Flamengo snatches the Copa Libertadores from River Plate in the last minutes | Sports

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Flamengo players celebrate the title.Antonio Lacerda (EFE)

If Mario Vargas Llosa started conversation in the cathedral Wondering when Peru was screwed, Flamengo from Brazil had to come to Lima to find out when their curse would end in the highest competition in South America: the answer was this Saturday, November 23, just 38 years after their so far only Copa Libertadores, when in the last three minutes he reversed a disadvantage against River Plate and won, in a feat format, the second highest continental title in its history.

The giant from Rio de Janeiro beat River 2-1 and, after almost four decades of waiting, found his international claim at the Monumental de Lima, the magnificent venue for the first single final in the history of the tournament. Flamengo was too big for that of 1981, led by Zico, to be their only Copa Libertadores. From December 11 he will try to win the Club World Cup in Qatar encouraged by a good wink as background: in the old format, the 1981 Intercontinental, he justly beat Liverpool, also the current European representative.

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For the Brazilian team it is time for new heroes, like Gabriel gabigol Barbosa, scorer for the Libertadores with 9 goals and scorer of the two goals in the 88th and 91st minutes to beat a River that was in the lead for almost the entire game and handed over with pain, but also with pride, the throne that last year he had beaten Boca, his greatest rival, in Madrid.

Until 43 minutes into the second half, there was nothing to predict that Flamengo would emerge alive from the ambush that Marcelo Gallardo’s River had set for him. Even the lengthening seemed like a big deal. Based on its soccer quality and economic power, as if it were a European team competing in South America, it was thought that the Brazilian team would show its presence from the beginning. He was the favorite for a reason: the curriculum and charisma of Jorge Jesús on the bench, the goals of Gabigol and Bruno Henrique up front, and the experience in the big leagues of Felipe Luis, Diego Alves and Rafinha in defense seemed to confirm a enough combo that would lead Flamengo to stomp on the Monumental de Lima.

However, the team that swept Gremio 5-0 in the Cup semifinals and is about to become champion of the Brasileirao -this Sunday, if the results of their pursuers help them, they can win the title of their country- no there was news until two minutes before the end. River, a team accustomed to playing decisive matches, took the lead with a goal from Colombian Rafael Santos Borré, a former Villarreal striker, 14 minutes into the first half and controlled the rest of the match without major problems.

If Enzo Pérez and his 34 years and Exequel Palacios and his 21 had been the owners of the Peruvian afternoon, Gabigol -a 23-year-old talent who quietly passed through Inter Milan and Benfica between 2016 and 2018- entered the Olympus Flamengo, the team with the largest number of genuine fans in the world: according to surveys, 40 million of the nearly 200 million Brazilians are from Mengaoas thundered in Lima this Saturday.

In three minutes, Flamengo ended 38 years of being screwed in the Libertadores.

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