The Paranaense He got his pass to the round of 16 as a visitor Libertadores Cupafter a last-minute 1-1 draw against the Paraguayan champion, Freedomin the second leg played in Asunción.
A goal by Rómulo José Cardoso da Cruz, in the 90th minute, turned the game around until then dominated by the hosts, who practically controlled the actions of the second half.
The experienced Roque Santa Cruz opened the scoring in injury time (m.49) in favor of Libertad, who were encouraged to attack more insistently a Brazilian team that was running out of steam.
Erick (Paranaense), surrounded by Roque Santa Cruz and Hernesto Caballero
Santa Cruz, Paraguay’s historic goalscorer, showed his caste by receiving a ball in the opponent’s area and getting rid of the Paraense defenders to shoot at Bento Krepski’s goal.
With the advantage in the game and the series tied, the Asunción team dared to do more, through Santa Cruz, who tried a new arrival of danger, and William Mendietta, who tried a shot from medium distance.
But it was Rómulo, who entered the second phase, who appeared at the exact moment in the Libertad area and kicked a ball to the back of the net that escaped Uruguayan goalkeeper Martín Silva in the clearance. The annotation ended the illusions of advancing at Libertad’s house, which has just been crowned champion of the Paraguayan Opening Tournament.
The other Guaraní representative in the Libertadores, Cerro Porteño, will play his pass against another Brazilian, Palmeiras, champion in the last two editions of the regional tournament.
DATA SHEET
1 – Freedom: Martín Silva, Iván Piris, Diego Viera, Alexander Barboza, Miguel Samudio, Hernesto Caballero, Marcelo Díaz (d.78 Álvaro Campuzano), Diego Gómez (d.45 William Mendieta), Bautista Merlini (d.78 Antonio Bareiro), Lorenzo Melgarejo and Roque Santa Cruz (d.86 Óscar Cardozo)
Coach: Daniel Garnero
1 – Paraná: Bento, Luis Orejuela (m.61 Khellven), Pedro Henrique, Nicolás Hernández, Abner da Silva, Erick Conrado, David Terans (m.61 Víctor Bueno), Hugo Moura (m.45 Matheus Fernandes), Agustín Cannobio (m.75 Marcelo Cirino), Tomás Neck (d.75 Romulo Cardoso) and Vítor Roque (d.78 Rómulo José Cardoso da Cruz)
Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari
Goals: 1-0, Roque Santa Cruz (m. 50); 1-1, Romulo José Cardoso da Cruz (d. 90)
Referee: the Uruguayan Andrés Cunha admonished Abner da Silva, Roque Santa Cruz, Pedro Henriquez, Iván Piris and Alexander Barboza.
Incidents: second leg of the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores, played at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción
AGENCIES
