The Sudamericana is becoming the better tournament

	Goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri (in black) is mobbed by teammates after his spot kick gave Boca Juniors the Copa Sudamericana. AP

Soccer managers tend to be men with limited risk-taking capacities. But when you find one with the nerve to sneak in a surprise at a decisive moment, you know he's something special. Boca Juniors boss Alfio Basile has this rare characteristic, and he proved it once again Sunday night when he reshuffled his side's penalty shootout order so that his goalkeeper would decide the team's fate.

It was well worth the risk. Roberto Abbondanzieri fired his spot kick home and Boca landed its second consecutive Copa Sudamericana title in sensational fashion after 180 minutes of deadlocked soccer with Pumas. It capped off a remarkable year for the Argentines, and perhaps more important, a sensational year for the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL), which couldn't have planned a more memorable tournament.

For once, it seems as if the federation got it right, as the 2005 Copa Sudamericana surpassed expectations and was a huge success. For many, it is now considered the equal of, or even greater than, the Copa Libertadores, which has traditionally been South America's ultimate club competition.

But it wouldn't have worked if CONMEBOL hadn't taken any risks of its own, having already tried many different ways to conclude the South American soccer agenda with various tournaments of complicated formats. The laundry list includes the Super Cup, CONMEBOL Cup, Mercosur Cup and the Merconorte Cup, highly unsuccessful events attracting little interest from clubs and fans. (The CONMEBOL Cup in particular was a dud. Similar to Europe's UEFA Cup, it consisted of many second-rate teams that weren't good enough to qualify for the Copa Libertadores.)

For fans of South American soccer, following these tournaments was nothing less than punishment, from late kickoffs to extremely low-quality soccer. As most clubs preferred to concentrate on their domestic leagues, managers fielded teams made up of reserves and youth players.

Not surprisingly, this wasn't received well by the massive soccer following around the continent, and the federation paid the price. The fans turned their backs on the tournaments, with most matches played in empty stadiums and television ratings hitting rock bottom. CONMEBOL knew it had to do something to rectify the problem, and came up with several ideas knowing that one simply had to work.

In 2002, the Copa Sudamericana emerged. This new tournament would include all the top clubs of South America, but stretched further to include teams that finished in the top eight of the standings from the strongest leagues -- Argentina and Brazil.