Former Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan star Ronaldinho was
instrumental in helping Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro defeat
Paraguay's Olimpia in a penalty shoot-out on Wednesday to win the Copa
Libertadores for the first time.
Trailing 0-2 from the first leg, Atletico opened the scoring through the
tournament's leading scorer Jo in the 36th minute but had to wait until
three minutes from time to snatch the equaliser through defender
Leonardo Silva.
After a goalless extra-time, the final went to penalties which the
Brazilians won 4-3 in front of 60 000 fans at the Mineirao Stadium.
A World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002 and Champions League winner with
Barcelona in 2006, Ronaldinho returned to his home country in 2011 with
his top ambition being to win the South American continental cup to go
with his other honours.
"This is why I came back to Brazil,", the two-time winner of the world
player of the year award said. "Not long ago people were saying that I
was done but we showed today that isn't the case."
Olimpia, aiming for their fourth Copa Libertadores title and first since
2002, were left ruing a host of golden goal opportunities.
"You can't miss so many chances in a Copa final," coach Ever Almeida said.
Atletico will now go on to represent South America at the World Club
championships in Morocco in December alongside teams such as Bayern
Munich and Mexican side Monterrey.
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