Rafael Santos own goal vs Grêmio

On 29 May 2011 Rafael Santos scored this unfortunate own goal to give Grêmio a 0-1 win against his side Atlético Paranaense in the 2nd round of the Brasileirão Série A 2011.

Carlos Alberto golazo vs León, Copa Libertadores 2011

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On March 17 Grêmio travelled to Peru to face tournament newboys León, in a Group 2 game in the 2011 Copa Libertadores.They came away with a 1-1 draw which was almost enough to secure their progress to the knockout stages, they earned their point thanks to this well worked equaliser, finished off by Carlos Alberto.

Part of the Golazo series.

Grupo 2, Copa Libertadores 2011

 Reports & highlights of Group 2 in the 2011 Copa Libertadores.

Results

17-02-11
León (Per)	1-2	Junior (Col)
Grêmio (Bra)	3-0	Oriente Petrolero (Bol)
23-02-11
León (Per)	1-0	Oriente Petrolero (Bol)
24-02-11
Junior (Col)	2-1	Grêmio (Bra)
03-03-11
Grêmio (Bra)	2-0	León (Per)
08-03-11
Oriente Petrolero (Bol)	1-2	Junior (Col)
15-03-11
León (Per)	1-1	Grêmio (Bra)
17-03-11
Junior (Col)	2-1	Oriente Petrolero (Bol)
24-03-11
Oriente Petrolero (Bol)	2-0	León (Per)
05-04-11
Grêmio (Bra)	2-0	Junior (Col)
14-04-11
Oriente Petrolero (Bol)	3-0	Grêmio (Bra)
Junior (Col)	1-1	León (Per)

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Junior	6	4	1	1	9	7	+2	13
Grêmio	6	3	1	2	9	6	+3	10
Oriente Petrolero	6	2	0	4	7	8	−1	6
León de Huánuco	6	1	2	3	4	8	−4	5

Match reports

Round 1

Peruvian side and Copa Libertadores new boys León went down to a 1-2 home defeat against Junior of Colombia on their Copa Libertadores debut. In the other game Grêmio secured an unsurprising 3-0 win against the Bolivian side Oriente Petrolero.

Round 2

León, who are such minnows that they have to kick off their home games early because their stadium doesn't even have any floodlights recovered from their opening day defeat to record their first ever win in the competition with a tightly contested 1-0 home win against Oriente Petrolero. Things still look incredibly tough for the Peruvians, only one of their remaining four games is at home and they still have to face group favourites Grêmio twice.

Junior recorded their second win with an impressive 2-1 home win against Grêmio. They had to come back from conceding after only five minutes and they managed it with goals from Giovanni Hernández and ex Southampton & Portsmouth player Jhon Viáfara to give themselves a three point advantage at the top of the group.

Round 3

In their third group game Grêmio recorded a confident 2-0 victory against Peruvian Libertadores new boys León. Junior resumed leadership with a 1-2 away win against Bolivian side Oriente Petrolero. The Colombians are the only team to record three wins out of three in the group stages and could seal qualification with another win in the return match against Wilstermann and competition new boys fail to beat Grêmio in round four. The only consolation for the Bolivians was that they managed to bag their first goal of the tournament with a 92nd minute strike from Juan Carlos Arce.

Round 4

 Colombian side Junior qualified for the knockout stage with a 2-1 home win against Oriente Petrolero of Bolivia, the home team had to do it the hard way coming back from behind after Jhasmini Campos put the visitors in front at the beginning of the second half with a wonderful long range blast. Junior's second half substitute Carlos Bacca was the hero of the day bagging both of the goals to ensure their early qualification and put them within touching distance of finishing as group winners. Bacca scored his first with a good turn and finish and his second from the penalty spot.

Grêmio moved to five points behind Junior with two games remaining after a 1-1 draw at León however the Peruvian side will have to get positive results in both of their remaining home games and hope that the Brazilians drop points in both of their remaining games. Carlos Elías scored for the hosts with a brilliant looping header just before half time but Carlos Alberto secured a useful point for the Brazilians with a smart finish nine minutes into the second half.

