A Devalued Palmeiras Host a Hungry Sport Ancash Side.

By: Mauro | October 1st, 2008

Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras vs. Club Sport Ancash (Estadio Palestra Itália “Parque Antartica”, São Paulo, Brazil)

Tape Delay @ 12am PST on Fox Sports Español. Match starts live @ 6pm. No Gamecast. Online TV here.

Probably one of the most surprising results of the first round. But then again, maybe not. Having fielded an alternate squad for this match, Palmeiras was effectively toothless. Sport Ancash couldn’t take advantage and have to sew this one up in São Paulo. If they can manage it this week.

It’s no secret that Palmeiras coach, Vanderlei Luxemburgo loathes having to compete in this competition, which is why he fields an alternate and substitutes squad for this competition. And with good reason really. Palmeiras has been chasing Brasileirao leaders Gremio for the better part of the last month and have finally caught up with them.

Gremio’s loss to cross town rivals Inter, coupled with the 0-0 draw by Palmeiras against Náutico, has given the side from São Paulo a chance to catch up to them on the table. This Sunday, Palmeiras is hosting Atlético Mineiro.

Still, we are not here to cover the Brazilian league, the Sudamericana is the order of the day and in this competition Luxemburgo is not giving it hardly any priority. So with that said, we’ll expect to see an alternate squad for this one.

The best reason to watch this one is that World Cup medal winner, Roque Junior, will be making his debut with the club after signing with them a short time ago. But, on the bad news side, looks like goal keeper Marcos will be a game time decision.

Meanwhile, Sport Ancash, failed to create any kind of a lead for themselves in the first leg and are coming into this leg at a bit of a disadvantage. But any kind of a win or a draw with goals will qualify the only remaining Peruvian squad in the competition.

They are coming off a draw with local side Coronel Bolognesi that leaves them in 7th place in the Peruvian league.

But Uruguayan coach, Antonio Alzamendi has promised to start a different formation in this leg, a formation different from the one in the first leg. But still, the same players that he fielded in the first leg, will be fielded in the second leg except for midfielder Carlos Flores who was left behind by the coach for disciplinary issues and will be replaced by Oscar Dastés.

Since the first leg ended 0-0, in the case of a win by either team they advance mathematically and any draw with goals qualifies Ancash. Another 0-0 draw and this one will go to penalties.

Bottom Line: While Sport Ancash seem like the far weaker of these two squads and the fact that Palmeiras will not be fielding the squad that earned them first place in the Brasileirao evens things out for this match. Look for Johnny Vegas to come up big in this one.

My Pick: 2-1 to Ancash. I’m going out on a limb in this one. I don’t see a team with a clear advantage in this one. Palmeiras may have the home field advantage but in this match, they could play on the moon and it wouldn’t matter. Let’s see if Ancash can do it.

The winner of this one meets the winner of the San Luis – Argentinos match taking place at exactly the same time as this one.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get one here.