Nathan Mendes (left) of Bragantino and Fredy Salazar of Águilas Doradas fight for the ball during the match for phase 2 of the Copa Libertadores.
Photo: AFP – NELSON ALMEIDA
The Brazilian Bragantino won this Tuesday 4-3 on penalties against the Colombian Águilas Doradas after a goalless match in which the defense of the visitors prevailed against a continuous attack by the locals, and qualified for the third qualifying phase of the Libertadores Cup.
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John Fredy Salazar and Yéiler Góez wasted their penalty charges for Águilas Doradas, while the four who were charged for Bragantino were accurate (Lincoln, Nathan Mendez, Luan Candido and captain Léo Ortiz).
The first leg played last week at the Atanasio Girardot stadium in Medellín also ended without goals because the Colombians also played defense. With the result, Bragantino will face in the next phase of the continental tournament, the last before the group stage, with the winner of the match between Brazilian Botafogo and Bolivian Aurora that will take place this Wednesday in Rio.
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The match at the Nabi Abi Chedid stadium in the city of Bragança Paulista was limited to Bragantino’s attempts to put the ball in the net against a Golden Eagles that had a defense that was difficult to overcome and in which the Colombians concentrated their strategy, forgetting almost completely from the attack.
From the first minute, those led by Hernán Darío ‘Bolillo’ Gómez raised a barrier that practically prevented the Brazilians from reaching the goal zone, with few exceptions of Vitinho and Junino Capixaba, in the first half, and other more daring ones by Eduardo Sasha and Helinho in the complementary.
Nor did the distant goal attempts by Luan Candido bear fruit, as he lacked the strength to make goalkeeper José David Contreras, the figure of the match, feel threatened.
The Colombian team was on the verge of winning the contest in an unforeseen attack by Jesús Rivas who almost managed to put the ball into Cleiton’s goal, but ended up being pulled back by the captain of the São Paulo team, Léo Ortiz.
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The multiple changes by Portuguese coach Pedro Caixinha were of no use in his attempt to win the game in the 90 minutes of regulation, in a match full of fouls and in which barely a quarter of the possible audience attended.
Neither did the replacements ordered by ‘Bolillo’ Gómez, as neither Yéiler Góez nor forward Jorge Ramos met the Colombian coach’s expectations of finishing the match with at least one score after tiring the Brazilians after their repeated and frustrated attack.
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