3 minutes and 8 seconds was the only time span in which the path to despair to glory was traversed by Flamengo in their match against River Plate to be the new champions of the Copa Libertadores.
Flamengo was able to win its 2nd title of South America in a dramatic way after they managed to score 2 late goals to defeat River Plate, the defending champions of Copa Libertadores by 2-1 held in Lima.
Gabriel Barbosa, the striker who is playing for Flamengo on loan from Inter Milan scored the goal in 88th minute to equalize the score and then only 3 minutes and 8 seconds later a goal was made again to give the giants of Rio their first crown of Copa Libertadores in the last 38 years.
Gabriel said after the win, “Tomorrow, Rio is ours.” Gabriel had been mocked two years ago due to his nickname being Gabigol in Europe. He was not able to score a goal once playing for Inter Milan and also did not score a goal for Benfica.
Standing next to the left back of Brazil and Flamengo Júnior, Gabriel said, “Now we are together. I made history today here too.”
The only goal from River Plate was made during the 14th minute of the game from Rafael Santos Borré as he was hoping to let his team be the back-to-back wins for the Copa Libertadores in the history of last 18 years.
Enzo Pérez, a midfielder for River Plate said, “We failed at finishing them off. This match was dead and nothing was going to happen. They reacted after we made the first goal and then they finished us. We simply had no time to react.”
Filipe Luis of Flamengo agreed with that comment saying, “We played a really bad match but fate wanted us to win and this is what soccer is all about.”
Up next for Flamengo is a trip to Qatar where they will play in the Club World Cup. They will also have a chance to be the defending champions for the Copa Libertadores next year at home. The venue for the Copa Libertadores 2020 has already been chosen, Rio’s Maracanã.
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