S. American clubs seek Libertadores lift

Twenty-six of the 32 teams participating in South America's most prestigious club tournament will play during the course of this week.

Six months have passed since Argentina's Boca Juniors overcame Mexico's Cruz Azul in a penalty shootout to lift the trophy for a second consecutive year.

Since then, many of the region's clubs have sunk deeper into a financial mire made worse by the economic crisis afflicting Argentina.

The debt-burdened defending champions will be hard pressed to fill the void left by the departures of midfield playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme and Colombian goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba.

Boca's disappointing showing in the domestic league in 2001, and the subsequent departure of their highly successful coach Carlos Bianchi has cast a shadow over Argentina's most popular club.

Tango effect

The "tango effect" caused such a shortfall in advertising revenue in this once-wealthy nation that the whole viability of the 2002 Libertadores Cup was called into question at one stage.

T&T, the consortium holding the television distribution rights for the tournament, had threatened to slash club payments by US$10 million to mitigate expected losses.

But an 11th hour deal struck last week between the South American Football Confederation (CSF) and Fox Sports boosted funding and allowed the tournament to go ahead as scheduled.

The first Argentine club to play in the 2002 tournament is San Lorenzo, who play Bolivia's Real Potosi on Tuesday.

Ecuador's El Nacional meet Uruguay's Penarol in another Group Three game on the same day.

Offload players

Like other Argentine clubs, San Lorenzo has had to offload key players, notably striker Bernado Romeo. The club has also been hit by an injury to promising midfielder Leandro Romagnoli.

The other two Argentine teams in action this week face difficult games in Mexico. Velez Sarsfield meet Morelia on Tuesday while Talleres face America in the Aztec Stadium on Wednesday.

The domestic form of Morelia's Argentine striker Diego Alberto Galvan suggests he will boost their chances in the Libertadores Cup.

In Tuesday's other matches, Brazil's Atletico Paranaense are at home to Bolivar, while Peru's recently-crowned champions Alianza Lima host Paraguayan champions Cerro Porteno.

Brazilian clubs have suffered two lean years due to a failure to hold together winning teams.

This has given smaller, well-managed clubs the chance to make their mark.

Sao Caetano will carry the standard for the unfashionable teams after taking the runner-up spot in Brazil for a second year running. They begin their Libertadores campaign on Thursday against Chile's Cobreloa.

Flamengo will hope to shake off indifferent domestic form in Wednesday's clash against Colombia's Once Caldas.

Argentine titans Boca Juniors and River Plate do not play until next week, meeting Santiago Wanderers and Talleres respectively.

Financial ailments

River Plate have drafted in Uruguayan striker Daniel Fonseca and Juan Esnaider on loan from Juventus, but fans see this as little compensation for the sale of Andres D'Alessandro.

The financial ailments of Argentine clubs are by no means unique. A cloud is hanging over Chilean football after Colo Colo were declared bankrupt after failing to pay part of its $30 million debt.

The 1991 Libertadores champions are absent from this year's tournament, but debt problems at other Chilean clubs are threatening the start of the 2002 national championship.

Uruguayan clubs will also be hoping to reverse a long decline. Not one team from this once-dominant country reached the quarterfinals in 2001.

Wanderers have won a string of friendly games in the build up to their Libertadores opener against Ecuador's Elemec on Wednesday.

The club appointed former midfielder Santiago Ostolaza as coach after Daniel Carrero was poached by local rivals and current champions Nacional.

Recalled striker

Last year's beaten finalists Cruz Azul have recalled on-loan striker Francisco Palencia from Spanish club Espanyol.

"Paco" Palencia has scored four goals for Espanyol this season, but seems to be on his way back to Mexico unless the Barcelona club purchase his contract.

The striker played a key role in helping Cruz Azul to last year's final against Boca.

Teams in the Libertadores Cup are divided into eight groups of four in the first round, with the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stage.

The Cup is the equivalent of the European Champions League and the winners qualify for the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo.

Botafogo sink floundering Flamengo

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Botafogo beat struggling Flamengo 4-2 to stay on top of the table after the latest round of matches in the Rio-Sao Paulo tournament at the weekend.

Botafogo striker Dodo was on target again to take his tally to six goals in four games as the Rio de Janeiro team stayed clear of Ponte Preta, who beat America 3-0, on goal difference.

Felipe, with two goals, and Alexandre were the other scorers.

Flamengo have just one point from a possible 12 and the latest setback has cast the future of coach Carlos Alberto Torres into doubt.

Sao Paulo's 4-3 win over Fluminense provided the best entertainment of the weekend.

Commanding performances from midfielder Kaka and striker Franca helped the home team into a 3-0 lead. But Fluminense struck back with goals from Fabio Melo and Roni.

With four minutes remaining Sao Paulo goalkeeper Ceni, who earlier saved a penalty by Roger, scored with a spectacular free kick to make it 4-2.

But Ceni was still celebrating his strike when Roger produced a fabulous lob to put the visitors back in contention.

Melo missed a golden opportunity to level the scoreline but he headed wide of an open goal in the dying seconds.

Pachuca, Necaxa remain undefeated

MEXICO CITY -- Atlas crushed Pachuca 3-1 and the "Chivas" of Guadalajara outlasted Necaxa 1-0 and as both teams remained undefeated through five weeks of Mexican Summer League play. Previously unbeaten teams La Piedad, Toluca, Pachuca and Universidad de Mexico all lost this week.

Jose Luis Calderon was the hero for Atlas on Sunday, scoring two goals in a match that saw Mane Ferreira add a third score. Sergio Santana had a goal for Pachuca in a losing cause.

In front of 80,000 fans in Mexico City Estadio Azteca, Guadalajara's Miguel Sabah got the only goal in his team's match with Necaxa, taking a centering pass from Ramon Moales to put a shot into the net's right corner in the game's 20th minute. Necaxa's attempts to even the score fell short when the team lost Edgar Solano and Alex Aguinaga, who were both expelled for rough play in the 61st and 68th minute respectively.

With the win, the Chivas improved their record to two wins and three ties for a total of nine on the young season. Despite its unblemished record, Guadalajara remained in third place of Group 1 behind Atlas and Cruz Azul who are tied for the group's top spot with 10 points.

Other Sunday action saw Santos top the Universidad de Mexico's Pumas 4-3. Brazilian standout Leandro got the Pumas on the board first with a goal in the 10th minute. Jared Borgetti tied the game in the 27th minute and Eduardo Lillingston gave Santos a 2-1 lead with a goal 14 minutes later. Chilean Rodrigo Ruiz put Santos ahead 3-1 with a goal two minutes into the second half and Hector Altamirano put his team up three goals with a score in the 51st minute.

Universidad de Mexico staged a fierce rally, getting a goal from Uruguayn Rodrigo Lemos in the 76th minute and Argentinean Victor Muller 11 minutes later to keep things interesting. In the end Santos' smothering defense proved too much.

Also Sunday, Leon and the "Tecos" of Guadalajara battled to a scoreless tie. The draw gave the Tecos their first point of the season while Leon finished the day with three points.

The week's play began Thursday when Morelia beat La Piedad 2-1. Saturday action saw Celaya hold on for a 1-0 victory over Toluca. Saturday's other game saw Cruz Azul's Sebastian Abreu score three times to lift his team over Atlante 3-1.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.