Copa Sudamericana 2011, Round Of 16: Teams From Seven Countries Advance To Quarterfinals

Following their 4-0 stomping of Flamengo in Brazil, Universidad de Chile was already a shoo-in to qualify for the quarterfinals of the 2011 Copa Sudamericana, but in keeping with the rules of the competition, they decided to play the second leg anyway. Flamengo did not play their first team and didn’t bother to bring a full bench to Chile either, traveling with just the three players they eventually substituted on and a reserve keeper. With a 4-0 lead and the likes of Ronaldinho, Deivid, Thiago Neves and Dario Bottinelli at home, La U put on the cruise control, winning 1-0 in an average match.

The one goal was a stunner, though, scored by defensive midfielder Marcelo Diaz. Following a slowly built attack from the back, Eduardo Vargas attempted a cheeky through ball into the box with the outside of his foot, which was cleared away. Unfortunately for Flamengo, absolutely no one was near the edge of the penalty area, and Diaz stepped up and hit a bullet into the back of the net from between 20 and 25 yards. La U will probably entertain again in the quarterfinals, as they take on an Arsenal di Sarandi side with some quality footballers and a poor defense.

Following their 1-0 defeat away in Brazil, with Brazilian international veteran Luis Fabiano providing the winner with his first goal for his new club, Libertad rallied back to clinch a 2-0 home win, qualifying them for the quarterfinals of the 2011 Copa Sudamericana. They sat out a few of their first choice players in the first leg, but Libertad brought in some new faces for the second leg, including their biggest star Victor Caceres, and were able to do enough to advance past the Brazilian title contenders.

Libertad locked up the series at 1-1 in the ninth minute, after Manuel Maciel drew a penalty on Luis Fabiano following a set piece. Fabiano doesn’t spend a whole lot of time near his own penalty area, and based on his poor challenge on Maciel, it’s obvious why he isn’t a defender. Sergio Aquino stepped up and converted the penalty, putting Libertad up 1-0 on the evening.

After losing 3-1 away in Bolivia, Vasco da Gama had a bit of a mountain to climb to advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2011 Copa Sudamericana. With a massive domestic clash against Sao Paulo coming up on the weekend, they could hardly be blamed if they decided to rest their stars. Instead, they brought out most of their first choice players and put on a show, defeating Aurora 8-3 in a wild match, winning the tie 9-6 on aggregate.

Bernardo scored the opener just eight minutes in for Vasco with a top-shelf goal, dribbling and doing a Cruyff turn through two defenders before ripping a shot into the roof of the net from 10 yards out. Vasco were down just 3-2 at that point, and suddenly had life. However, Augusto Andaveris scored in the 16th minute for Aurora, seemingly giving Vasco little chance to mount a comeback.

Independiente Santa Fe had no problem dispatching Brazilian side Botafogo in the 2011 Copa Sudamericana on Tuesday night, as the Brazilian side was caught playing some backups and looking ahead to their league match on the weekend. Santa Fe went up 2-0 in the first eight minutes and 3-0 just before halftime, so the game understandably got a bit boring.

Fortunately for us, a dog in the stadium was well aware that the game was becoming boring and decided to run onto the pitch to entertain everyone! Video after the jump.

Botafoto are in the midst of a tough fight at the top of the table in Brazil, and looming this weekend is a tricky matchup with Cruzeiro. They drew 1-1 in the first leg of their series with Independiente Santa Fe at home, and were slight underdogs going into this one, given that most didn’t feel they were going to put their best foot forward with so much to play for in Brazil and so little resources compared to their competition. They hardly even showed up, getting finished off by Santa Fe in just eight minutes. The Colombians won by a final score of 4-1, and they will play top seeded Velez Sarsfield in the quarterfinals.

Oscar Rodas netted the first of his two goals just two minutes into the match, with Omar Perez all but ending the tie with an 8th minute goal. In first half stoppage time, just seconds before halftime, Leo put in an awful own goal for the visitors, completely shattering any hopes of a comeback.

In the build-up to the 2010 World Cup, Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile side got just as much media attention as any of the traditional world powers. After a two-cycle absence from the tournament, Chile finished second in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying with players that casual fans hadn’t heard of before the qualifying tournament began. Thanks to Humberto Suazo’s ten qualifying goals and Bielsa’s preferred formation featuring three defenders, a playmaker and three forwards, they were as discussed as, and unavoidably linked to, group mates and eventual winners Spain.

Chile won both of their first two matches before coming up against La Furia Roja, who defeated them in what should have been a fascinating tactical battle. Unfortunately, their clash was marred by some questionable officiating and penalty drama. They finished second in their group and were defeated soundly by Brazil in the Round of 16, but Chile left their indelible mark on world football with their performance. Bielsa was discussed frequently following the tournament and linked to various jobs before taking over at Athletic Bilbao, who have become a fascinating team under his short reign.

Half of the 2011 Copa Sudamericana’s Round of 16 is complete, with four teams having gone through to the next round last week. Velez Sarsfield, LDU Quito, Universitario and Arsenal di Sarandi are all through to the quarterfinals and await their opponents, which will be determined this week. All four of the competition’s remaining Brazilian sides play the second legs of their ties this week, and all are in some danger of getting knocked out.

Santa Fe (Colombia) Vs. Botafogo (Brazil)