Fluminense, Liga de Quito advance to semis

PRINT EMAIL FACEBOOK DIGG TWITTER RSS SHARE

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Fluminense striker Fred scored the lone goal to give the Brazilian side a 1-0 win over Universidad de Chile and a semifinals berth in the Copa Sudamericana on Thursday.

Ecuadorean club Liga de Quito also advanced to the final four with a 2-1 win at home over Velez Sarsfield of Argentina in the day's other quarterfinal.

The semifinals lineup for the Copa Sudamericana is now complete. Fluminense will face Cerro Porteno of Paraguay and Liga will play Uruguayan club River Plate. The first legs will be played next week.

Fluminense secured the win when Fred rose above his marker to head home Maicon's cross in the 60th minute.

The teams had drawn 2-2 in the first leg at Brazil two weeks ago.

At Quito, reigning Argentine league champion Velez Sarsfield took the lead over Liga through a Hernan Lopez goal in the 43rd minute.

After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, the halftime scoreline would have put Velez through, but Liga came back strongly in the second period.

Enrique Vera flicked a free-kick in off the post to equalize in the 69th minute and Carlos Espinola scored the winner in the 76th.

The Copa Sudamericana is the second most prestigious club tournament in South America, after the Copa Libertadores.

The two-legged final is scheduled for November 25 and December 2.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.