By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 22 - Nacional scored two
quickfire goals to come from behind and beat defending
champions Internacional 3-1 in the Libertadores Cup on
Wednesday.
The round of matches also produced one of the most bizarre
misses of the year, Flamengo striker Souza being the guilty
party in his side's 3-1 win over UA Maracaibo.
Internacional, beginning the defence of the title they won
for the first time last year, made a good start in Montevideo
when defender Martin Hidalgo fired them ahead in the 38th
minute.
The Brazilians appeared to be even more in command when
Nacional had defender Alejandro Rodriguez sent off in the 61st
minute for a second bookable offence.
But the Group Four game turned in a dramatic four-minute
spell as the Uruguayan side scored twice and Internacional had
a player dismissed.
Nacional equalised in the 73rd minute when a long kick
upfield from goalkeeper Alexis Vieira bounced once and fell to
Diego Vera, who flicked the ball past Clemer as the
Internacional defence hesitated.
Two minutes later, Internacional defender Wellington
Monteiro was given a second yellow card for a tackle from
behind.
From the resulting free kick, Javier Delgado produced a
low, 35-metre shot which went through the Internacional wall
and into the goal.
Jorge Martinez scrambled the third for Nacional, who lost
to the same opponents in the second round last year.
SANTOS WIN
Brazilian sides Parana and Flamengo won at home in Group
Five.
Parana went top the group after second-half goals from
Dinelson and Daniel Marques gave them a comfortable 2-0 win
over Potosi in Curitiba. The visitors had Marco Paz dismissed
in the 61st minute for a second bookable offence.
Flamengo, who have four points, raced into a 3-0 halftime
lead at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro with a
long-range shot by Renato and headed goals from Souza and
Obina.
Maracaibo were given an extraordinary let-off in the second
half when Souza, needing only to tap the ball into an open goal
from six metres, stopped the ball to tee up his shot but gave
goalkeeper Gilberto Angelucci time to make a save.
Daniel Arismendi pulled one back for the Venezuelans in the
last minute.
Santos kicked off Group Eight with a 1-0 win at Colombian
provincial side Deportivo Pasto, who were making their debut in
the tournament.
Although Pasto dominated, Claudio Maldonado scored the only
goal for Vanderlei Luxemburgo's team in the 62nd minute.
The game was marred when Santos midfielder Ze Roberto was
struck by a plastic bottle containing an unidentified orange
liquid thrown from the crowd.
Mexico's Toluca came from behind to beat Cienciano of Peru
2-1 in the evening's other match in Group Seven.