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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Ben Hayward

Fluminense beat Boca Juniors in feisty final to win Copa Libertadores for first time ever

Fluminense players celebrate with the Copa Libertadores trophy after victory over Boca Juniors in November 2023.

Fluminense have beaten Boca Juniors after extra time in a feisty final to win the Copa Libertadores for the first time in their history.

The Rio de Janeiro outfit were effectively at home as the match was played in their stadium, the Maracana, and they went ahead after 36 minutes.

Veteran forward German Cano, a boyhood Boca fan from Buenos Aires province, fired Fluminense into the lead as he turned and powered a low drive past Sergio Romero from 15 yards out.

Peruvian winger Luis Advincula smashed an equaliser into the corner from outside the box with 72 minutes to stun the home fans and force extra time.

In it, Fluminense soon struck first as 21-year-old John Kennedy Batista de Souza as he hit a ball on the bounce into the bottom corner with a fierce drive.

Wild scenes ensued at the Maracana and the forward was shown a second yellow card after celebrating with the Fluminense fans.

But Boca were unable to take advantage of their extra man and Fabra was soon sent off as well after striking Nino across the face in an ill-tempered finale.

More Brazilian football stories

Chelsea have been tipped to sign a Brazilian wonderkid compared to the legendary Pele.

Meanwhile, Neymar is now Brazil's all-time top scorer, but insists he is not a better player than O Rei.

The former Barcelona and PSG forward, who now plays in Saudi Arabia, has been defended by his international coach after recent criticism. Fernando Diniz called Neymar "one of the greatest players in the history of football" last month.

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