Estudiantes battle their way to the final

• Source: Global Times
• [22:55 July 02 2009]
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 Estudiantes’ Mauro Boselli (left) kicks the ball to score the second goal of his team against Nacional yesterday. Photo: AFP

By Sebastian Garcia

Estudiantes de La Plata is the first team to reach the 2009 Copa Libertadores final after they defeated Nacional de Montevideo 2-1 (3-1 on aggregate) yesterday at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The Argentine team advanced courtesy on a striker Mauro Boselli’s double to see off the challenge from Nacional, which had equalized through Alexander Medina.

Estudiantes, which was without their injured best player Juan Sebastian Veron, advanced to the Copa Libertadores final for the first time in 38 years after they did it in 1971. They will aim to win their fourth title in the most important South American club competition after their success between 1968 and 1970.

A heated contest between the two teams that boast three Copa Libertadores titles each was fuelled even more by the disagreement between the directors from both clubs about the number of tickets to be allocated to the away fans. Since both parties couldn’t settle for a number, they ended up with a decision to play both legs without the attendance of followers of the visiting team.

The Argentine side arrived in Montevideo with an advantage of the 1-0 win obtained in the previous week in the city of La Plata and they held on during the goalless first 45 minutes in front of a crowd of more than 51,000 Nacional supporters.