2. INTRODUCTION
Atletico Mineiro is an important Brazilian Soccer team which is best known as Galo.
Their fans love it! Whenever Galo plays in their city the stadium gets packed. Their
most recent achievement was the “Libertadores da America” cup. This is the most
important competition of South America and is the main victory the club has had
in their history. Winning was hard and the matches were fantastic.
3. RULES FOR THE
CUP
The libertadores cup has 32 teams divided in 8 groups of 4. The two best teams in
each group are classified for eighth finals. The best team in every group plays with
the worst team classified and the second best plays with the second worst and so
forth. All 16 teams play at home and out of home. This stage is known as "mata
mata" where every two weeks a team is eliminated until only the champion stays.
4. GROUPS PHASE
In the Group phase that Galo ended up in first place, having had the best
campaign. The team was brilliant: people said that Galo was playing the best
football. The other teams got scared when they played against Ronaldinho Gaucho,
Tardelli, Bernard and Jo. All people said that Galo was going to win.
5. Eighth Finals
Sao Paulo played against Galo. The first match was hard and Sao Paulo was winning
by 1x0 when the player Lucio (Sao Paulo) was sent off after committing a rough
foul on Bernard. After that, Galo scored two Gols and won the match. A
remarkable moment occurred when Ronaldinho Gaucho scored a Goal and cried
out “Here’s Galo, Here’s Galo”
6. Quarter Finals
This match was the most difficult of Libertadores Cup. Galo played against Tijuana
(Mexico). In the first game, Galo was carried away. The Stadium had synthetic
grass and the players felt the difference. Only in the last minute when the player
Luan (Galo) scored and the game finished 2x2. For the home game Galo had the
advantage of 1x1. The game was 1x1 and it was very exciting when the referee
marked a penalty. The fans didn’t believe in what happened but when the Tijuana’s
player kicked the ball Victor (Galo’s goalkeeper) did a fantastic defense with his left
leg, the fans went mad, really insane! Galooooo doidoooooooo!. Galo was finally
classified for semi finals.
7. Semi Finals
It was against Newells old boys (Argentina), this team was considered the best of
Argentina. The first match was very hard and Galo’s team didn’t play with the
same vibration . The result finished in 2x0 for Newells. Since Galo was the best
team of the phase groups, it needed a difference of two goals to be classified. For
the home match Galo started very well and in the last 2 minutes Bernard scored:
1x0. When the match was almost finishing Guilherme (Galo's player) scored the
second goal and the fans celebrated a lot. The game was going to be decided with
penalty kicks, the score was 4x3 and the last penalty kick was done by Maxi
Rodrigues (Newells’s player). He was very good but Victor did a fantastic defense. It
was the first time that GALO was in the finals.
8. Final
The big day came and the final match was between Galo and Olimpia-Paraguai. The
first game was in Paraguay and one more time Galo didn’t play well, then Olimpia
won by 2x0. The most important day in Galo’s history was the second match,
Almost SIXTY THOUSAND PEOPLE were in Mineirão.Yes, 60,000!For Galo to win
they needed to score two goals more than Olimpia. The first half finished in 0x0
and Galo’s fans were tense. The fans cried out“I believe……I believe”. In the second
half Galo made their fans happy with two goals. The game should have finished
with a score of 2x0 but it was extended. The two teams were very tired and the
game was going to be decided with penalty kicks. It was fate. Last penalty kick,
Galo’s victory. The celebration then started and at that moment the people were
very emotional.