy, the pudgy-faced assassin trained with the Rio outfit as part of his rehabilitation from injury at the back end of 2008. A sensational deal was in place for him to sign, only for crossed wires between player and club resulting in O Fenomeno changing his mind and heading down to Sao Paulo to sign for Corinthians. Animosity lingers.

Ronaldo was injured when Corinthians last played Flamengo, and so he missed the giant banner their fans had prepared to greet him – a mock-up of a grotesquely overweight striker in a Corinthians shirt surrounded by transvestites (hmm, who could that be?).

How Flamengo supporters would love to scupper the grand plans of their rivals, who desperately want a first ever Libertadores triumph in their Centenary season.

The Brazilian champions have big problems though. Despite winning their first league title in 17 years just months ago, poor form in the Rio state championships saw coach Andrade sacked. To the dismay of his players – Andrade was popular in both the dressing room and with supporters.

One reason cited by club president Patricia Amorim for Andrade’s sacking was for apparently losing control, but the club hierarchy’s softly-softly handling of wildchild Adriano sits at odds with such reasoning. After narrowly scraping through to the last 16 can Flamengo, under interim coach Rogerio, conquer Corinthians and shatter a club whose entire blueprint is based around winning this competition this special year?

Mexican spice

Country-wise, the breakdown of the 14 clubs who qualified through the group stages is 5 Brazilian teams, 3 Argentine, 2 Peruvian, 1 Chilean, 1 Colombian, 1 Uruguayan and 1 Paraguayan. The 2 remaining spaces were reserved for Chivas Guadalajara and San Luis, who add Mexican flavour to the tournament by going directly into the knockout phase.

This stems from the swine flu farce of year, a dispute which resulted in the two Mexican teams withdrawing from the competition in protest after their last 16 opponents, fearful of the disease, refused to play in Mexico.

A Mexican/South American spat erupted, which quickly turned political amidst accusations of anti-Mexican bias and “racism.” End result – the South American governing body CONMEBOL, who benefit greatly from the TV revenue Mexican audiences can generate, found a compromise and fast-tracked the pair into this year’s last 16.

After receiving entry to the competition in 1998 a Mexican club has never won the Copa Libertadores, and this year has been a nightmare for Mexican teams. Estudiantes Tecos, Morelia and Monterrey were all sent packing early, and with San Luis finishing the domestic season as worst team in the league and having to face holders Estudiantes, Chivas appear to be Mexico’s only hope for glory.

Even that seems unlikely. Chivas are up against it themselves. 5 of their best players are unavailable for the game against Velez Sarsfield, away on international duty with the national team preparing for the World Cup in South Africa. Velez, much fancied after a quite impressive showing in the group phase, are expected to go through.

Peruvians rising

One of the stories of Copa Libertadores 2010 so far has been the rise to prominence of Peruvian football, and the Universidad de Chile vs Alianza Lima and Sao Paulo vs Universitario ties will offer us the next chapter in that developing tale.

Alianza Lima (my dark horses and underdog team to support) have not made it this far since 1998, but after bashing up holders Estudiantes 4-1 in their opening home game Alianza managed to progress in one of the best runners-up slots.

Peruvian champions Universitario meanwhile only qualified narrowly as another best runner-up. “Peruvian football has improved massively” claimed legendary Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni as his side set off for Lima, but right back Cicinho has promised a big performance.

A big, strong physical side with powerful defenders, La ‘U’ will be prepared. But Sao Paulo, boasting the likes of Cicinho and Ceni as well as Hernanes, Dagoberto and Washington – one of the players of the tournament so far – will provide a stern test.

Plenty of other games excite. From a footballing perspective Internacional vs Banfield should be very easy on the eye, while the mind games have already begun in Nacional vs Cruzeiro after Nacional coach Eduardo Acevedo branded Cruzeiro’s defence “un-coordinated”, claimed the Uruguayans are “a bigger club” than their opponents, ridiculed Cruzeiro’s pitch for being too narrow and hinted at pro-Brazilian bias from officials. Quite the rant!

Any predictions, observations or questions feel free to comment below. Meanwhile let the excitement begin!

(photo via Hasta El Gol Siempre)

Alianza Lima, Copa Libertadores, Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Estudiantes, Flamengo, Football in Latin America, Mexico