Corinthians opens Women's Libertadores with victory over Colo-Colo

Corinthians began their journey in search of their seventh title - the fourth in a row - in the Women's Libertadores, which is being played in Quito (Ecuador), with victory. This Thursday (15), Brabas defeated Colo-Colo (Chile) 2-0 at the Casa Blanca Stadium, in Group A of the competition. It was the first game since the second place in the Brazilian Championship against São Paulo, 12 days ago.

Timão's next match will be this Sunday (18), at 9pm (Brasília time), against Caracas, again at Casa Blanca. The Venezuelan team, however, has not yet arrived in Ecuador and reported difficulties in approving the athletes' visas to enter the country.

The South American Confederation (Conmebol) postponed Caracas' debut, against Colombian Santa Fe, which would have been this Thursday (15), to midnight on Saturday (17), at Casa Blanca. Questioned by Agência Brasil, the press office of the South American entity informed that the match against Corinthians had no changes and that the Venezuelans are expected to arrive this Friday morning (16).

Coach Emily Lima spared some of Brabas' regular starters for the debut. After defending the Brazilian team in the friendlies against Argentina, midfielder Duda Sampaio and striker Jhonson started the game on the bench, as did midfielder Gabi Zanotti. The trio gave way, respectively, to Dayana Rodríguez, Andressa Alves and Letícia Monteiro.

The black and white team took the lead and opened the scoring early. After four minutes, Andressa Alves avoided losing possession in the middle and launched Vic Albuquerque. The attacker beat defender Ángela Clavijo with speed and hit the ball from the edge of the area, into the corner of goalkeeper Ryann Torrero.

The Chilean team, led by Brazilian Tatiele Silveira, tried to react with throws looking for Yenny Acuña on the left, behind Thaís Regina. At 12, she dribbled past the defender, but the shot, crossed, went close to the post. Seven minutes later, the attacker invaded the area and finished off Lelê, but the Corinthians goalkeeper made a great save.

As the first stage progressed, the teams accumulated errors. The players felt the weight of Quito's 2,850 meter altitude and found it difficult to fit in the decisive passes.

Corinthians returned from the break with three changes. Duda Sampaio and attackers Ivana Fuso and Jaqueline entered in place, respectively, of Letícia Monteiro, Gi Fernandes (who is right-back) and Belén Aquino. At 18 minutes, Emily even placed Ariel Godoi, another attacking player, in Dayana Rodríguez's place.

Even with so many changes, it took a penalty for Corinthians to finally lose heart. In the 20th minute, Jaqueline was brought down in the area by full-back Anaís Cifuentes. After nothing was noted on the field, Ecuadorian referee Jennifer Canchingre reviewed the move on the video and marked the infraction. The striker herself - another from Timão who was with the Brazilian team - took the shot and increased the score.

The second goal gave Brabas the peace of mind to manage the positive result. There was still time for midfielder Ana Vitória to enter the field in place of Andressa Alves, in return to reinforce the black marking in the final minutes and guarantee the three points.