PRESSURE COOKER

Few gave Nacional much of a hope last week when they trailed UA Maracaibo 1-0 at halftime and were down to 10 men. Yet the Uruguayans hit back with three goals in half an hour to win 3-2.

Atletico Nacional, playing only their second match under coach Carlos Navarrete, also appeared ripe for a good hammering as they visited Paraguayan champions Cerro Porteno in a stadium known as the Pressure Cooker.

But, against all expectations and after surviving a torrid start, the Colombians won 5-1.

In earlier matches, Argentina's Velez Sarsfield came from 3-1 down to beat Peru's Universitario 4-3, Estudiantes bounced back from 3-0 down to beat Sporting Cristal 4-3 and UANL turned a 3-1 halftime deficit into a 5-4 win over Deportivo Cali.

The Libertadores cannot match the Champions League in terms of infrastructure and conditions would come as a shock for European clubs.

The players at Uruguayan champions Rocha, who are taking part for the first time, last year trained next to a field of grazing cows and earned $15,000 a month between them.

Five of the 32 teams in the group stage play home games at over 2,800 metres above sea level, creating extra difficulties for visiting clubs already facing much longer journeys and tighter schedules than in Europe.

It is hard to imagine Real Madrid or Manchester United facing the same ordeal as Cerro Porteno when they travelled to Colombia earlier this week to face Atletico Nacional.

After catching a dawn flight out of Asuncion on Tuesday, the Paraguayans spent eight hours in Sao Paulo airport after their connection to Bogota was cancelled.

They were eventually put on a plane to Caracas, Venezuela, where, after a six-hour flight, they had to spend the night before catching another early morning flight to Medellin, via Bogota.

9:48 AM - March 29, 2006 - post comment