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Internacional beats Chivas, claims 2nd Copa title

Brazilian club Internacional had won the first leg 2-1 in Mexico last week and clinched the title in Latin America’s most important club competition 5-3 on aggregate at a packed Beira-Rio stadium.

Midfielder Marco Fabian De la Mora had put the Mexicans ahead with the opening goal in the 43^rd minute, but Sobis equalized in the 63^rd from a cross by World Cup veteran left back Kleber.

Substitute striker Leandro scored on a breakaway in the 76^th and Giuliano sealed the victory in the 90^th. Patricio Araujo scored the second goal for Guadalajara in injury time.

“This is an incredibly special moment for Internacional and its fans,” captain Bolivar said moments after receiving the trophy from football great Pele. “We fought hard to win this and it finally happened. This is huge.”

Bolivar and the rest of the players celebrated wildly on the pitch, hugging each other and chanting along with the fans on the stands. Sobis ran around the field with a huge Internacional flag on his hands, to the delight of the crowd.

Players had scuffled on the field after the match but police quickly intervened. The Mexicans said they were provoked by the Brazilian players and fans, and complained of a lack of security.

“I don’t know why they let something like this happen,” Guadalajara coach Jose Luis Real said. “It’s seems it’s OK to happen when it’s here.”

Guadalajara, known as Chivas, was trying to become the first Mexican club to win the competition.

Real blamed the loss on “the silly mistakes we made in the two goals.”

Internacional’s win was the 14^th Copa Liertadores title for a Brazilian club. Argentine teams have the most with 22.

Internacional won the competition in 2006, when it also clinched FIFA’s Club World Cup by upsetting Barcelona in the final. Since then, the Brazilian club has won four other international competitions — the Recopa Sudamericana, the Copa Sudamericana, the Dubai Cup and the Suruga Cup.

Internacional was already guaranteed a spot in this year’s club championship in Dubai because Mexican clubs are part of the North and Central American region and can’t represent South America.

The home team controlled most of the match in front of nearly 50,000 fans and had several chances to get on the board, but Chivas was more dangerous in the few opportunities it created in the first half.

After allowing the late goal in the first half, Internacional returned from the break putting pressure on Chivas.

Sobis, who stared the match as a replacement for injured Alecsandro, received a ball just in front of the goal in a breakaway in the 55^th but was unable to get past Chivas goalkeeper Michel.

He made up for that with his next opportunity, latching on to Kleber’s perfect cross from near the six-yard line on a play set up by midfielder Tinga.

Leandro then scored just three minutes after replacing Sobis.

Chivas’ Omar Arellano was red carded in the 87^th for a foul on D’Alessandro, and Internacional quickly converted the numeric advantage when Giuliano beat two defenders and chipped past Michel from inside the area.

It was Internacional’s seventh win in as many matches at the Beira-Rio. The team hasn’t lost at the stadium in the Latin American competition since 1993.

Celso Roth took over as Internacional coach after the World Cup break, just before the Copa Libertadores semifinals. He replaced Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati, who was fired because of poor results in the Brazilian league.

Chivas was only the second Mexican club to reach the final since the country accepted the invitation to join the Copa Libertadores in 1998. Cruz Azul made it in 2001 but lost the final to Boca Juniors.

Chivas began this year’s competition in the second round after being forced to pull out of the 2009 tournament because of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico, which kept opponents from traveling to the North American nation.

Chivas striker Adolfo Bautista was heavily booed nearly every time he touched the ball because he ignored the Brazilian national anthem before the match and warmed up on the field while the rest of the Guadalajara players lined up. Bautista said he did that because they cut the Mexican anthem short.

Lineups:

Internacional: Renan, Nei, Bolivar, Indio, Kleber, Sandro, Pablo Guinazu, Tinga (Wilson Matias ,84), Andres D’Alessandro, Taison (Giuliano, 65), Rafael Sobis (Leandro, 73).

Guadalajara: Luis Michel, Miguel Angel Ponce (Edgar Solis, 78), Mario de Luna, Hector Reynoso, Jonny Magallon, Patricio Araujo, Xavier Baez, Marco Fabian De la Mora, Adolfo Bautista, Omar Arellano, Omar Bravo.