Sport Huancayo have a chance to make their Copa Libertadores debut if they eliminate Paraguay’s Nacional, but Rojo Matador already knows what it means to overcome multiple brackets in the Copa Sudamericana.
Sports Huancayo can make history next Tuesday, February 14th Libertadores Cup 2023. El Rojo Matador defeated Nacional de Paraguay 2-1 in the first leg of Stage 1 at Huancayo Stadium, ending an 18-game winless streak for Peruvian teams. If they keep the advantage, it will be their first time advancing in the Libertadores round. However, this would not be his greatest success in international tournaments as his best campaign was completed at the 2020 Copa Sudamericana.
From home in Lima and without an audience due to the pandemic from the second phase, Sport Huancayo surprised by eliminating the then Uruguayan champions: Liverpool from Montevideo was the rival of Rojo Matador after the Peruvian team defeated Argentinos Juniors in the first round . How was Huancaína’s performance?
Sport Huancayo reached the round of 16 of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana. Photo: Sport Huancayo
Sport Huancayo and suffered a draw in the first leg
Sport Huancayo qualified for the second phase of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana after dealing with the most difficult opponent on paper Peru teams have had to face. Argentinos Juniors were third in Argentina’s professional league when they were eliminated by Huancayo (1-1 at Diego Armando Maradona and 0-0 at Huancayo). The rival was now Liverpool from Montevideo, champions of the intermediate tournament in 2019.
The first leg in Lima was similar, although the visit started better. Joel Pinto was one of the characters of the game with two key saves in the first half. Things seemed to go downhill after Uruguay’s Ignacio Ramírez’s superb goal with the ‘9’, but Hugo Ángeles’ quick equalizer put Huancayo back in the game. With a few tries from Lliuya and one from Escobar, the result stayed the same.
Sport Huancayo and the emotional classification in Uruguay
The second leg had Joel Pinto again as a key figure of Sport Huancayo. This time, however, it was the Peru team who took the lead first on the scoreboard: Daniel Morales scored a superb goal from a free-kick just before half-time. That partial result classified the visitors, but Agustín Ocampo’s equalizer early in the second half made everything the same.
Joel Pinto was one of Sport Huancayo’s best players at the 2020 Copa Sudamericana. Photo: AFP
Sport Huancayo managed to hold on to the result and the process seemed to indicate that everything would be decided on penalties. Nevertheless, the Red Matador was left with a surprise with a Carlos Neumann, who – although not in the best form – asserted himself as an experienced goalscorer. And with just three minutes on the field, he had the opportunity to calmly shadow the ball to qualify his team for the Round of 16.