Football
Tim Vickery, South America correspondent 9y

Internacional, Tigres leave Copa Libertadores semi delicately poised

Two halves of football in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores semifinal produced a play of three acts, starring Internacional of Brazil and Tigres of Mexico.

The opening phase belonged entirely to the Brazilians as Inter were two goals up before the 10-minute mark. There may have been a slight touch of fortune about both; for the first goal Tigres' normally reliable defensive midfielder Egidio Arevalo Rios played a poor back-pass, punished in superb style by Andres D'Alessandro. And the second goal had an element of fluke about it. As Valdivia shot, Tigres centre-back Hugo Ayala -- who was to have an eventful evening -- strained to block, but instead provoked a wicked deflection, causing the ball to loop over his goalkeeper and into the net.

But if Inter enjoyed a slice of fortune it was because they had set out to make their own luck. They made the ball fly around the Porto Alegre pitch, playing at high tempo and -- crucially -- with the lines of the team sufficiently close that the man receiving the ball had plenty of options around him.

At this point it was easy to come up with a likely scenario; Tigres were going to be overrun. With the Brazilian championship not having a mid-year pause, Inter have been in constant action. Tigres, meanwhile, were playing their first competitive game in seven weeks.

Moreover, new signings had been brought in. There were five changes from the team which eliminated Emelec of Ecuador at the end of May. Out of practice, and without time to bed in their new acquisitions, and after a long journey from one hemisphere down to the other, after such a disastrous start there was surely no way back for Tigres.

Phase two of the match proved all these suppositions to be wildly inaccurate. The Mexicans began to play their way into the game. The first sign of alarm to the Inter goal came when a lively one two between Javier Aquino and Rafael Sobis was interrupted, deep in Internacional's penalty area, by D'Alessandro.

The message was clear. Tigres were forcing Inter back, and before long they had pulled a goal back as well. Sobis dinked in a right footed cross from the left, and Ayala made some space in front of the defence to glance a header inside the far post.

There was no doubt now that Tigres were on top. Aquino was giving Inter right back William a torrid time. On the other flank the battle between Jurgen Damm and Geferson was more equal, but the Mexican kept hinting at danger. And the most glamorous of Tigres' new signings, French centre-forward Alain-Pierre Gignac, had the beating of the Inter centre backs. He forced his way through and had a fierce shot saved by Alisson. The keeper also had to spurt out quickly to block a shot from Sobis after Aquino had sliced a hole in the home defence.

But the second act came to an abrupt end some 12 minutes after the restart, when Ayala was sent off. His first yellow card was beyond dispute. The second looked a little harsh, though he did tackle Lisandro Lopez with excessive force. It meant, then, that Tigres were down to 10 men.

Priorities changed. Damm was sacrificed as coach Ricardo Ferreti reconstructed his defence, and tried to ensure that his team played out the remaining 35 minutes without conceding a goal.

It was perhaps a surprise that Tigres did not introduce Ecuadorian striker Joffre Guerron, whose pace might have been interesting on the counter-attack. But the game now was taking place in the other half of the field. Inter brought on Eduardo Sasha wide on the right, in a bid to stretch the Mexican defence, and throw on big centre-forward Rafael Moura for the final assault. But there was no further scoring, which probably leaves Tigres the happier of the two sides.

In a two legged tie where the away goals rule is in effect, there is a world of difference between losing 2-0 and 2-1. As they make the long trip back to the north of Mexico, Tigres can reflect happily on the fact that a 1-0 win next week will be good enough to carry them into the final. And neutrals can happily reflect on the prospect of another match as enthralling as this one.

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