Veron leads Estudiantes to Copa Libertadores title

[dinho]

Veron key for Estudiantes in Copa final


http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/9815134/Veron-key-for-Estudiantes-in-Copa-final

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP) - The experience of Juan Sebastian Veron proved crucial to Estudiantes as the veteran midfielder led the Argentine club to the Copa Libertadores title in a dramatic final against Cruzeiro.

Veron set up both goals in Estudiantes' come-from-behind 2-1 win over Cruzeiro on Wednesday, helping the Argentine team win its fourth trophy in Latin America's most important club competition.

With the title, Veron matched his father, Juan Ramon, who played in all three previous Copa Libertadores titles won by Estudiantes in 1968, '69 and '70.

"It took a lot of heart," Veron said as nearly 3,000 Estudiantes fans chanted his name from the stands. "It was incredible."

The Verons are only the second father-son duo to have won the Copa Libertadores, joining Jorge Goncalves and father Nestor who both won a title with Uruguayan club Penarol.

Veron showed his leadership on Wednesday, taking control of the midfield and helping Estudiantes keep Cruzeiro from pressuring despite the support of more than 65,000 fans at Mineirao stadium.

"The fans can't celebrate now," Veron said. "They celebrated ahead of time but we are the ones with the trophy now."

Estudiantes coach Alejandro Sabella praised the veteran striker and said he was the main reason for the team's victory.

"It was a great match by Veron," Sabella said. "He was coming off an injury and we knew he was going to keep improving and play even better today."

Cruzeiro coach Adilson Batista also was quick to show his appreciation for the midfielder's performance.

"It was a pleasure to see a player like Veron perform like he did," Batista said. "He is very intelligent tactically."

Veron nearly missed the first leg of the finals because of a calf injury sustained in the semifinal against Uruguay's Nacional, but recovered in time to help the Argentines in the 0-0 draw at home.

On Wednesday, Veron made a great pass to defender Christian Cellay to set up Estudiantes first goal in the 58th minute, just six minutes after Cruzeiro had gone ahead with a long-range shot by defender Henrique.

Cellay's cross found striker Gaston Fernandez inside the area and he easily found the open net.

Then Veron took the corner kick which led to striker Mauro Boselli's winner in the 73rd, securing Estudiantes victory and the title.

The midfielder nearly scored from a free kick in the 79th, but his shot went just over the crossbar.

Veron began his career at Estudiantes in 1994 before moving to European football, where he played for Sampdoria, Parma, Lazio and Inter Milan in Italy. He also played for Manchester United and Chelsea in England. He returned to Argentina in 2006 to rejoin his former club.

He played for Argentina in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, but was left off the roster for the 2006 tournament in Germany by coach Jose Pekerman.

[acb]

as much as this reads like a feel good story for Estudiantes, I watched the game and it was anything but.

Veron started the game throwing some nasty elbows at Cruziero players.
Gaston Fernandez was diving at any given opportunity - there were a couple times when he went down in the box on set plays clutching himself and claiming an injury - only to see on replay that there was no-one within five feet of him.
When the Argentines started playing nasty, the Brasilians didn't back down - the ref lost the game in the first half and it degenerated into cheap shots and a scrappy event.

Veron redeemed himself in the 2nd half with one helluva ball that lead to the equalizer. At that point, Estudiantes looked as they were going to score before Cruziero could get another one on the board, and I don't think the 2nd was any big surprise.

What was a surprise was how Cruziero had 3 opportunities to win the game in the last 10 mins - the first one was a shot from about 25 yards out that ricocheted off the V and then two more from inside the 6 that they couldn't even get close to target.

[asylumseeker]

JSV is on Estudiantes' roster for the Florida Cup. Could make his debut today versus Leverkusen ... so Florida massive, head out!