Corinthians! And shut up, Boca!!!

The Libertadores Cup had created a series of traumas in Corinthians' history. The team had already been eliminated twice by rival Palmeiras, suffered threats of fan protests on the field, and lost in the first phase to the then-unknown Tolima, for example. But all this trauma was buried with an incredible campaign, in which opponents like Vasco, Santos, and Boca were overcome, which only made the Corinthians' achievement even more valuable.

Boca Juniors initially mirrored Corinthians' performance at La Bombonera: playing away from home, they showed composure to contain their opponents' initial enthusiasm. This Argentinian coolness affected Corinthians, who improved their game but couldn't capitalize on the crowd's excitement. Boca also experienced a dramatic moment when goalkeeper Orión was injured, substituted, and cried on the bench. Despite his replacement, Sebastián Sosa, being tested, the first half didn't heat up any further.

The Corinthians' explosion of joy only came in the 8th minute of the second half: after a backheel pass from Danilo, Emerson was left alone in the box and finished perfectly into the goal. Boca Juniors started making simple passing errors and barely managed to trouble the São Paulo team until a fatal mistake occurred: Schiavi gave the ball away to Emerson, who scored again and sealed the victory. Without scares or suffering, Corinthians celebrated their unprecedented achievement and set the Pacaembu stadium ablaze like few times in history.

A lukewarm first half
The match started with a Libertadores feel, as there was a heated argument just 3 minutes into the game. After a dispute between Mouche and Chicão, players from both teams complained, with a more heated fight between Erviti and Paulinho. But when the ball started rolling, Boca repeated what Corinthians did at La Bombonera: they didn't feel the pressure and managed to balance the game on the field, despite the opposing crowd. The heated atmosphere of the beginning of the game quickly cooled down at Pacaembu.

Corinthians only managed to create some danger in the 11th minute, when goalkeeper Orión threatened to spill a shot from Alex, but quickly corrected his mistake. Boca tried to control possession, but failed every time they attempted the final pass. This encouraged the Corinthians players, especially when Emerson managed to get past two players in the 15th minute. Caruzzo managed to clear the danger inside the area, but Boca still experienced a dramatic moment in the 30th minute: goalkeeper Orión suffered a knee injury, left the field crying, and Uruguayan Sebastián Sosa came on in his place.

In the game's progression, Corinthians didn't take long to test Sosa. At 36 minutes, Emerson advanced down the left, outpaced Schiavi, and crossed into the area. The Uruguayan didn't react well and could only watch the ball go by, but Clemente Rodríguez appeared to save Boca. At 38 minutes, Sosa made a better save, securely catching a long-range shot from Alex. The match had five minutes of added time due to Orión's injury, but neither team was able to capitalize on it, resulting in a rather lukewarm first half.

Corinthians explosion
Without substitutions, the teams returned at least more relaxed in the second half. Emerson already tried a cross-shot after 30 seconds. But Boca responded after a mistake by Danilo, in which Fábio Santos threw himself to cross the dangerous pass from Sosa.

The best chance created resulted in a goal: after a free kick in midfield, Ralf headed the ball and kept it alive in the area. Danilo contested the ball in the air, but only won it when it touched the ground – with a backheel flick, he left Emerson alone, facing the goal. The striker did what was expected of him: he opened the scoring, found the back of the net, and made the Corinthians fans at Pacaembu explode with joy.

Fatal error "sets Pacaembu stadium on fire"
Boca Juniors didn't die in the match, but they felt the blow. They tried to control the pace of the game, manage possession, but it was impossible to do so with so many misplaced passes. Their only accurate long ball came from a set piece, taken by Riquelme in the 26th minute: despite the dangerous header, Cássio caught it easily.

However, Schiavi didn't have the same composure in the following play: at 27 minutes, the Argentinian defender misplaced a simple pass in midfield, handing the ball to Emerson. He advanced quickly, outpaced the defense, and calmly finished into the right corner, igniting the crowd at Pacaembu.

Without hope, goals, or quality, all that remained for Boca was complaints. The team protested against Emerson, who began provoking the Argentinians. However, it was Corinthians who still posed a threat on the field, as seen in a well-taken free kick by Chicão in the 38th minute. This was enough for the Corinthians fans to celebrate the end of their trauma and the conquest of a much-desired title.

Technical sheet

CORINTHIANS 2 x 0 BOCA JUNIORS

Goals
CORINTHIANS: Emerson, at 8 minutes and 27 minutes of the second half.

CORINTHIANS: Cássio; Alessandro, Leandro Castán, Chicão and Fábio Santos; Ralf, Paulinho and Danilo; Jorge Henrique, Alex (Douglas) and Emerson (Liédson)
Coach: Tite

BOCA JUNIORS: Orion (Sebastián Sosa); Sosa, Caruzzo, Schiavi and Clemente Rodríguez; Ledesma (Cvitanich), Somoza, Erviti and Riquelme; Pablo Mouche (Viatri) and Santiago Silva
Coach: Julio César Falcioni

yellow cards
CORINTHIANS: Alessandro, Chicão, Leandro Castán and Jorge Henrique
BOCA JUNIORS: Schiavi, Caruzzo, Riquelme and Santiago Silva

Referee
Wilmar Roldán

Local News
Pacaembu Stadium, in São Paulo (SP)