Inter is ready to repeat 2006's success, when they defeated Santos and lifted the American title for the last time. Chivas can write history on their own if they can handle the Brazilian fury of Inter, strengthened by the presence of players like Andres D'Alessandro and Pablo Guiñazu.
The first match of the final will be held on August 11th and both teams are confident on their strengths for the title: While the Brazilians highlight the experience and manners of his team, the Mexicans pay full attention to the energy their players are able to unleash, stunning every rival on the competition and leading the team towards the final for the first time in their history. Inter's performance playing away has been rather disappointing, falling against Banfield and Estudiantes in Buenos Aires. Against Sao Paolo Inter fell for the third time, forcing team's manager to seriously consider a radical change of perspective to secure their place as favorites for this year's title before time runs out of his hands.Brazilian Birthmark favors Internacional
One of Inter's main strengths is the lethal efficiency of team's strikers. Alecsandro is one of the most prolific strikers in the competition with 6 goals. Argentina's Hector Baldassi will be the referee for the two final matches, and he's aware the situation can become quite tense when so match is to win on a match.
The Brazilian team is known by the constant pressure they pose against their rivals from the wings, overwhelming any defense. But this continuous advance from every front relegates their defense, relegating too much responsibility on their goalkeeper, who is indeed one of America's best.
On 27 out of 49 finals at least one of America's best teams came from Brazil. 13 times the title was given to a Brazilian squad, who will be looking forward to even the score after this tournament. They know their rival will be pretty anxious on their first final, and it'll be likely for Celso Roth's squad to take fully advantage of this.Team's coach is worried by the powerful counter attacks of the Aztecs, so we might expect an exciting match with plenty of opportunities for both sides to show their worth on America's most expected match.
Altar of Sacrifices
Guadalajara's Chivas is at the peak of its footbalistic history, as never could the Mexican team claim an international title and now they'll be receiving home one of the deadliest squads in America, already crowned as the Best Team of the world in 2006.
The hard work of the last five years allowed Chivas to reach this decisive stage, as the team reached the semi final both in 2005 and 2006. Much of this has probably a lot to do with Omar Arellano, one of the most electric players on the squad, whose abilities were unchallenged during the group stage of this competition.
Team's midfielder Patricio Araujo declared during the week "We're very confident for this match, we're working as we should. We're trying to make us more solid, to make our rivals suffer every minute against us".
His words show how deep has Jose Luis Real worked with his players. Chivas' general playstyle may resemble up to a point the performance of a Brazilian team: Their central defenders are not particularly strong, but the wingers have an unlimited stamina and can outrun almost any rival. But it is important to remember that half of the Chivas' squad do not have a lot of experiencing playing outside Mexico, and it is yet to see whether or not they'll be up to the circumstances of an American final.
The last three times El Tri faced a Brazilian rival on an important match they were sent home without being given a single chance. This will be the time to make things right, will they succeed on feeding their followers' dreams at least while standing on their own ground?
