Today’s Video: Ecuadorians strikes first in Libertadores final

The first leg of the final in South America’s most prestigious soccer club tournament- the Copa Libertadores- was held Wednesday night. Ecuador’s LDU Quito took advantage of playing at home and scored a flurry of first-half goals to beat Brazilian side Fluminense 4-2.

The Rio de Janeiro team came in as the favorites after blazing through the group stage, and beating 2007 tournament champions Boca Juniors in the semifinals. The team from Quito managed several upsets in order to reach the finals such as beating 2007 Copa Sudamericana runners-up Club America in the semis.

The last leg of the final will take place next Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro’s legendary Maracana stadium. A tie or a one-goal loss would be sufficient for LDU Quito to be the first Ecuadorian team to capture the Libertadores title. (The only previous time an Ecuadorian team made it to the final was ten years ago when Barcelona SC lost to another Rio de Janeiro side- Vasco de Gama- by a 4-1 aggregate score).

The following are highlights of the six goals scored in the first leg:

Sources- YouTube, Wikipedia, The Latin Americanist, People’s Daily Online, Reuters UK