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July 17, 2009

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Home » Sports » Soccer

Estudiantes captures Copa

ARGENTINA'S Estudiantes won its first Copa Libertadores title in 39 years when it came from behind to hand Cruzeiro its first home defeat by 2-1 in the final on Wednesday.

Estudiantes clinched its fourth Latin American club championship 2-1 on aggregate after the teams played to 0-0 in the first leg of the final last week in La Plata.

More than 65,000 fans at Mineirao Stadium, where Cruzeiro had won all six of its matches in this year's tournament, including 3-0 over Estudiantes in group play, were stunned into silence when striker Mauro Boselli scored the winner in the 73rd minute.

"We were able to silence more than 60,000 people," Estudiantes defender Christian Cellay said. "That was really incredible. It's hard to believe we did it."

The estimated 3,000 Estudiantes fans were the ones celebrating when Boselli headed in a corner taken by Juan Sebastian Veron.

Veron matched his father, Juan Ramon, who played in all three previous Copa Libertadores titles won by Estudiantes in 1968, 1969 and 1970.

After an even first half, midfielder Henrique put Cruzeiro ahead with a long-range shot in the 52nd, but Estudiantes answered quickly through striker Gaston Fernandez in the 58th.

"It was a complicated game," Enzo Perez said. "They scored the first goal but we equalized right away and this helped us a lot."

On the list of champions, Estudiantes' four titles ranked behind only Argentina's Independiente (7), Argentina's Boca Juniors (6) and Uruguay's Penarol (5).

Estudiantes also earned a spot in FIFA's Club World Cup in Dubai later this year.





 

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