Sao Paulo, Oct. 3 (BNA) Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle broke the monopoly of Brazilian teams in the South American club competition and won the Sudamericana Cup on Saturday.
A 2-0 win over Sao Paulo in the deciding group gave the Ecuadoreans their second title in the region’s second most prestigious tournament, the Associated Press reported.
Lautaro Diaz scored the two goals of the final match held at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in the Argentine city of Cordoba in the 13th minute and Lorenzo Varavelli in the 67th minute. Two players in Sao Paulo were sent off in overtime; Jonathan Calleri and Diego Carlos.
The winner of the Copa Libertadores will certainly be a Brazilian team, as it has been since 2019; Flamengo and Atletico will play for the title on October 29. Last year’s Sudamericana Cup final was held between two Brazilian teams, and Atletico won the championship title.
Di Valle won the South American Cup in 2019, just nine years after being promoted to the top flight in Ecuador. The club also played in the Copa Libertadores final in 2016 and some of its stars now play in Europe; Brighton midfielder Moises Kaisedou and Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincape.