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00:00 The beautiful Copa Conmebol Libertadores trophy all shined up nicely.
00:06 What is going on in the mind of Marcelo for this matchup?
00:11 A gloria eterna. Rio de Janeiro, the final of the Copa Conmebol Libertadores between Boca and Fluminense.
00:18 George Vimetelis, Phil Shane, Thomas Rongen, Phil, looking forward to this matchup.
00:23 This is going to be fun between two historic teams.
00:26 It is two teams that have a lot of history behind their name.
00:31 However, for Fluminense, there is one title they do not have.
00:35 And among the big 12, they are one of only two that have not won the Libertadores.
00:41 The other is a team that is off to a good start this year and also shares the MaracanĆ£, Botafogo.
00:47 Fluminense will look to erase their name from that list and add it to the list of Brazilian Copa Libertadores champions.
00:55 Taking a look and you can see the countdown on the big clock, the MaracanĆ£.
00:59 We are just about ready for kickoff.
01:02 And the ball underway. Boca Juniors and Fluminense.
01:11 Fluminense, meanwhile, have won the Brazilian title four times.
01:16 Then the state title, the Carioca 33, behind only their arch rivals, Flamengo, who have also had some success here.
01:24 Looked like the boot coming out. Cavani arguing, but Roldan pointing to the foul.
01:30 Free kick upcoming for Fluminense.
01:33 Well, Independiente fans are rooting for Fluminense. River Flames are rooting for Fluminense.
01:39 Flamengo fans are rooting for Boca. So the allegiances certainly are very clear.
01:46 In fact, you take a look at four of the top five, all Argentinian.
01:50 The only sore thumb in there is PeƱarol, who have won five.
01:55 Marcelo whips it in, glancing header, but right into the waiting arms of Romero.
02:01 Good positioning, but maybe a sharper.
02:05 He's living in the box. A guy, by the way, 35, never been called up for the Argentine national team.
02:10 Yet, here comes Boca the other way. Cavani out wide.
02:13 Marential the shot, but a laser beam into the arms. And that was a chance for Boca.
02:19 Marco fits that ball, but it's his ability. What I like about him is his confidence.
02:24 Ball into the area, poked away. Melo and company dodging a bullet there.
02:29 Boca has been the team that's been the more aggressive, although Kano with a chance off that set play.
02:35 18 minutes played. Gonzo looking for a little calm from his team.
02:40 Mine actually, this is the one that I just talked about with Cavani.
02:45 Why go backwards, not open up and look over your shoulder?
02:49 That first touch needs to go towards goal.
02:52 And Edson Cavani, who's a proven goal scorer, particular in tight games.
02:56 And both teams defend well, upset pieces, but also have great height.
03:01 Cavani coming to mind, obviously.
03:03 Monaco will sweep this one in. Cavani trying to find an opening.
03:06 Paul Fernandez shows. They'll drop it back for Medina.
03:09 Again, handing it off to the young left back, but they anticipate well.
03:15 Stripped away by John Arias, who gets brought down.
03:18 And there's a tussle outside the 18. The referee saying, "Get up."
03:23 And is that Kano who is defending? Take another look. Looks like a clash with Figale.
03:29 Figale, not great height, but always going forward on set pieces, as he did in MLS as well.
03:36 Valentini also down.
03:39 As I said again, a lot of big bodies, including some players.
03:44 Gonzo gets taken.
03:46 Gonzo doesn't even look at the--oh, he dips his head there.
03:49 Let me ask you as a former player, Thomas, this is a final, so maybe there's a little leniency.
03:55 But VAR is going to be asked, "Is this a red?"
03:59 It's not, in my opinion.
04:01 Against Fluminense in the match in Argentina against River.
04:05 Back Cavani flag stays down, reaching in to try and touch it.
04:09 Favreau with the shot that's denied by Fabio, but it's going to come all the way back to the initial pass.
04:14 It's offsides, yeah.
04:17 Just a little bit off on the time.
04:19 It is a great touch there by Cavani to get it to Barco for the shot there, but offside first.
04:24 Let's see. Yep, clearly.
04:26 And by the way, Nino, how smart was he?
04:30 He looked over his shoulder, knew where his right fullback was, in advanced position,
04:34 looked at Melo, a ton of space to run into, leaving that--that was vacated by Marcello, so there's the danger.
04:41 Then you need cover, you need attention, you need concentration, and that doesn't always last.
04:47 The header up and over by Nino that just misses the post.
04:50 Marcello and Gonzo to do their magic.
04:54 Ball launched, good cover.
04:57 Favreau pinching in, but Fluminense maintains possession.
