The continental press salutes Liga de Quito and points out the coup at the Maracaná

The Latin American press today highlighted the historical victory of Liga de Quito in the Libertadores Cup, at the same time that some newspapers in Brazil described as a "tragedy" the defeat of Fluminense in the penalty shoot out in a dramatic final at the mythical Maracaná stadium of Río de Janeiro.
From the greatness of their humility, Liga de Quito yesterday became the first Ecuadorian team to conquer the Santander Libertadores Cup, after overcoming Fluminense by 3-1 in penalty kicks, with a brilliant performance by goalkeeper José Cevallos. The Ecuadorian team will participate in the next FIFA World Cup of Clubs that will be disputed in Japan.
"Liga of America", "Historical" and "A coup by Ecuador at the Maracaná", were some of the headlines chosen by the newspapers to refer to the winning team of the 49th edition of the Libertadores Cup, coached by Argentinean Edgardo Bauza and in which Joffre Guerrón, Patricio Urrutia, Luis Bolaños and others played vital roles.
Ecuadorian newspapers pointed out that Liga de Quito is "in the summit of the sky with an illuminated one 'Pepe Pancho' Cevallos", considered the hero of Maracaná, for stopping three of the penalty shots fired by the players of Fluminense. Morning daily Hoy pointed out that the Ecuadorians seized the Rio carnival that was prepared for the Brazilians and that "The music and the rain of pyrotechnics faded at the end of the match, after the historical performance of Cevallos".
El Comercio, of Lima, Peru, highlighted that "Liga de Quito was proclaimed champion of the Libertadores, for the first time their history", and El Expreso asserted that Bauza's men "made history in both national and South American football", when winning the Cup at the Maracaná.
On the other hand, El Universo of Guayaquil underlined that Liga is a "Giant of America!" that gave a coup at the Maracaná, and La Hora wrote that those more than 3.500 Ecuadorian supporters present at the mythical stadium were silenced by the localm supporters, although they were the first and the last to celebrate, Luis Bolaños?s goal first and later the title. The Ecuadorian manager, Sixto Vizuete, joined the national celebration and said that Liga's victory was possible due to "the personality and the improvement' of the country?s footballers."
On the other side, the Brazilian press compared the defeat of Fluminense with the defeat of 1950, when the host national team lost the World Cup of that year before Uruguay. O Globo commented in similar terms the defeat of the 'Flu', while O Dia referred to the match as a "Tri-colored tragedy" and pointed out that "Guerrón silenced the 86.000 Brazilians at the Maracaná." Newsdaily Extra pointed out that "The dream has ended", and Lance assured that Fluminense suffered a "defeat that was not deserved".
The Argentinean press considered that Liga de Quito "was never before closer to heaven " with its victory in the Libertadores after a "extraordinary final" before Fluminense, while the newspapers of Mexico described the victory of the team as "miraculous" and "historical." Fluminense eliminated Boca Juniors of Argentina, champion of the Libertadores in 2007, in the semifinals of the 2008 edition.
In Chile, newspapers exalted the victory of the Quito combine and considered that Cevallos was the "hero" of the Maracaná and that Ecuador, "finally, is the owner of America." The Bolivian press, in turn, coincided in highlighting that it "Liga makes history" and pointed out that the splendid champion of the continent will be a rival of Bolívar in La Paz in the next South American Cup. The Peruvian newspaper Bocón pointed out that Liga "made history" when treating Fluminense to a coup.
CONMEBOL.com y EFE