SAO PAULO, Brazil: South American powerhouses Boca Juniors and Santos need to rebound from disappointing first-leg results to avoid being upset in the Copa Libertadores semifinals this week.
Two-time champion Santos lost its first leg to Brazilian rival Gremio 2-0 last week in Porto Alegre, while five-time champion Boca Juniors of Argentina fell 3-1 to surprising Cucuta Deportivo in Colombia.
Santos, seeking its first Libertadores title since 1963, will need to score at least two goals at its Vila Belmiro stadium on Wednesday to keep alive its chances of reaching the finals for the first time since 2003, when it lost the title to Boca.
Santos dominated the first stage of the traditional club tournament and was unbeaten until last week's defeat to Gremio, which won the competition in 1983 and 1995 but hasn't reached the finals since. Santos entered the semifinals as the favorite against Gremio, which barely advanced from the group stage and won only six of its 11 matches.
But Gremio dominated the first leg, taking the lead on first-half goals by captain Tcheco and striker Carlos Eduardo and cruising to victory.
Santos remains optimistic, however.
"I'm certain we can achieve the result we need," Santos coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo said. "We came back from other similar deficits, like in the Sao Paulo state championship final, and I know we can do it again."
Santos won the traditional state championship against Sao Caetano earlier this year after losing the first leg 2-0. It won the return match by the same score, clinching the championship because it had the tournament's best record.
In the Copa Libertadores, Santos fell behind twice and came back.
It was losing 2-0 at home to Venezuela's Caracas in the second round, but rebounded to win 3-2 and advance 5-4 on aggregate. In the quarterfinals, it was down 1-0 to Mexico's America in the return match following a scoreless first leg, but recovered to win 2-1 and reach the semifinals.
In the other semifinal, Boca Juniors also was favored to cruise past Cucuta Deportivo, but it will have to rebound from the same two-goal deficit as Santos if it wants to reach its fifth final in seven years.
Boca Juniors led 1-0 in Colombia, but allowed Cucuta — playing in its first Copa Libertadores — to rally with three unanswered goals.
Because of the away goal, the Argentine club — which has won the Latin American competition three of its last four trips to the finals — can advance with a 2-0 victory in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
Boca Juniors could be just the latest victim of Cucurta, which graduated from the Colombian second division only two years ago and has surprised several top clubs in this year's competition, including Paraguay's Cerro Porteno, Mexico's Toluca and Uruguay's Nacional.
The Associated Press
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