Santos vs. Barcelona

Last night, for the Copa Libertadores, Barcelona visited Santos of Brazil. The teams played the second leg of the quarterfinal stage.

Santos is the club at which the following illustrious players spent their formative years:

(1) Pelé;

(2) Robinho (a twerp); and

(3) Neymar (an arch-twerp).

Neymar has been in the headlines lately. He was caught, en pleno partido, bickering with his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, Edinson Cavani, on the question of who should take a certain penalty kick. This is what they probably said:

Cavani: “I’m PSG’s incumbent penalty-kick taker. I should take this penalty kick.”

Neymar: “My transfer to PSG cost €222 million. I should take all the penalty kicks. Give me the ball.”

I have no great love for Santos or for its twerps.

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During last week’s first leg, Santos played defensively and got a lucky goal. (To me, the goal seemed offside.) That game ended 1 to 1. And so, last night in Brazil, Barcelona was obliged to score at least one goal so as to avoid succumbing​ to the away-goals tiebreaker.

Last night’s game started with Santos attacking more than Barcelona. Then Barcelona began its onslaught. Santos retreated. Barcelona pounded and pounded, but without precision or success.

The (neutral) announcers kept talking about how Barcelona deserved to win. They had a fatalistic tone. It all seemed pretty bleak.

The goal arrived at minute 70, more or less. ¡Gol! ¡Gol! I shouted, alarming Ziva and Jasper.

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My joy was short-lived. Barcelona’s goalscorer, Jonathan Álvez, was red-carded. The teams’ roles were reversed: Barcelona defended and Santos desperately attacked.

The game turned into a high-tension brawl, typical of the Copa Libertadores. Each team suffered one more red card. Barcelona’s players guarded the result, wasting time and rolling on the ground, observing the proper etiquette.

They did just enough to win.

Santos was Barcelona’s third Brazilian opponent of this year. A fourth awaits in the semifinal: Grêmio, of Porto Alegre.

Copa América: the quarterfinals

The male Sabby helped me to watch Brazil’s demise. … Robinho scored early, and then Brazil allowed Paraguay to attack for the rest of the game.

Paraguay drew level with a penalty kick. It was conceded lamely by Thiago Silva, one of Brazil’s best players.

“How miserable to be a member of this Brazil team,” said the announcers, who were from Peru. “How miserable to be Dunga.” This, while the score was 1 to 1.

Everton Riberio – late substitute, purported penalty specialist – brushed his penalty kick out of bounds. Douglas Costa also missed. The Paraguayans shot as accurately as they had to.

Yesterday, I watched a riveting game between Argentina and Colombia. (Karin helped me.) Though the Colombians were second-best, David Ospina gave Messi and Co. some difficulty, and his teammates also had their moments. When the Colombians lost their shootout, it was no disgrace. … Earlier in the week, Peru beat Bolivia (which the announcers won’t stop harping on about). Karin and the male Sabby stayed awhile afterwards. We watched the dancing girls on Peruvian TV.

Chile eliminated Uruguay. The defining moment was when the Chilean Gonzalo Jara touched Edinson Cavani on his bottom. The world has not finished condemning this heinous act. (The Chilean press already is at peace with it, according to the Peruvians.)

Copa América, pt. 3

The male Sabby came over and helped me to watch two other games.

Colombia vs. Peru

Hats off to the Colombians for playing three thrilling matches. But the zero-zero draw favored the Peruvians. This result sets up a quarterfinal between Colombia and Argentina.

Brazil vs. Venezuela

For about an hour, the Brazilians were respectable. They built a two-goal lead. Then Dunga, their coach, replaced three attackers with three defenders and allowed the Venezuelans to claw back into contention. Brazil won anyway.

Neymar was absent.

His substitute, Robinho – twerpiest of the Ros (though not as twerpy as Neymar) – was downright refreshing to watch.