Ferroviária defeats América de Cali, crowned two-time champion
Buenos Aires, Mar 21 (efe-epa).- Brazil’s Ferroviária was crowned two-time champion of the women’s Copa Libertadores de América after beating Colombia’s América de Cali 2-1 in the final to lift the trophy for the second time in its third final in the last six years.
With penalty goals from Sochor and Aline Milene, the São Paulo team was crowned the champion against its Colombian rival who had imposed a temporary draw through Catalina Usme, also from a penalty.
Ferroviária, champion in Colombia in 2015 and runner-up in Ecuador 2019, won the title after having entered the tournament after winning the Brazilian championship in 2019.
With great tactical work and a stellar performance by goalkeeper Luciana, Ferroviária prevailed on the way to the semifinals against Corinthians, the last champion and favorite in this tournament.
In the 7th minute Sochor executed a direct free-kick that, after hitting the ground, was fired into Katerine Tapia’s goal for the opening score.
América de Cali did not surrender and went in search of the tie that it achieved in the 39th minute after an infraction on Gisela Robledo that the Chilean referee María Belén Carvajal determined as a penalty that was later executed and converted by captain Usme.
The draw did not last long for the Colombians as three minutes later Carvajal whistled a penalty for Ferroviária and Aline Milene overtook the Brazilians again on the scoreboard.
During the second half, América de Cali unsuccessfully sought a draw due to a lack of aim from their forwards, a great performance by the Brazilian goalkeeper Luciana and two shots on the posts.
The agony ended after the sixth minute of added time with celebrations for Ferroviária, which had struggled to qualify in the group stage (they fell against Libertad-Limpeño and drew against Peñarol) but got through with a big win against the University of Chile.
In the quarterfinals, Ferroviária beat River Plate 0-1 with a goal from Ana Alice, while in the semifinals they eliminated the University of Chile on penalties after drawing scoreless in extra time.
América de Cali, meanwhile, who had come to the contest as runner-up in the 2020 Colombian Professional League, rounded off its best performance in the Copa Libertadores, surpassing its third place in the 2019 edition, where it lost in the semifinals to Corinthians and defeated the Paraguayan Cerro Porteño.
The competition was held five months later than planned and in a different country, since the tournament should have been held in Chile from Sep. 25 to Oct. 11, but it was postponed and the venue changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. EFE-EPA
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