Hope for the little guys
While Argentine giants Boca Juniors should be favourites, the Copa Sudamericana always offers hope for the outsiders
Ecuadorian clubs have won this competition the past two seasons, and on three of the last five occasions. This is remarkable given the extent to which the Copa Sudamericana is weighted towards Brazil and Argentina. The big two have six clubs each, or12 of the field of 32.
It could certainly be argued that with so many representatives in the Copa Libertadores, those Brazilian and Argentine teams in the Sudamericana are not the best. This is true up to a point. But Brazil’s Internacional, for example, have assembled a highly impressive squad, and were only minutes away from facing Boca Juniors in the final of last year’s Libertadores – and now both clubs are taking part in the Sudamericana. Boca’s group, along with last year’s runners-up Fortaleza of Brazil, looks especially interesting because only the top team in the group goes through to the knockout stage automatically. The team finishing second goes into a play-off round against one of the eight teams coming out of the Libertadores
– the clubs that come third in their group in that competition.
The fact that eight potential big hitters are not even in the competition yet makes the Sudamericana tough to predict. Last year, for example, Brazil’s Corinthians came out of the Libertadores and went all the way to the semi-finals. In 2022, Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle did even better – from third in their Libertadores group to winners of the Sudamericana, a route also trodden in 2020 by Argentina’s Defensa y Justicia.
As well as Internacional and
Boca, the early favourites would have to include Athletico Paranaense and perhaps Corinthians as well, although their group clashes with Argentinos Juniors look interesting. Of Brazil’s other representatives, Ronaldo’s lowbudget Cruzeiro would placate their restless fans with an international trophy, Cuiaba will relish consolidating their status with a continental adventure and Red Bull Bragantino enjoyed a very good domestic campaign last year.
From Argentina, Gustavo Costas’ Racing side can be guaranteed to be competitive, while Lanus have their moments and Defensa y Justicia are consistently interesting.
Outside the big two, one team that no one will relish visiting is Bolivia’s Always Ready. Their tight new stadium is at one of the highest points of La Paz and, intelligently run, the club have a squad with some young, dynamic players who aim at rhythm designed to hurt the opposition at altitude. They did not quite win a place in the group phase of the Libertadores, but they came very close – losing narrowly on penalties to Uruguay’s Nacional – and their form in those qualifying rounds would appear to indicate that they may be a surprise Sudamericana force.
Union La Calera of Chile have been good to watch in recent years, while compatriots Coquimbo Unido did extremely well to outclass local giants Universidad Catolica in the brief, one-legged qualifying round, where Delfin of Ecuador also stood out.
One of the main justifications of this competition is to give international opportunities to clubs who are not accustomed to such adventures, and so one of the highlights of that round came from Paraguay where little Sportivo Ameliano outplayed mighty Olimpia, eliminating a club that has won the Libertadores three times and which only a few months ago reached the last eight of the premier continental competition, defeating Flamengo along the way. In last year’s debut campaign, they did not get past the domestic qualifying round. Now Sportivo Ameliano need their passports at the ready.
One team that no one will relish visiting is Bolivia’s Always Ready. Their tight new stadium is at one of the highest points of La Paz