LDU became
the first Ecuadorean club to win
the Copa Libertadores, beating Brazil's Fluminense on penalties
after losing the second leg of the final 3-1 on Wednesday.
Fluminense midfielder
Thiago Neves scored a hat-trick as the see-saw
tie finished 5-5 on aggregate, but his efforts
were in vain as LDU won the shootout 3-1 to
stun the 86,000 crowd at the Maracana.
Leading 4-2 from the first leg, LDU scored in the
fifth minute through striker Luis Bolanos but then
fell apart.
Fluminense, whose coach Renato had guaranteed
victory before the game, netted three goals in
less than an hour and looked certain to complete
the job. But they ran out of steam and failed to
score in the remaining half hour of normal time or
in extra-time. Three of their four kicks were
saved by LDU goalkeeper Jose Cevallos in the
shootout.
