Cruzeiro will play against Lanus his first semi-final of the South American Cupafter completing the procedure at Mineirão and drawing 1-1 this Thursday against a Freedom that was only resurrected at the end, when he found himself in superiority after the expulsion of Argentine Lucas Romero. In the debut on the bench of former coach Fernando Diniz, the Brazilian team, which had just won 0-2 in Asunción, seemed to bury any attempt at rebellion with Kaio Jorge’s goal in the 13th minute, but ended up locked in their area by the Paraguayans.
After a terrible first half, Libertad, led by Argentine Daniel Garnero, woke up from its lethargy with the entry of the eternal Roque Santa Cruz, who scored the tying goal in the 72nd minute, when they were already with one more man.
Cruzeiro did not have to work too hard to take the lead. Almost in the first dangerous approach, Kaio Jorge took advantage of a pinpoint center from Marlon to head the wrong way to the Uruguayan goalkeeper Martín Silva and score the first. The young forward is beginning to find his feet on his return to Brazil, after a frustrated and brief spell at Juventus Turin. There are already three goals in the season, two of them in the Sudamericana.
Barreal (Cruzeiro) disputes a ball with Iván Ramírez (Libertad)
The field continued to lean in favor of the celestial club. Marlon and William advanced on the sides, as did Gabriel Veron and Lautaro Díaz between the lines, who almost went wide in a quick transition led by Romero. By then Cruzeiro, a two-time Libertadores champion in the process of recovering the brilliance of yesteryear, had decided to give way to Libertad, who only circulated the leather like a pendulum without major consequences.
At half-time, Garnero opted to gain experience on the Mineirão pitch and brought out the historic striker Roque Santa Cruz. The team noticed it for the better. Libertad stepped deeper into the area and put Cássio to work. Cruzeiro was also responsible for giving him a survival with Romero’s expulsion for a double yellow in the 60th minute.
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The Asunción team then began to control the game. Santa Cruz hit the post from a corner and sent the next shot into the back of the net with a flat header after a cross from Iván Ramírez. Cássio then saved a point-blank shot from Héctor Villalba that left more than one with the threat of a heart attack. But Cruzeiro weathered the storm and held the tie until the end to return to the semifinals of a continental tournament fifteen years later.
TECHNICAL SHEET
1 – Cruzeiro: Cassio; William, Zé Ivaldo, Lucas Villalba, Marlon; Matheus Henrique (d.84 Fabrizio Peralta), Lucas Romero, Matheus Pereira (d.73 João Marcelo); Gabriel Veron (m.66 Walace), Lautaro Díaz (m.66 Álvaro Barreal) and Kaio Jorge (m.84 Mateus Vital)
Coach: Fernando Diniz
1 – Freedom: Martin Silva; Iván Ramírez, Diego Viera, Néstor Giménez, Matías Espinoza (d.79 Alexis Fretes); Ángel Cardozo Lucena, Hernesto Caballero, Rubén Lezcano (d.68 Bautista Merlini); Alejandro Silva (m.62 Iván Franco), Marcelo Fernández (m.62 Héctor Daniel Villalba) and Gustavo Aguilar (m.46 Roque Santa Cruz)
Coach: Daniel Garnero
Goals: 1-0, Kaio Jorge (m. 13); 1-1, Roque Santa Cruz (d. 72)
Referee: Chilean Felipe González sent off Lucas Romero for a double yellow (m.60) and cautioned Kaio Jorge, William, Fernando Diniz, Iván Ramírez and Néstor Giménez
Incidents: second leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana, played at the Mineirão stadium, in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte. There was a minute of silence for the death of Nacional player Juan Izquierdo.
