Copa Libertadores Final: Boca Juniors vs. Fluminense - BBC Three 4/11

Mr.Crinklewood

.... could not find another thread to jump this into.... could be "interesting"...

~Rebel~

Low enough quality so far - aside from Cano's goal which was very good in fairness (though very poor defending).

Lot of auld lads out there.

Mr.Crinklewood

Yea, half watching now as I'm being made watch a film.

~Rebel~

Level now, long range strike from Boca - defence and keeper should've probably done better, defenders seemed quite half hearted about closing him down.

Boca been woeful otherwise, pretty much no attacking quality at all, Cavani barely had a touch. Fluminense definitely the better side, while themselves not offering all that much, but at least playing some decent sequences of passing at times - while weirdly ignoring the whole left side of the pitch, everything they're doing is down the right.

I presume the overall low quality is down to nerves/tension as much as anything.

~Rebel~

Boca should be down to 10 I think - their goalscorer absolutely smashed a Fluminense lad when steaming in for a ball he had no chance of getting. Sprinting in full speed, and then turned his body while flying through the air to poleax the fella full force. Not even a yellow.

One of those ones you watch happen at full speed and really makes you wince. Unsurprisingly the guy on the receiving end had to come straight off.

~Rebel~

Fluminense miss a sitter in the last seconds, fella clearly just had no confidence in his right foot - if he swings a right at it it's a goal. Instead he hits it with his left and sends it skewing off miles wide. Was a fullback though, so somewhat understandable to not be used to the situation.

On to extra time now anyway. Fluminense have at least brought on an exciting young lad (John Kennedy) whose pace and bit of trickery really stand out after all the auld lads who had been trundling around a bit.

Father Hernandez

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121326157#Comment_121326157

Amazed there has only been 4 yellows so far.

Even the headbutt never got a second look!

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121326187#Comment_121326187

Mad reffing alright - and most of the yellows were for much softer things than others which were left go. There was a 2 footed out of control slide on the edge of the box on Kennedy as well that was ignored.

~Rebel~

Absolute cracker from Kennedy, brilliant goal! Well deserved, has looked the best player on the pitch since he came on. Deserved from Fluminense as well, Boca have had more possession in extra time alright, but had still been offering nothing.

<edit>

Jeysus... and now Kennedy is off for a second yellow for celebrating an extra time potential winner by running to the crowd... hopefully they can hang on.

Father Hernandez

And now John Kennedy has been sent off for over celebrating, wild!

~Rebel~

And now a Boca lad (Fabra) sent off for a slap to the face. Total idiocy from the player.

10-a-side for the second half of extra time now.

Father Hernandez

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121326248#Comment_121326248

I fancied Boca to get back into it with the extra man advantage but think Fluminense will have enough now.

How stupid was that from Fabra.

ctrl-alt-delete

Nearly wrapped up there on the counter

~Rebel~

Happy for Fluminense, overall the better football team in a game that was a bit of a slog for the most part. Some great drama in the late stages though, even if the quality itself didn't particularly improve.

From a scouting point of view, to be honest the only lad that put himself in the window a bit was the kid who scored the winner and got sent off for celebrating, John Kennedy, just looked a step apart and only 21 - though at the same time was only on the field for about 20 minutes! Andre is the one most linked around the PL, but was hard to see much from him in such a bitty messy game. Looked fine, and defensively solid enough, which I suppose was his main job today, but didn't particularly stand out.

castletownman

How is John Kennedy Brazilian? Next we will be saying Bernando O'Higgins is from Chile

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121326589#Comment_121326589

His full name's John Kennedy Batista de Souza 😅

There's a Robert Kenedy Nunes do Nascimento who used to play for Watford as well, named after Bobby Kennedy. Mad some of the western historical stuff that finds its way into names in South America (though at least O'Higgins actually had direct Irish heritage!)

The Golden Miller

Terrible result for Boca on several fronts. The Argentine league trying to present itself as stronger than the Brazilian league, which it generally always was, but now a noticeable slip in the last decade in regards results against Brazilian sides and coefficients.

On top of that, what really bothers Boca is they regard themselves as the biggest club in the world, as do River, so Independiente having more continental titles than them is something of a great annoyance, and there's now a desperation to catch up.

Boca are now forcing the situation in the finals they're getting to, and as a result are slipping up. I remember Riquelme even returned to win them one and he did the business.

The situation is more nuanced than what people are seeing, the larger issue at play is Argentine football and it's standards v Brazil. Argentina always produced the more gifted youngsters and technically proficient players historically, but have been struggling to show that on the big stages for the last few decades, domestically and internationally!

~Rebel~

Don't think there were any illusions about Boca being anything special going into this one... had barely squeaked their way into the final by way of three consecutive penalty shootouts. Didn't win a single one of their 6 Libertadores knockout matches, and can't score goals.

Wouldn't say they forced anything today either, until they had to push forward late on in extra time chasing a goal, and even then they were just utterly toothless throughout.

NIMAN

Cavani needs to retire. And Marcelo as well.

Kennedy looked like the best player on the pitch by a long way. Created havoc when he came on.

Pity he is so thick to have gotten himself a 2nd yellow. Could have cost his team dearly.

NIMAN

The mayhem surrounding the ref last night after the face slap incident, just goes to show how hard a job refs have.

Surrounded by 20 cheats, all roaring and shouting at him. For me this is where the var system in football is rubbish. Especially having just watched its use in the rugby wc. In that, everything was so clear and quick. We were allowed to hear everything that was being said between the ref and the var team. And see the videos they were watching.

The stoppage last night took so long to sort. For me, the var team should have been a lot quicker saying to the ref "number X slapped number Y in the face, I advise red card" but it took an absolute age.

Football has a lot to learn, but I just don't think the will is there to sort it's issues.