Round 5

Oriente Petrolero became the first Bolivian side to win a game at Copa Libertadores 2011 with a 2-0 win against León putting an end to seven consecutive defeats for Bolivian sides. Teams from Bolivia have managed only two wins from their last 39 Libertadores games. The result means that both sides will go out of the tournament at the end of the group stage with Junior and Grêmio progressing to the knockout stage.

Grêmio ended Junior's 100% record with a 2-0 win meaning that the Brazilians still have a chance of finishing as group winners.

Round 6

Everything in group 2 was already pretty much decided before the last round of games kicked off. Junior secured their place at the top of the group with a 1-1 draw against León and Grêmio suffered a shock 3-0 defeat against Oriente Petrolero who put in the best Copa Libertadores display by a Bolivian side in many years. Their man of the match was Juan Carlos Arce who set up the first two goals and scored one for himself late in the game.

Back to Group stage overview page

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine and Brazilian leagues, the pick of the rest and other international tournaments:

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Errado: Jonas, Boyacá Chicó 0-1 Grêmio, Copa Libertadores 2009

On March 2009 Brazilian side Grêmio travelled to Colombia to face Boyacá Chicó in a Copa Libertadores tie, they won the game 0-1 but the result was overshadowed by this pair of misses from Jonas.

The following season Jonas did another famous miss in a game against Grêmio Prudente.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Golazo: Claudio Marangoni, Boca Juniors vs Grêmio, Supercopa 1989

Between 1981 and 1989 Argentine giants Boca Juniors endured one of the longest stints in their history without a major trophy. This came to an end when they won the Supercopa Sudamericana, the final was a goalless affair over two legs, which Boca Juniors won on penalties against fellow Argentine side Independiente.

The real highlight of Boca Juniors' Supercopa campaign was probably this goal from Claudio Maringoni in a 2-0 win against Brazilian side Grêmio in the semi final.

Part of the Golazo series.

Errado: Jonas, Grêmio vs Grêmio Prudente

Brazilian side Grêmio's striker Jonas will be glad that his team were already 4-0 up against Grêmio Prudente when he missed this chance.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Partidazos: Olimpia vs Grêmio, Copa Libertadores 2002

July 2002: Paraguayan side Olimpia were drawn against Brazilian team Grêmio in the semi-final of the 2002 Copa Libertadores. Grêmio were the favourites but Olimpia's chances couldn't be written off as they had eliminated holders Boca Juniors from the competition in the quarter final with this free kick from Néstor Isasi (they were the only team to eliminate Boca Juniors from the Copa Libertadores between 1999 & 2004).

Olimpia came back from 0-1 down in their home leg to establish a 3-1 lead thanks to two goals from Uruguayan midfielder Sergio Orteman then a magnificent control and shot from Miguel Ángel Benítez, which was spilled by the goalkeeper but worthy of a goal just for the control. Grêmio pulled a goal back in the 85th minute to give themselves a great chance to overturn the deficit back in Brazil.

The second leg looked to be going Grêmio's way, they scored  early in the 2nd half and then Orteman was sent off for lashing out after he was fouled but the Brazilians could not press home their advantage and the tie went to penalties, this was in the days before CONMEBOL used away goals.

The tie turned after Olimpia goalkeeper Ricardo Tavarelli saved a penalty to give the Paraguayans the chance to take the lead The following penalty was saved by the Grêmio goalkeeper but the referee rightly insisted that it be retaken as the keeper had come off his line before the ball was struck. Mauro Caballero hit the penalty again in almost exactly the same place, but . Olimpia scored the rest of their penalties and recorded a famous victory.

Olimpia went on to beat another Brazilian side, São Caetano on penalties, after coming back from 2-0 down in the final to record their hat-trick of Copa Libertadores titles.

For more great games involving South American teams, check out the rest of the Partidazo series.