Riquelme, Boca on cusp of glory, but Grêmio awaits

	Boca's path through the Libertadores has been anything but clear, but Juan Román Riquelme (right) has been the steady hand. Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images
	MAILBAG Submit a comment or question for Tim. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Thick fog descended on Buenos Aires on the day of the Copa Libertadores semifinal second leg tie between local heroes Boca Juniors and this year's surprise side, Cúcuta of Colombia.

The kickoff was delayed for almost an hour, and there was another short delay in the second half. In fact, the entire match was played in conditions of appalling visibility.

Through it all, Boca playmaker Juan Román Riquelme seemed to wander around with his own private lantern. He gave clarity to Boca's attack and never let the Colombians settle, splitting their defense with wonderfully disguised passes and opening the scoring with a superbly curled free kick.

Riquelme was the main reason Boca was able to turn a 3-1 first leg deficit into a 4-3 aggregate win. So Boca moves on to the final, where Riquelme will once again be the key.

Boca took Riquelme back on loan from Spanish side Villarreal specifically to help it win South America's most prestigious club competition. If he can reproduce that type of form over both legs of the final, then Boca has a good chance of winning its sixth title.

But he is up against a side that will seek to mark him very tightly and stick close enough to him to blow out his magic lantern.

For the 11th time in its 48-year history, the Copa Libertadores has produced a dream final -- a club from Argentina against a club from Brazil. The last two finals were all-Brazilian affairs, with the 2006 title going to Internacional of Porto Alegre. It was just the spur its local rivals, Grêmio, needed.

Two-time champions of Brazil, two-time champs of the Libertadores, Grêmio had been through hard times. The wheels fell off after it failed to celebrate its centenary in '03 by winning the Libertadores. At the end of the following year, it was relegated to the Brazilian second division.

But in a dramatic turn, Grêmio bounced right back and was already planning its return when it had to watch Internacional win the crown of South American champion. The success of its rivals gave Grêmio all the motivation it needed to keep their momentum going, ensure qualification for this year's Libertadores and battle its way to the final.

However, Grêmio had to endure some nervous moments before making it out of the group phase and scraped through all three subsequent knockout rounds. Grêmio has scored just 12 goals in 12 games and has already suffered five defeats (since the current format was adopted in 2000, none of the champions have lost more than three of the 14 games, and the last three winners were only beaten on one occasion).

But these figures are not taking into account Grêmio's extraordinary home record. Of its six matches in Olímpico stadium in Porto Alegre, Grêmio has won five and drew the other -- without conceding a goal. Its problems have come on the road, where after winning the first match, it has lost the other five.

Grêmio can hopes to forget about these statistics as it prepares for the first leg of the final on Wednesday night in Buenos Aires. If the Brazilians lose by a goal, they can be confident of overturning the deficit the following week in Porto Alegre. A two-goal defeat will not be a total disaster, and they might even feel they still have a chance if they go down by three. The pressure in their first meeting is on Boca.

This is especially true because Boca's record in this campaign is similar to Grêmio's. Boca is the more expansive side. With Riquelme and Ever Banega -- the sorcerer and his apprentice -- in central midfield, the Xeneizes move the ball in fine style. Pablo Ledesma gives them a dynamic player on the right side and Neri Cardozo some neat touches cutting across from the left.

And then up front is the old firm of Martín Palermo and Rodrigo Palacio, the former a lumbering center forward with penalty-area presence and the odd artful touch, the latter a quick, wiry figure who works the flanks so well. Boca has 22 goals in its 12 games, but like Grêmio, it has been one side at home and a very different one away.

In front of its own fans, Boca has scored 18 goals and conceded just one -- and that came off a crass goalkeeping error. But on the road it has lost four of six, and its defensive deficiencies have been exposed.

Grêmio feels it has the tools to worry the Boca back line. Talented, tricky Carlos Eduardo will run at the ponderous Boca center backs -- the criteria of the referee on what constitutes a foul could be important -- and strong midfielders Lucas and Diego Souza will seek to burst forward and unleash their thunderbolt shots.

Most of these players we have mentioned, from both sides, are young hopefuls who will soon be on their way to Europe. Grêmio's Lucas, for example, is already bound for Liverpool.

The one undoubted world class act, the man who has proved himself in Europe and is still at the peak of his powers, is Riquelme who, just over a year ago, carried tiny Villarreal to the verge of the Champions League final.

Big games are the stage for the big players -- hence the importance of Riquelme's magic lantern. Whether or not he can keep it alight when the fog of battle descends could decide the 48th Copa Libertadores.