Chivas of Mexico became the first club through to the semifinals of
this year's Copa Libertadores despite suffering a 2-0 loss to
Paraguay's Libertad on Tuesday.
Adalberto Roman opened the scoring for Libertad in the 20th
minute and Manuel Macias added a second in the 68th, but Chivas won
the first leg 3-0 a week ago and hung on to advance on aggregate
goals.
In the other quarterfinals, Sao Paulo defends a 2-0 advantage
at home against Brazilian counterpart Cruzeiro on Wednesday. On
Thursday, Universidad de Chile hosts Brazil's Flamengo with a 3-2
lead, while defending champion Estudiantes of Argentina needs to
overturn a 1-0 deficit at home against another Brazilian club,
Internacional.
Chivas made the semifinals despite being without five first
choice players who have been called up to a World Cup training camp
with the Mexican national squad.
Estudiantes won last year's title, beating Cruzeiro in the
final.
The Copa Libertadores is the top club competition in Latin
America. The tournament takes a break after the quarterfinals to
make way for the World Cup, with the semifinals and final running
into July and August.
