ECUADORIAN GLORY
By Julius Ross
Liga de Quito made history in the 2008 edition of the Copa Libertadores when they became the first ever Ecuadorian club to lift the trophy.
In the 49th season of the CONMEBOL international club tournament, Liga de Quito entered the competition as underdogs, courtesy of their 2007 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol victory in the Ecuadorian Serie A.
With the tournament commencing in January, Quito earned a direct qualification place in the Group stage and avoided the preliminary stage of the tournament, meaning that they kicked off their Copa season in Feburary.
Although they managed only three wins from a possible six, the Ecuadorian side qualified second in Group 8 of the tournament, three points behind Brazilian club Fluminense, and consequently knocked out Argentinean side Arsenal and Paraguayan club Libertad.
In the Round of 16, Quito faced a tough draw against three time winners Estudiantes from Argentina.
But a 2-0 victory in the first leg of the knockout match gave Quito an advantage heading into the second leg and despite a 2-1 loss, the club managed a 3-2 aggregate victory to enter the quarter-final stage.
Argentinean side San Lorenzo, who had dispatched of giants River Plate, was Quito’s next challenge and two 1-1 draws over the two legs meant that their quarter-final tie would be decided on penalties.
The club managed an astonishing 5-3 shoot-out victory to secure a semi-final place against Mexican club America, and the Ecuadorian side again squeezed a close result out of the fixture; a 1-1 draw in the first leg enough for Quito to advance on the away goals rule to lock in a final position against group rivals Fluminense.
With the final to be played over two legs, Liga de Quito made a fantastic start to the final play-off, by recording a 4-2 home victory over the Brazilians, through goals from Bieler, Guerron, Campos and Urrutia.
With a commanding lead from the first leg, Fluminense faced an uphill battle to become the first team to erase a two-goal deficit in the final since 1989.
Prior to kick-off, the Fluminense was also hoping to become the ninth Brazillian club from to win the Latin American competition, along with Palmeiras, Sao Paulo, Santos, Flamengo, Vasco, Internacional, Gremio and Cruzeiro.
And the second leg, played at the intimidating Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, favoured the home side Fluminense, with around 80,000 fans cheering on their Brazilian heroes.
Despite taking an early lead through Bolanos’ sixth minute goal, Quito succumbed to an incredible fight-back from Fluminense who scored three goals to level the tie 5-5, courtesy of a 3-1 victory in the second leg.
It appeared that it would be Fluminense’s night, with promising young Brazilian Thiago Neves scoring a classy hat-trick to pull his side back into contention for the Copa trophy.
But faced with another penalty shoot-out, Liga de Quito used their experience from their quarter-final shoot-out victory over San Lorenzo, to record a 3-1 victory.
The victory was largely credited to Quito goalkeeper Jose Francisco Cevallos who saved three of Fluminense’s spot kicks, whilst Urrutia, Salas and Guerron all converted to secure an historic victory for the Ecuadorian side.
The win sparked wild celebrations in the Brazilian capital and back in Ecuador, with the 2,000 travelling Quito fans revelling in their club’s dramatic victory.
Whilst the Copa Liberatores victory secured a rare triumph in Ecuadorian history, the continent’s first ever continental title, Quito’s success also earned them a spot in FIFA’s Club World Cup which is held later this year.
Quito succeed where their county had previously failed, with their Ecuadorian representatives Barcelona SC having reached the final twice in 1990 and 1998, but having fallen at the final hurdle.
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