Botafogo, what a feat: in ten from the 1st minute, beats Atletico Mineiro and wins the Libertadores

First Libertadores for Botafogo

For the first time in its history, Botafogo won the Copa Libertadores, South America’s most important club trophy. In the all-Brazilian final played in Argentina, at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Fogão defeated Atletico Mineiro 3-1, despite playing with ten men for virtually the entire match.

Already after about 30 seconds, in fact, a killer intervention by Gregore against Fausto Vera forced the match's referee, Argentina's Tello, to draw the red card. However, the team coached by Artur Jorge was able to compact itself, managing to find the right balance on the field and score two goals before halftime, at 35'with Luiz Henrique and at 44'with Alex Telles on a penalty kick.

Two minutes after the start of the second half, Galo shortened the gap with Edu Vargas (Meteor at Napoli between 2011 and 2013) on an assist from Hulk, but despite the final forcing, they did not manage to find the equalizer: on the contrary, in the seventh of the nine minutes of added time Junior Santos sealed the contest, making the final 3-1.

For Botafogo è therefore, the first affirmation in the prestigious trophy, a result that guarantees the team from the neighborhood of the same name in Rio de Janeiro the qualification to the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, which will be played in mid-December in Qatar, and to the Club World Cup, which will instead be played next summer in the United States.