- The ‘Flu’ defeated Liga de Quito 2-0 in the second leg of the CONMEBOL Recopa 2024 played at the Maracaná Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
- The Brazilian team wins the title for the first time, after becoming champion in CONMEBOL Libertadores 2024.
Fluminense from Rio de Janeiro won its first CONMEBOL Cup Winners’ Cup, by beating Liga de Quito 2-0 at the Maracaná, with two goals from Colombian attacker Jhon Arias, in the second leg final of the competition that pits the champions of the main tournaments in South American clubs.
The Rio team, champion of the CONMEBOL Libertadores 2024, needed at least a two-goal advantage to win the title after having lost 1-0 on their visit to the CONMEBOL Sudamericana champion, and they achieved them in a match in which they pressed everything time, but in that it was effective in the final minutes.
– Fluminense (BRA) 2-0 Liga de Quito (ECU) – (2-1)
Fluminense beat Liga de Quito 2-0 this Thursday, with a double from Colombian John Arias, and won the CONMEBOL Cup Winners’ Cup title for the first time in its history.
Urged to win by at least two goals, Fluminense began pressing from the first minute, with Arias on the left wing and Keno on the right supplying balls for Germán Cano.
But in the first half the tricolor abused the passes and lacked depth and speed against an Ecuadorian team, which preferred to defend itself to seek a draw that would give it the title.
Fluminense almost opened the scoring at 10′, first with a deep pass from Ganso that Samuel Xavier failed to connect and then with a shot from Ganso, which left Martinelli free in front of the goalkeeper, however, the midfielder launched the ball over the arc.
Estupiñán responded with a counterattack in which he got rid of André and had to be stopped with a foul by Diogo Barbosa, when he approached Fabio’s goal.
Cano had his first clear scoring opportunity at 31′, taking advantage of a rebound from Quintero, but Domínguez managed to save his powerful shot. A few minutes later it was Ganso’s turn, to whom Domínguez deflected a ball that he put elegantly with a shot outside the area.
With five minutes left before the break, scorer Cano wasted another clear opportunity, receiving alone inside the area and without a mark, but he kicked weakly.
At the beginning of the second half, Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz replaced defender Felipe Melo with young attacker John Kennedy, one of his main scorers and scorer of the CONMEBOL Libertadores title goal, to further strengthen the attack.
Kennedy began to unbalance the game quickly, first with a weak header, then with a strong shot from inside the area that scraped the crossbar and then with a header also inside the area that also passed close.
The ‘Flu’, completely renewed with three changes, attacked Domínguez’s goal, but the Ecuadorian club, cornered, managed to erect a wall and reject all tricolor attempts.
The League coach sent Paraguayan Alex Arce, scorer of the only goal in the first leg, to the field to also renew his attack.
However, it was precisely at that moment that Fluminense’s pressure bore fruit and Arias, with an accurate header after receiving an assist from Samuel Xavier, opened the scoring in the 75th minute.
With four minutes remaining Valverde knocked down Renato Augusto at the entrance to the area and his play was awarded a penalty. Arias was in charge of collecting and scoring the title goal almost in the final minute.
– Match numbers –
- Brazil increases its advantage as the country with the most CONMEBOL Cup Winners’ Cup titles (13). Fluminense is the 10th Brazilian team to win the tournament. Only São Paulo (1993 and 1994), Internacional (2007 and 2011) and Grêmio (1996 and 2008) have more than one trophy from the competition.
- The winner of the first leg won the title on only one of the last four occasions in CONMEBOL Cup Winners’ Cup: Independiente Del Valle in 2023 against Flamengo. Chapecoense (2017), Athletico Paranaense (2019), Palmeiras (2021) and LDU (2024) lost the title despite having won the first crossing.
- Jhon Arias is only the fourth player to score two goals in the same CONMEBOL Cup Winners’ Cup match in the last 10 years, after Gerson (Flamengo in 2020), Andrés Ibargüen (Atlético Nacional in 2017) and Dayro Moreno (Atlético Nacional in 2017) .
- Fluminense is the second team to score two goals after 75 minutes in a CONMEBOL Recopa match in the last 10 years, after River Plate in May 2019, also in the second leg.
- Fluminense finished 27 times in the victory against LDU, the most in a match in the last 10 CONMEBOL Cup Winners’ Cup seasons, tied with Independiente Del Valle in 2023 against Flamengo.
CONMEBOL.com / EFE / OPTA