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Cobreloa's performance
in the 2001 Libertadores Cup was not spetacular, nor the best
one it had. However, Cobreloa somehow performed as it used to
and gave the feeling that it was a good representative of Chile.
In the first round, the rivals were Boca Juniors (Argentina),
Deportivo Cali (Colombia) and Oriente Petrolero (Bolivia). Boca
Juniors was the sure candidate to win the group (indeed, it would
be the champion) and following Boca, there was Deportivo Cali,
which boasted a couple-of-million-bucks team whose objective was
to win the Libertadores.
However, Cobreloa's first game showed that it was not going to
be an easy team: a 2 - 1 vicotry in Colombia began to nurture
the thought that this Cup would not become a bad memory. Then
Cobreloa would receive Boca Juniors in Calama, a game in which
Cobreloa played an excellent game but lost 1 - 0 to the Argentinians.
Then the adrenaline would go to its highest levels: two victories
over Deportivo Cali and Oriente Petrolero in Calama, when there
were few minutes left and Cobreloa had lost control of the game.
In between, a good game in Argentina, in which Boca was the righteous
winner. And the last game came. Cobreloa just needed a tie to
qualify, and managed to do it in a high-tension game against Oriente
Petrolero (some even talked about money offered by the Colombian
team).
Before the round of 16 first game, Cobreloa had another rival:
the Conmebol had ruled that only stadiums for more than 40 thousand
people could hold second round, quarterfinal and semifinal games
and more than 50 thousand people for the final. Cobreloa appealed
the decision, and permission was granted with the condition that
there should not be games at 4:00 p.m., the time Cobreloa usually
uses.
In the round of 16, the rival would be Rosario Central of Argentina,
a team that had eliminated Cobreloa twice before, but for the
Conmebol Cup. It could properly be called Cobreloa's verdugo.
The first game set the rules: it was a 2 - 3 loss at home, when
Cobreloa should have won. The second game in Argentina would be
a 1 - 1 tie. With more manhood and will than coordinated football,
Cobreloa ended up pressing the Argentinias to their own field.
But it was not enough and Cobreloa had to say good-bye to the
Cup once again.
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