Flamengo to make flying visit to Chile
Reuters - Monday 15 March 2010, 22:50
BUENOS AIRES - Brazilian team Flamengo,
fearful of another earthquake in Chile, will fly into Santiago
just hours before Wednesday's Libertadores Cup match with
Universidad de Chile and leave right afterwards.
"A replica on the same scale is expected in the coming
days," Flamengo's sporting director Isaias Tinoco said on
Monday.
Central and southern Chile was hit by an 8.8-magnitude quake
on February 27 that killed hundreds and caused massive damage.
League football only resumed in Chile at the weekend.
"The less time we spend on Chilean soil the better," Tinoco
told Radio Brasil according to the Globo sports website.
Coach Andrade, whose team are top of the Carioca (Rio de
Janeiro) state championship and have two Libertadores Group
Eight wins already under their belts, said: "I'm taking everyone
to Santiago, we'll be there at full strength.
"We know our stopover in Porto Alegre is not ideal but it's
an emergency situation. Chile is living through a difficult time
and we have to find other ways (of doing things)," he told the
club's website.
Flamengo, winners in 1981, will cut their journey in two,
spending a night in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre
before flying on to Chile to arrive in Santiago less than four
hours before kickoff at the Monumental stadium.
ALIANZA CLOSE
Chilean champions Colo Colo, who lifted South America's top
club trophy in 1991, are also at home in Group Seven on Tuesday
against Argentina's Velez Sarsfield, who won it
in 1994.
Alianza Lima, top of Group Three with three wins including a
4-1 humiliation of holders Estudiantes of Argentina, could
become the first team to qualify for the knockout phase when
they meet fellow Peruvians Juan Aurich on Tuesday.
Corinthians, bidding for the title for the first time with
former Brazil World Cup winners Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos in
their team, visit Paraguay's Cerro Porteno in Asuncion in Group
One on Wednesday.
Modest Cerro, the surprise Uruguayan side in Group Five with
two wins from two matches, are at home to 2006 champions
Internacional of Brazil in Montevideo on Thursday.
In Group Six, three-times winners Nacional of Uruguay are
away to Argentine champions Banfield on Tuesday having
been held 2-2 at home by the same rivals last week.