Estudiantes stuns Cruzeiro to win Copa Lib title

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP) - Argentina's Estudiantes won its first Copa Libertadores title in 39 years when it came from behind to hand Cruzeiro its first home defeat by 2-1 in the final on Wednesday.

Estudiantes clinched its fourth Latin American club championship 2-1 on aggregate after the teams played to 0-0 in the first leg of the final last week in La Plata.

More than 65,000 fans at Mineirao Stadium, where Cruzeiro had won all six of its matches in this year's tournament, including 3-0 over Estudiantes in group play, were stunned into silence when striker Mauro Boselli scored the winner in the 73rd minute.

"We were able to silence more than 60,000 people," Estudiantes defender Christian Cellay said. "That was really incredible. It's hard to believe we did it."

The estimated 3,000 Estudiantes fans were the ones celebrating when Boselli headed in a corner taken by veteran midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.

Veron matched his father, Juan Ramon, who played in all three previous Copa Libertadores titles won by Estudiantes in 1968, '69 and '70.

"It took a lot of heart," Veron said as the Argentine fans chanted his name. "It was incredible."

After an even first half, midfielder Henrique put Cruzeiro ahead with a long-range shot in the 52nd, but Estudiantes answered quickly through striker Gaston Fernandez in the 58th.

"It was a complicated game," Enzo Perez said. "They scored the first goal but we equalized right away and this helped us a lot."

On the list of champions, Estudiantes' four titles ranked behind only Argentina's Independiente (7), Argentina's Boca Juniors (6) and Uruguay's Penarol (5).

Estudiantes also earned a spot in FIFA's Club World Cup in Dubai later this year.

"You can't measure how happy we are right now," coach Alejandro Sabella said. "We played with a lot of intelligence and we took advantage of the chances we had in the second half."

In seeking its third Copa, Cruzeiro almost equalized and sent the final into extra time when substitute striker Thiago Ribeiro struck the corner of the crossbar and the post with a shot from outside the area in the 86th.

"We had our chances," Cruzeiro coach Adilson Batista said. "Just couldn't get the goals."

Cruzeiro tried to push forward from the beginning but was not able to pressure Estudiantes. With Veron controlling the match at midfield, the Argentine club was successful in slowing the pace, and Cruzeiro couldn't create many significant scoring chances.

Estudiantes had the first dangerous opportunity in the 22nd when Boselli's shot from inside the area came out weak.

The missed chance seemed to awaken Cruzeiro, which answered a minute later with a header by defender Leonardo Silva that missed just wide, and then with a great run by forward Wellington Paulista, who was beaten to the ball by Estudiantes goalkeeper Mariano Andujar inside the area.

In the 33rd, it was Boselli who threatened in a breakaway, but Cruzeiro defender Gerson Magrao made a nice defensive play to block his shot.

Things became heated in the 37th and a brawl nearly began after a ball dispute at midfield, and Chilean referee Carlos Chandia gave a yellow card to Cruzeiro striker Kleber and Veron. Both teams began committing hard fouls, and Estudiantes midfielder Rodrigo struck Kleber hard just before halftime to receive another yellow card.

Estudiantes took an extra five minutes to return from the halftime, trying to take the crowd out of the game, but Cruzeiro was quick to ignite its fans when midfielder Henrique scored with a right-footer from long range in the 52nd. The ball deflected off Estudiantes defender Leandro Desabato to find the right corner of Andujar.

Fans were still celebrating when striker Gaston Fernandez equalized for Estudiantes from close range in the 58th, completing a right-flank pass from defender Christian Cellay. Veron set up the play from midfield with a pass to Cellay.

Cruzeiro, which had outscored opponents 13-2 at home before Wednesday, would concede a decisive fourth soon after.

From a corner taken by Veron in the 78th, Boselli headed the ball past Cruzeiro goalkeeper Fabio to seal the victory. With the goal, Boselli finished the competition as the top scorer with eight goals.

"They knew how to take advantage of the opportunities and played very well," Fabio said.

Veron nearly scored with from a free kick in the 79th.

Only two Argentine teams had beaten Cruzeiro in 35 matches at Mineirao - Velez Sarsfield in 1996 in the Supercopa Sudamericana and Boca Juniors in last year's round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores.

Argentina features the most Copa Libertadores champions with 22, while Brazil was second with 13. It was the 12th final between Brazilian and Argentine clubs, with Argentina winning nine of them.

It was the 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores.