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Latin American roundup Barcelona escapes relegation; Corinthians loses ninth
Updated: Monday November 06, 2000 1:36 PM
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -- A single goal saved Ecuador's biggest club Barcelona from relegation and also allowed them to qualify for the final stage of the national championship at the weekend, thanks to the competition's bizarre rules World club champion Corinthians lost its ninth successive game in Brazil while Almagro, the club where Diego Maradona has been appointed general manager, remained bottom in Argentina after a 1-0 defeat by fellow struggler Belgrano. ECUADOR An 88th minute goal by Luis Gomez saved Barcelona, the country's biggest club, from relegation and, in an odd twist, qualified it for the final stage of the mind-bogglingly complex national championship. Gomez's strike gave Barcelona, the only team from its country to have reached a South American Libertadores final, a 1-0 win over Macara. This allowed it to finish third in the championship's second stage and sneak into the final stage, for which the top three teams in both the first and second stages qualify. It also permitted them to finish fourth from bottom in the overall standings, which determine which two teams go down, as it leap-frogged Deportivo Quito and Liga de Quito who both lost. Emelec won the second stage thanks to a 2-1 win over Army club El Nacional, which came second. El Nacional had already guaranteed a place in the final stage by finishing in the top three of the first stage, opening up another place which was taken by Espoli. Olmedo and Aucas qualified from the first stage. In a further mathematical twist, Olmedo, El Nacional and Emelec all start the final stage with three bonus points, while Aucas will begin with two and Barcelona one. BRAZIL Corinthians, which started the year by winning FIFA's inaugural world club championship, slumped to its ninth successive defeat when it was beaten 3-1 by Cruzeiro in the Joao Havelange Cup, which has replaced the Brazilian championship this year. It is languishing in 24th place in the 25-team table. Former World Cup coach Carlos Alberto Parreira continued without a win in his new job at Santos, which lost 2-1 to bottom club Coritiba, leaving it further from a place in the tournament's knockout stage. ARGENTINA Almagro, where Diego Maradona took over as general manager 10 days ago, was beaten 1-0 by Belgrano and remained rooted to the bottom of the Apertura (Opening) championship with five points from 12 games. It has still to win a game. Maradona has yet to watch his new team in action. Having missed last weekend's match, he said in advance that he would be unable to travel to Cordoba for Sunday's grim relegation battle. Leader Boca Juniors stayed four points ahead of Gimnasia-La Plata as the top eight teams all drew. Boca was held 3-3 by Rosario Central, for whom Paraguayan Miguel Caceres scored a hat-trick. Gimnasia drew 2-2 with fourth-placed River Plate after conceeding a last minute goal to Javier Saviola. MEXICO Group three leader Necaxa became the first team to reach the quarterfinals of the Invierno (Winter) championship when it grabbed a late goal to draw 1-1 with newly-promoted Irapuato. Ecuadorean Alex Aguigana scored the equalizer in the 88th minute. Atlas went top of group two with a spectacular 5-2 win away to Monterrey, though only goal difference keeps it ahead of Irapuato and UNL, which lost 3-2 at UNAM. Cruz Azul's 3-2 win at Santos Laguna, with two goals by Angel Morales and one by Mexican international Francisco Palencia, kept it top of group one. Pachuca stayed top of group four despite losing 1-0 to a Jose Abundis goal at Atlante. URUGUAY Penarol beat Racing 3-1 and went top of the championship's second stage ahead of old rival Nacional, which did not play. Penarol hit back with goals by Guillermo Giacomazzi, Martin Garcia and veteran Pablo Bengoechea after Racing had gone ahead in the seventh minute through Jose Herrera, a former Penarol player. Penarol are two points ahead of Nacional with four games each left. Both teams are unbeaten in the second stage as are third-placed Defensor Sporting, who hammered Deportivo Maldonado 5-1. CHILE Universidad de Chile beat Colo Colo 3-1 away in a Santiago derby and increased its lead at the top of the championship. Fernando Vergara put Colo Colo in front but the visitor hit back with two goals from Argentine Diego Rivarola and one from Pedro Gonzalez, the championship's top scorer with a tally of 26. Play started 15 minutes late after fans hurled objects onto the pitch. Universidad de Chile extended its lead at the top to an almost unassailable 12 points after second-placed Cobreloa crashed 2-1 at bottom club Osorno. BOLIVIA Oriente Petrolero's winning run continued with a 3-1 win over Union Central. It leads the championship's second stage by six points from Guabira, which beat Real Potosi 3-2. Argentine Jorge Habbeger made his debut as coach of The Strongest, which celebrated with a 5-2 drubbing of Real Santa Cruz. PERU Champion Universitario went top of the championship's second stage with a 3-2 win at UPAO, overtaking Sporting Cristal, which was surprisingly held 1-1 by modest Melgar.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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