Cruzeiro, Corinthians and Flamengo all had victories in the Copa
Libertadores group stage on Wednesday to push the claims of
Brazilian clubs in the tournament.
Corinthians beat a ten-man Racing of Uruguay 2-1 at home,
while Adriano scored Flamengo's second goal in a 2-0 home win
against Universidad Catolica of Chile.
Earlier, two Kleber goals helped Cruzeiro win 4-1 at home
against nine-man Colo Colo of Chile, while Peru's Juan Aurich had a
2-0 home victory over Bolivar of Bolivia.
Mexican club Monterrey won 2-1 at home against Nacional of
Paraguay in the day's final match with the winner coming from
Osvaldo Martinez.
The results mean Corinthians tops Group 1, while Flamengo
joins Universidad de Chile at the top of Group 8 after the first
round of fixtures in both groups. Cruzeiro sits second behind Velez
Sarsfield of Argentina in Group 7, and Juan Aurich is third in
Group 3, after two games played in each section. Monterrey pulls
level with Once Caldas and Sao Paulo at the top of Group 2.
The Copa Libertadores is the top club competition in Latin
America. The eight group winners plus six best placed runners-up
will qualify for the knockout round of 16.
Mexican clubs San Luis and Guadalajara will enter in the
knockout round of 16 after being forced to pull out of last year's
tournament at the same stage due to the swine flu outbreak.