05:01 Ten minutes left to go, regulation, nice little give and go, drop to the spot, counter shot, goal, goal, goal!
05:08 Fluminense! And it starts with a give and go on the far flank, and a lightning quick attack has given Flew the lead.
05:16 Absolutely brilliant.
05:18 This is all starts of the second phase attack, and because Fluminense has good numbers in that attack in third,
05:25 that second ball, they win 9 out of 10 times, and all of a sudden Boca's a little vulnerable on that right side, where?
05:33 Fluminense has that overload to give and go, and even a better ball back.
05:39 This shows you, here we go again, that great give and go, people not staying with the runners,
05:44 and I'm telling you, Tano does so well.
05:46 Initially, he leads his buddy to go far post, he pulls back two or three yards to open the lane for that pass,
05:55 and then a brilliant first time finish.
05:58 This is a player who will score about 20 times more goals after 30 than he did prior.
06:07 Here's Marcello from distance, but it sails high.
06:10 So first of all, credit to the clubs that were patient.
06:19 The second half underway, the Colombian blows the whistle, Fluminense with possession.
06:26 Marcello, to 20, flips it in with his left foot, cleared away by Felipe Melo.
06:34 Bit of a roll of the dice to get Keno back in there for Denise in the starting lineup.
06:39 Marcello playing some defense, cleared to the top, Medina, the shot deflected, but it bounces into the arms of Fabio.
06:46 Medina's another player that's going to have to step up and, like Thomas mentioned, take some risks on being going.
06:52 Fluminense just says, "Okay," then will come down his wing.
06:56 Which is a great point, because he's defended more than he's been able to attack him.
07:00 Here's Avincula, cannon shot, side netting, but on the wrong side of the post.
07:05 And go after the left side of the defensive book, because Fabada is not known for being a strong defender.
07:11 So he is prone to be out of position a little bit.
07:14 So if he doesn't get help from Barco, then boom, that's easy.
07:17 And then with, you guys mentioned, looking to try and track things down in the corner.
07:22 Another flick for Ganso, and now they're off to the races.
07:26 Pinned in the corner, but now it's a sprint to the finish.
07:30 Cano was taken down on a tackle near midfield.
07:33 Another player knocked down. Here's Cano, threading it forward, but just a little too far for Arias.
07:39 Also, this is why you brought him here.
07:42 Arias into the 18, drops it back, out wide for Cano.
07:46 Again, flooding the right side.
07:48 Arias chesting it down, dribbles into a triple team, seemed to be pulled down in the box.
07:53 He's up with arms in air. VAR will take a look.
07:56 Look at the Fluminense bench.
07:58 Donald Don had an earlier shot for a penalty that was dismissed, and he's giving the signal now.
08:03 VAR's looking at it. Let's calm down.
08:06 But Boca, maybe one replay away from going down 2-0.
08:11 Oh, that's clear.
08:12 The referee actually said, "I looked at it, but this is a 100% penalty."
08:18 No doubt about it.
08:19 Into the middle, Martinelli. Boca blasted to midfield.
08:23 Again, first to the loose ball. Gonzo in a showdown with Cavani.
08:28 But it was Marentiel's challenge that will give Fluminense a chance to bleed the clock.
08:33 Andre.
08:35 Cavani now involved for the third time.
08:38 It's other players involved.
08:40 And again, yes, Cavani has stepped on somebody's toe, which is not a yellow card,
08:46 but a very easy call for the referee in favor of Fluminense.
08:53 And now we're starting to see Boca rough tackles.
08:56 Can they hold on? Boca has been able to force penalties throughout the knockout stage
09:01 and eventually advance.
09:03 Today, there would be no further round. It's the trophy on the line.
09:08 Here's Martinelli. Inside. Shot. Andre.
09:11 Ball whipped across. Too shy for Marentiel.
09:16 Boca now scrambling to win it back in the midfield.
09:19 Rodon letting Boca fight to get the ball back.
09:23 Chance for Fernandez. Cannon shot!
09:25 But stopped by Fabio on the goal line.
09:28 Xavier waiting to get permission to get back onto the field.
09:31 The referee seems to be ignoring him.
09:34 Maybe thinking he was trying to bleed the clock a bit.
09:39 Wine. Medina. Advincula.
09:41 Not as adventurous as he had been in the past.
09:44 The Peruvian across the 18, rifle to the back corner!
09:48 And he's done it again!
09:49 Wow!
09:50 He slides through the top of the 18 and slices in his fourth of the tournament.
09:55 We're tied at one.
09:57 There will be a lot of discussion why the Fluminense player was not allowed on the field,
10:03 forcing Paul Flue to drop almost inside their 18-yard box with a number down, obviously.
10:10 Hubeck, by the way, to cut in on his left leg and surprises through traffic.
10:16 Because all of a sudden, look at the numbers.
10:18 And Fluminense is just dropping, dropping, dropping, not putting any pressure on the ball.
10:24 And at the end of the day, I'm saying, "Fabio, you've got to do better."
10:27 Although this ball, as I said again, comes through a lot of bodies.
10:30 And he sees it very late.
10:33 Well-placed ball, but not with a lot of power.
10:36 But unbelievable.
10:40 The Boca is back in this game based on what we've seen throughout.
10:46 Uh-oh.
10:47 Well, is this going to be considered interference?
10:51 Yeah.
10:52 Now, you take a look at that back line, and at this point,
10:55 it appears as though there's a defender back anyway.
10:59 Not often that you have your right back as your leading scorer.
11:07 Well, Cavani, as you said, you saw the socks.
11:10 It's a dead giveaway.
11:12 Was not happy, but his day is done.
11:16 So, the younger Marentiel will stay out there.
11:20 Benedetto will be checking in.
11:23 So, Benedetto pretty much won the war of words with his coach,
11:29 who said, "No, I'm going to stay with this."
11:34 Like another change as well.
11:37 And it's Boca making a double switch.
11:40 Speaking of that far flank, Gonzo will exit stage left.
11:45 Marcello will also check out.
11:47 Diego Barbosa will be one of the substitutes.
11:53 Let's see.
11:56 Lima, the other -- do they make three changes here?
11:59 It looks like they have.
12:00 That's a lot of this final, especially a one-leg affair, which is one-off.
12:04 A tight match.
12:06 Kennedy taking advantage of the bouncing ball.
12:08 3v3.
12:09 Takes the shot himself, and even though he stumbled,
12:12 Romero back to his feet quickly.
12:15 Well, I don't know if they need --
12:17 Doesn't have it in him like he used to 10, 15 years ago
12:20 when he was scoring a ton of goals for Napoli and PSG.
12:23 As I mentioned, the pressure to play with Boca is a lot bigger than any club.
12:27 Slop to Andrei, and the shot from distance just sails wide.
12:32 Andrei lifting it into the --
12:34 Almost single-handedly the reason Boca will win the Libertadores.
12:40 But can Fluminense take the lead back?
12:43 Arias deflected and wide out for the corner.
12:48 93rd minute underway.
12:54 Fluminense into the middle for Lima.
12:59 Good run out wide.
13:00 Barboza into the 18.
13:02 Barboza misses the net.
13:04 It looked like he had the chance to take it himself, maybe tried to pass.
13:09 Romero ready to put this into orbit.
13:11 All eyes and ears on Wilmer Roldan.
13:13 And it looks like we have ended the 90 minutes,
13:18 and we are about to head to --
13:26 And we are underway.
13:29 Those two have been pretty solid in the middle.
13:31 155 matches, averaging about 2 1/2 goals,
13:37 which means we're missing about a half.
13:39 Looking for the corner, but Romero gets there first.
13:43 Brings it all the way back.
13:45 All it takes is one.
13:50 Kennedy back to goal, lifted into the area, settled for Kennedy.
13:54 The strike to the corner!
13:56 Oh, what a build-up for Fluminense!
13:58 And it is John Kennedy with a shot heard around the world.
14:03 Actually, George, take this one and give me --
14:08 What do you call this guy right here?
14:10 Come on!
14:11 Presidente!
14:14 Well, maybe an inaugural moment for the Libertadores champions
14:19 as he goes into the crowd to celebrate, and some of his teammates go with him.
14:24 Yeah, well executed again.
14:26 I just talked about they lost a little bit of their rhythm,
14:29 their fluidity that they're known for, obviously.
14:33 Marcelo knows he's so close, but still so far away as well.
14:38 Something that could incite the fans, but that would be a huge blow.
14:44 Kennedy's goal could give Fluminense the lead,
14:48 but they will still have nearly 20 minutes to kill,
14:52 shorthanded, if that is a red against the young striker.
14:55 If I have to give an MVP right now, it's Cano with his second assist.
15:00 He provides that first goal brilliantly as a typical winger.
15:04 This time it starts actually with Kennedy holding up the ball,
15:08 finding somebody as well, continuing his run, and then Cano just with a --
15:13 Peeling away.
15:15 Yellow card coming out.
15:17 Now is that going to be to someone on the bench?
15:19 Red card!
15:21 Oh, that second yellow for someone.
15:24 Was that a second yellow or a straight red?
