Author: Serg Atrakhov, Vishwajit Sawant
Estudiantes (Arg) – Corinthians (Bra) – 1:0 (penalty 2-3)
In the first match of the quarter-finals, at the home stadium, Corinthians had a minimal victory – 1-0 (Gil scored after a corner in the 17th minute). The lead is insignificant, but no one expected it to disappear after just 50 seconds! Return leg. Mauro Mendez – 1:0.
Throughout the game, the hosts had 30 shots on target. Of those, 11 were on target. But why, with these statistics, hasn’t the score changed any more? You have to ask about goalkeeper Cássio, who made 10 saves, and Fortuna, who abnormally hit the post.
Let’s count. In the first half, Cassio stopped shots from Mendez in the 5th and 44th minutes, and also denied Rollheiser in the 41st minute. And in situations where the goalkeeper didn’t have time to save, Estudiantes hit the post twice in the space of two minutes. On 38, Benedetti, on 40, Rollheiser. Incidentally, in the 21st minute, Gil, as in the first match, could have scored after a corner, but he couldn’t beat the goalkeeper. That was the visitors’ ONLY shot on goal.
Do you think anything changed in the second half? No. In the 57th minute, Rollheiser hit the post again. In the 74th minute, Askasibar repeated the “feat” of his club partner; it was his fourth goal! Have you seen something similar before? After such miracles, Cassio’s saves from Rollheiser (59 mins) and Sosa (62 mins) were seen as commonplace.
In general, this “enchanted” match went to penalties. The first shots from Sosa and Fabio Santos were on target – 1:1. Second kick: in vain, Rollheiser decided to kick… It seemed that two hits against the post and Cassio’s impenetrability should have suggested that “today is not his day”… Not surprisingly, the goalkeeper made another save. But Corinthians also missed their second shot. Juliano hit it straight to Mariano Andujar – 1:1.
Third shots: Lollo sent the ball into… the post, and Vera into the bottom right corner – 1:2.
Mendez and Rojas converted the fourth shots – 2:3.
Estudiantos needed to score and hoped the visitors wouldn’t, but Askasibar hit the crossbar… With a total advantage, he hit the frame of the goal SIX times… In my opinion, the “curse” needs to be lifted from the Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium…
In the semi-finals, Corinthians will play the winner of América-MG vs Fortaleza. In the first leg, Fortaleza won 3-1 at home.
For reaching the semi-finals, Corinthians will receive 800,000 dollars in prize money. In total, the club has already won 6 million 100 thousand dollars in the current Copa Sudamericana (this includes the prize money won for participation in the 2023 Copa Libertadores). If the team reaches the final, another 2 million will be credited to their account, and if they win the trophy, 5 million.