A goal from the Uruguayan Rodrigo Amaral served so that this Thursday the The Strongest enter the group stage of the Libertadores Cup with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Catholic University from Ecuador, a team that will now play the Copa Sudamericana.
The Argentine Enrique Triverio opened the account for the La Paz locals in the second minute, a few minutes later the Panamanian Ismael Díaz scored the provisional tie for the visit and in the 84th Amaral sentenced, to seal the 2-1 in favor of the Bolivian Tigre as a global marker.
The need for both to qualify was noted from the beginning, since Triverio first opened the account for the locals after a bad rejection by the defense, when the second minute was barely played.
After the goal, the reaction of the Ecuadorian team was immediate since the Panamanian Díaz scored four minutes later after an inappropriate rejection of the Bolivian Juan Pablo Aponte in the center of the area that the striker did not forgive.
After the tie, the game had a great intensity until the 20th minute with two teams that did not stop trying to unbalance the scoreboard with the opportunities they created.
That bustle meant that until the end of the first half the tension was maintained in the middle of the field, with two teams that warned that they were not going to leave any ball lost.
The second half began with the visiting team determined to set the pace of the match and to do so they sought to dominate the actions against a withdrawn Bolivian Tigre.
The excessive mark of both teams in the middle meant that almost during the entire second stage the scoring options were scarce, except for a save by Viscarra that drowned out a sung goal by the Ecuadorians.
However, when everything indicated that the penalty shootout would come, a great play by the Uruguayan Amaral between three opponents and a finish with a corner shot sealed the Bolivians’ pass to the group stage.
DATA SHEET
The Strongest-Catholic 2-1
2 – The Strongest: William Viscarra; Diego Wayar, Gonzalo Castillo, Ismael Benegas, Juan Pablo Aponte; Luciano Ursino (m.75, Saúl Torres), Fernando Sucedo, Rodrigo Amaral (m.86, Luis Demiquel), Jaime Arracaita (m.66, Jair Reinoso); Henry Vaca and Enrique Triverio.
Coach: Cristian Diaz
1 – Catholic University: Jose Cardenas; Gregori Anangono, Rockson Rentería, Yúber Mosquera, Layan Manuel Loor; Walter Chalá (m.73, Lizandro Alzugaray), Facundo Martínez, Kevin Minda (m.60, William Ceballos), Santiago Zamora (m.73, Emiliano Clavijo), Ismael Díaz (m.85, Rodrigo Rivas); Christian Borgia.
Coach: Miguel Rondelli
Goals: 1-0, Enrique Triverio (m. 2); 1-1, Ismael Diaz (m. 6); 2-1, Rodrigo Amaral (d. 84)
Referee: the Brazilian Sampaio admonished Aponte, Martínez, Ismael Díaz and Amaral.
Incidents: return match for the third phase of the Copa Libertadores played at the Hernando Siles stadium in the Bolivian city of La Paz.
