Football
Reuters 19y

Soccer-South America round-up

By Brian Homewood

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 25 - LDU brushed aside
Barcelona 3-0 to win the Ecuadorean championship for the eighth
time while Cienciano beat Universitario 2-0 as the Peruvian
championship's leading pair clashed in Cusco.

ECUADOR

LDU, coached by Peru's 1978 World Cup forward Juan Carlos
Oblitas, won the Apertura championship final 3-1 on aggregate
after goals from Paraguayan Carlos Espinola and Ecuadorean
internationals Franklin Salas and Neicer Reasco gave them an
easy win over Barcelona in the second leg.

Espinola levelled the aggregate scores when he headed in
Reasco's cross in the fifth minute at LDU's Casa Blanco stadium
in Quito.

Salas headed the second in the 63rd minute and Reasco left
several defenders in his wake as he completed the scoring with
an individual goal six minutes later.

Barcelona, who claim to be the country's most popular club,
had used three different coaches as they scrambled into the
knockout stages of the new-look tournament known as the
Apertura.

A separate championship, known as the Clausura, will be held
in the second half of the year.

Ecuador this year switched to the system of holding two
championships per year which is used in much of Latin America,
including Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile.

PERU

Cienciano put themselves within three points of winning the
championship's first stage after triumphing in their
top-of-the-table clash with Universitario.

Sergio Ibarra took advantage of sloppy defending to head
Cienciano in front in first-half injury time and Roberto Silva
finished off a counter-attack to score the second in the 85th
minute.

"We lost concentration and after that we had to chase a
result," said Universitario coach Jose Basualdo.

Cienciano, whose last game is at home to Union Huaral on
Wednesday, are four points ahead of Universitario, who have two
games remaining.

CHILE

Universidad de Chile, whose first team are on tour in North
America, fielded their reserves away to Union San Felipe and
were crushed 4-1, with striker Francis Ferrero scoring a
hat-trick.

Universidad Catolica made it two wins from two games in the
Clausura championship by beating Coquimbo Unido 1-0 with an
early goal from Jorge Quinteros.

Colo Colo could manage only a 1-1 draw at home to La Serena.

COLOMBIA

Millonarios maintained their 100 percent record at the start
of the Finalizacion championship by beating Atletico Huila 2-0
for their third win in three outings.

Martin Garcia opened the scoring with a shot on the turn in
the 59th minute and Gabriel Fernandez scored the second direct
from a free kick.

Atletico Nacional, who won the Apertura championship in the
first half of the yera, were still awaiting their first win
after being held 1-1 at Quindio.

Veteran striker Victor Hugo Aristizabal gave Atletico the
lead early in the second half, only for Jhon Valencia to hit
back for Quindio. Atletico are 14th with two points.

Independiente Medellin were held 1-1 at home by Envigado in
their first game under eccentric former Colombia coach and
ex-chemical engineer Javier Alvarez.

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