Flamengo snatches the Copa Libertadores from River Plate in the last minutes | sports

If Mario Vargas Llosa started Conversation in the cathedral wondering when Peru was screwed, Flamengo from Brazil had to come to Lima to find out when his curse in the maximum competition in South America would end: the answer was this Saturday, November 23, just 38 years after his so far only Copa Libertadores, when in the last three minutes he reversed a disadvantage against River Plate and won, in a feat format, the second highest continental title in its history.

The Rio de Janeiro giant beat River 2-1 and, after almost four decades of waiting, found its international claim at the Monumental de Lima, the magnificent venue for the first unique final in the tournament’s history. Flamengo was too big for that of 1981, led by Zico, to be their only Copa Libertadores. From December 11, he will try to win the Club World Cup in Qatar, encouraged by a good wink as a precedent: in the old format, the 1981 Intercontinental, he beat Liverpool, also the current European representative.

For the Brazilian team it is time for new heroes, like Gabriel Gabigol Barbosa, scorer for the Libertadores with 9 goals and author of the two goals in the 88th and 91st minutes to beat a River that was in advantage for almost the entire match and delivered with pain, but also with pride, the throne that last year He had beaten Boca, his greatest rival, in Madrid.

Until 43 minutes into the second half, nothing suggested that Flamengo would come out alive from the ambush that Marcelo Gallardo’s River had laid on him. Even the extension seemed like a great deal. Based on its soccer quality and economic power, as if it were a European team competing in South America, it was thought that the Brazilian team would show its presence from the beginning. For something he was the favorite: Jorge Jesús’ resume and charisma on the substitute bench, the goals of Gabigol and Bruno Henrique up front, and the experience in the big leagues of Felipe Luis, Diego Alves and Rafinha in defense seemed to confirm a combo enough that would lead Flamengo to stomp at the Monumental de Lima.

However, of the team that defeated Gremio 5-0 in the semifinals of the Cup and that is about to become champion of the Brasileirao -this Sunday, if the results of their pursuers help them, they can win the title of their country- no there was news until two minutes before the end. River, a team accustomed to playing decisive matches, took the lead with a goal from Colombian Rafael Santos Borré, a former Villarreal striker, 14 minutes into the first half and controlled the rest of the match without major problems.

If Enzo Pérez and his 34 years old and Exequel Palacios and his 21 had been the owners of the Peruvian afternoon, Gabigol – a 23-year-old talent who quietly passed through Inter Milan and Benfica between 2016 and 2018 – entered the Olympus Flamengo, the team with the largest number of genuine fans in the world: according to polls, 40 million of the almost 200 million Brazilians are from Mengao, as it thundered in Lima this Saturday.

In three minutes, Flamengo ended 38 years of being screwed in the Libertadores.

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