Historic San Lorenzo-Nacional final for their first Cup

San Lorenzo of Argentina will face Nacional of Paraguay in a historic final in Buenos Aires on Wednesday for the Libertadores, a Cup that they haven’t been able to win, after having drawn with a goal in the first leg in Asuncion.

The match will be at the Nuevo Gasómetro Stadium.

With seating for 44,000 spectators, it will be an emotional night with over 40,000 San Lorenzo fans and almost 4,000 Academia tricolor fans traveling from Paraguay.

«San Lorenzo will play better (than in Asuncion), supported by its fans,» said the coach of the Guarani, Gustavo Morínigo.

Edgardo ‘Paton’ Bauza, coach of Los Gauchos de Boedo, winner of the Libertadores in 2008 as coach of Ecuador’s Liga de Quito, said that, «it will be the most important 90 minutes of the club’s history and we will write in the best way possible.»

But in case of tie, the match will go into 30 minutes of extra time and then into penalties if needed.

– Pray to God –

San Lorenzo, Pope Francisco’s fervent fan, is one of the five biggest clubs in Argentina for its many fans with 12 professional titles in the First Division and three in the amateur era, the 2001 Copa Mercosur and the 2002 Sudamericana.

Regarding the Saints, nickname derived from its founder, priest Lorenzo Massa, they carry a curse because they were the first Argentine team to play in the Libertadores in 1960, but lost in the semifinals against Peñarol of Uruguay in a 2-1 match tiebreaker.

Nacional harvested nine local titles and is based out of the popular Barrio Obrero in Asunción.

With less international presence than the legendary Olympia, and less than its neighborhood rival, Cerro Porteño, it was the birthplace of one of the greatest scorers of the twentieth century, Arsenio Erico, who in the early 30s and 40s with Independiente de Argentina obtained an unbeaten record of 293 goals.

– Without Coronel and Piatti –

San Lorenzo will face its moment of truth with the forced loss of its talented strategist Ignacio Piatti, who was transferred to Montreal Impact of the American league MLS.

Bauza will replace him with Uruguayan striker Martin Cauteruccio to support team mate Mauro Matos, who scored the beautiful goal in the first leg in Asunción.

The defense coach has doubt regarding the muscular injury still being suffered by midfielder Mauro Cetto.

The Paraguayan team will be without its defender Ramon Coronel, who suffered a right thigh injury in the first leg match, but his replacement by Julio Santa Cruz was providential because the younger brother of consecrated Roque Santa Cruz scored the equalizer giving hope to the ‘Trico’.

It is probable that Coronel will be replaced by Juan Argüello, while midfielder Derlis Orué is stellar having recovered from a muscle strain.

Nacional couldbring back Marcos Riveros in the midfield after serving a suspension.

The match will be played at the Nuevo Gasómetro in Buenos Aires stadium on Wednesday at 21h15 (00h15 GMT on Thursday).

The referee will be Brazilian Sandro Ricci supported by his countrymen Emerson Carvalho and Marcelo Van Gasse.