How will the Copa Libertadores semi finalists line up?

Only four months after the first round, the 2012 Copa Libertadores has already reached the semi final stage. We’ve had a wonderful tournament so far, full of drama, tension and some superb football, but oddly enough there have been very few surprises. In a setting that usually throws up a fair amount of shock results, we have seen the better sides prosper, and this year’s semi final quartet are arguably the continent’s four best teams.

From Brazil, we have last year’s winners Santos and the current Brazilian champions Corinthians, and they are joined by Boca Juniors and Universidad de Chile, the champions of Argentina and Chile respectively. Thanks to CONMEBOL’s ruling that pairs together clubs from the same nation in the semi final draw, the two Brazilian sides will face each other in the first semi, while Boca and Universidad de Chile will battle it out for the other place in the final.

The semi final draw has came out perfectly, as in each tie we will be treated to a mouthwatering clash between one flamboyant and expressive attacking side, and one solid and organised defensive unit.

Universidad de Chile 6×0 Deportivo Quito: La U’s attacking master class

In last week’s Copa Libertadores last 16 second legs, we were treated to a veritable football feast. Each of the eight matches were filled with drama and laced with a dash of tension. We had Lanús and Vasco go all the way to a penalty shoot-out where the Brazilians came out on top, and Vélez versus Atlético Nacional and Fluminense versus Internacional were tight right up until the final whistle, both home sides ultimately being victorious.

In the Brazilian state of São Paulo, Santos grabbed the headlines with their indomitable 8×0 victory against shell-shocked Bolívar, but the prize for the week’s most impressive attacking display – even though they scored two less – certainly goes to Jorge Sampaoli’s Universidad de Chile side as they hit Deportivo Quito for six.

Game of the Week: Atlético Nacional 2×0 Universidad de Chile

Another week, another game. This time Game of the Week heads to the north-west of the continent to the Colombian city of Medellín. There, nestled in the Aburrá valley, a noisy crowd packed in to the Atanasio Girardot to witness a superb game of football. But first, some back story.

It is easy to forget today that back in the 80’s and early 90’s, Colombian football was one of the biggest forces on the continent. While the Cali and Medellín drug cartels operated almost unopposed, the country’s infamous drug lords pumped their dirty money into the game, and into their favourite teams.

Manure-handlers, projectiles and Hamilton Ricard: South America update

For the past few months, you would be forgiven for thinking that ILFM solely focused on football here in Brazil and nowhere else. However, the fact is that I aim to write about all types of South American football, Argentine, Uruguayan, Venezuelan… You name it, I have a passion for it.

The remarkably exciting 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro season certainly took centre stage here on this blog, but now that it has been concluded, allow me to bring you up to date with everything else that’s going on in this beautiful continent.

Game of the Week: Vasco 1×1 Universidad de Chile

The Copa Sul-Americana (or Sudamericana in the Spanish-speaking majority of South America) is a rather odd tournament. It is highly under-valued all over the continent, but particularly in Brazil, where the midweek games at key points in the tournaments are seen as little more than unwelcome distractions. For example this year, when São Paulo, Botafogo and Flamengo were eliminated in the space of 24 hours at the last-16 stage, there was some immediate surprise, but it was very quickly forgotten.

Think of it as the South American version of the Europa League, but with considerably longer travel times.

The tournament got a little boost in the past few years after CONMEBOL decided to award an extremely valuable place to the following year’s Copa Libertadores group stage. As a result, a number of the continent’s ‘lesser’ sides shifted their focus towards the Copa Sul-Americana and away from their own tough domestic campaign, in search of an ‘easy’ route into the Copa Libertadores.

However a close look at this year’s semi-finalists reveals an intriguing anomaly. All four of the teams still alive in the competition are already guaranteed (or almost guaranteed in Liga de Quito’s case) qualification to the 2012 Copa Libertadores through their own respective domestic successes. Does this mean the Copa Sul-Americana is becoming more and more important to South America’s big guns? Quite possibly.