15:27 That might be for going into the stands to celebrate.
15:31 But considering what we have seen on the beaches of Copacabana,
15:35 what we have seen, and not just in South America, but in football,
15:40 you can understand why they would not want the fans to be sparked.
15:46 But how could they not be?
15:48 By the goal itself, Marcelo over to show his support for Kennedy,
15:53 but they are now going to have to hold on for the rest of this session
15:57 and the entirety of the second extra time, short-handed.
16:01 Denise and the Fluminense bench screaming at Roldan,
16:05 asking for this first session to be brought to a close.
16:09 Fabra slips, spins into the area, appeals for a handball.
16:14 Now a takedown in the box, Roldan letting play continue.
16:18 That one looked even more dangerous.
16:22 There's Fabra battling first.
16:24 That can't be really considered as a handball.
16:27 Defenders allowed to have an arm down to brace themselves.
16:32 I'm wondering about the follow-up play, though.
16:37 Wow. Very close.
16:39 Both players are tussling, not enough, but yes, Phil,
16:45 falling down unnatural versus natural.
16:48 I've seen a lot of penalties given with a stationary arm,
16:53 if a defender slide tackles, which normally you use your arms.
16:58 You have to.
16:59 A method to break your fall, and this ball does touch, by the way, his hands.
17:04 And now it could get ugly, by the way.
17:06 Nino wearing the captain's armband, and there's Fabra with the slap.
17:13 You could say in defense, but he's just asking for trouble.
17:20 And it looks like Fabra is just going to get the yellow.
17:23 Take a look.
17:25 And a slap to the face, Thomas, as you said.
17:29 And he's already seen enough.
17:31 The law of the game is very, very clear on this one.
17:35 VAR, now will he reach out and wipe out the yellow?
17:38 The yellow's off, and a red card.
17:42 Boca has surrendered its man advantage, 10 on 10,
17:46 and Fluminense in front with another extra session to go.
17:58 And we are underway in the second stanza of extra time.
18:02 Two more subs for --
18:04 -- attacking player throughout the course of this match.
18:07 A switch near side, Boca bringing it down.
18:13 Over Guga, the substitute to defend.
18:17 Threaded in, Benedetto on the turn, the shot to the corner, whistles wide,
18:22 creating that opening almost single-handedly.
18:27 They've done this whole season quite frankly.
18:30 They need to get the ball first.
18:33 To Medina on the sideline, ball whipped in, grabbed by Fabio,
18:37 pops onto the loose ball just in time.
18:40 Again, there will be --
18:41 That's all they have there.
18:42 There will be chances from distance.
18:44 Poppy ball the other way, and off to the races comes Sean Adias.
18:49 Could take it to the corner or perhaps in for Cano.
18:53 Back to Adias, spins it to the middle.
18:56 The chance trickles off the post and out.
19:00 Oh, so close to the insurance goal from Guga.
19:05 Clinical there in transitions from Boca that's lacking right now.
19:10 Ball from Adias.
19:12 Falls perfectly.
19:15 You know what?
19:16 I think Guga's first touch is a little too heavy.
19:18 Very good point, George, absolutely.
19:20 You take that little bit off his chest instead of bringing it out.
19:25 Bring that chest in, it will fall perfectly, gets away from him,
19:29 and he's going to stretch.
19:30 Advincula, screaming for it, nearside, to Borda.
19:34 Settles.
19:36 Swipes it forward.
19:37 Cano flies into the challenge.
19:40 Might have come off the leg and then the arm, so a free kick for Boca.
19:44 In 22nd minute, the free kick will be left.
19:48 Trying to make sure his teammates are onside.
19:50 Has a go, bangs it in.
19:52 It's Cano again.
19:53 Actually, out it comes.
19:56 Is that going to be the final whistle or off a hand?
19:59 It's Lima who took it to the loose at the top of the 18 and slammed to midfield.
20:04 And as the ball comes down, the Fluminense fans ready to celebrate.
20:11 But Wilmer Rodon is not ready yet.
20:14 There it is, the final whistle.
20:17 And Fluminense, the champions of the 2023 Copa Libertadores,
20:24 Fernando Genis.
20:26 The impossible dream comes true.
20:30 There are so many side stories to this.
20:33 You just mentioned one name, the head coach that has made his mark in the last two years.
20:39 Also now the interim Brazilian coach, Marcelo, coming back to his childhood club,
20:44 picking up another trophy.
20:46 Your boy, Kennedy, coming off the bench score.
20:48 And getting a red card as well.
20:52 (Music)
20:56 (Music)
20:59 (electronic music)
21:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]