First Timers to Slug it Out 2,200 Meters Above Sea Level.

By: Mauro | September 16th, 2008

Club Sport Ancash vs. Club de Deportes Ñublense (Estadio Huancayo, Huancayo, Peru)

LIVE @ 12:30pm PST on Fox Sports Español. Gamecast here. Online TV here.

With the international break behind us, we roll right back into full swing this week. With action from the four corners of South America (and one in Guadalajara, Mexico), this week will close out the final seven qualifying matches of the first round of the tournament, giving way to the Round of 16. In this week’s first match, we’ll see history made for one of the two sides as neither has played the Copa Sudamericana before, much less qualified for the Round of 16, where they’ll face the likes of either Vasco da Gama or Palmeiras, (playing later this week -Wednesday).

For the home side, Sport Ancash, they are looking to improve on their performance from two weeks ago where they were able to hold off Chilean side Ñublense until the very end where some sloppy defending forced keeper Johnny Vegas off his line to pummel Ñublense forward, Fernando Lopez, setting up Luís Flores for the penalty. Check the rest of the story here, it’s worth it.

Vegas had an amazing night, he was my man of the match since he kept Ancash in it. Despite the late onslaught his Swiss cheese defense faced, he came up big by saving two almost sure goals, both occurring well before the play that defined the match.

Still, Ancash have a slim chance to win this match but they’ll need another inspired performance by Vegas in goal to keep a clean sheet. And they have to score at least two goals to advance directly, otherwise a slim 1-0 win will only get them penalties, where they actually might have the upper hand since Vegas showed he can keep those out as well.

Also, the home field advantage for Ancash is bigger than a usual South American away match. The stadium they’ll play at is at 2,200 meters above sea level and not the type of place any side would want to visit to close out their series. Ancash’s stadium was up for renovation for this year’s participation in the Sudamericana but it has not been completed in time. Nice.

Despite the unfinished stadium, the club’s president opened his pocket book and promised his players $30,000 in prize money should they advance to the next round. Another round of guinea pigs over here!

Ñublense have to just score one goal and hold Ancash. The away goal will see them through on a 1-0 win or 1-1 draw, heck even a 0-0 draw. If they are smart they’ll use Fernando Martel on the right where he dominated with relative ease like he did in their first match and hope that their Argentine forward Bruno Martelotto will have better aim with the opportunities he’s given.

Bottom Line: I think this one will be as close as the last one was and I don’t expect much from Ancash on the offensive end since they were really unorganized and had trouble keeping the ball in the away leg. Even so, Ñublense was not a dominant or über creative side by any stretch and it should be quite the stalemate.

My Pick: I think Vegas registers another great match and Ancash win this one 1-0. This will only get them to the penalty stage where they Ancash will squeak through on the very good work of their keeper, again.

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.