Copa Sudamericana. Enner Valencia is going to a continental final. Boca Juniors came from behind in the tie to beat Vasco da Gama 3-1 at the Maracanã on Tuesday night and reach the Copa Sudamericana final 3-2 on aggregate. Valencia came off the bench for the last part of the game, and Leandro Paredes scored the winner two minutes from time.
How Boca turned it around
Boca arrived in Rio de Janeiro 1-0 down after losing the first leg at La Bombonera. According to El Comercio, Lautaro Di Lollo levelled the tie early on, heading in a corner from Lautaro Blanco, and Miguel Merentiel made it 2-0 in the 34th minute after a pass from Sebastián Villa. José Luis “Pumita” Rodríguez pulled one back for Vasco in the 66th minute, which put the tie back level at 2-2 and pointed to a penalty shootout.
Paredes settled it instead. The captain, back after a quick recovery from a muscle tear according to El Comercio, hit a shot from distance in the 88th minute for 3-1 on the night.
Valencia’s part
Boca announced on X that Valencia replaced Merentiel in the 31st minute of the second half (the 76th minute overall), with the score at 2-1. FotMob credits him with 13 minutes, 4 touches and 1 of 2 passes completed, and rated him 5.95. He also lost both of his aerial duels and was caught offside once. Valencia started and played 90 minutes in the first-leg defeat at La Bombonera.
At 36, Valencia now gets his first Copa Sudamericana final. El Comercio pointed out that he was the competition’s top scorer with Emelec in 2013. The final is on Saturday, November 21 at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia. Boca won the Sudamericana in 2004 and 2005 and would become the first club to win it three times.
An Ecuadorian final?
Boca’s opponent will come from Wednesday’s other semifinal, Montevideo City Torque vs Atlético Mineiro at the Estadio Centenario (6:00 PM ET). Atlético won the first leg 3-0, and their squad includes three Ecuador players: Ángelo Preciado, Alan Minda and Alan Franco. Ecuadorian broadcaster Germán Gallardo was quick to point out on X that a Boca vs Atlético final would mean “Alan Franco vs Enner Valencia”.
What fans said
In Ecuador, media and fans celebrated overnight on X. Accounts such as Direct Fútbol (“Yes, Enner Valencia will play a Sudamericana final”) and La Red Ecuador posted about Boca “of Enner Valencia” reaching the final, and fans shared clips of him celebrating with his teammates at the Maracanã. One fan noted the twist that Valencia had been expected to return to Emelec to chase a Sudamericana place, and instead will play in the final with Boca.
Valencia’s Boca are also second in Argentina’s Torneo Clausura after beating Talleres 2-1 on Friday, according to El Universo. His latest club games are on our Players Tracker, and the final will be on our Schedule page.
Leave a Reply