Boca Juniors beat Vasco da Gama 3-1 at the Maracanã on Tuesday night, erasing a 1-0 first-leg loss to win the Copa Sudamericana semifinal 3-2 on aggregate and reach the final. Captain Leandro Paredes scored the decisive third goal with a long-range shot late in the second half.
¡Finalista! @BocaJrsOficial buscará su tercera CONMEBOL #Sudamericana, rumbo a la #LaGranConquista
Translation: "Finalist! @BocaJrsOficial will go for its third CONMEBOL #Sudamericana, on the way to #LaGranConquista (the great conquest)"
Boca, who lost the first leg at La Bombonera, needed goals and got them early. Lautaro Di Lollo headed in a Lautaro Blanco corner, and Miguel Merentiel doubled the lead on a counterattack before halftime. Vasco, backed by about 70,000 home fans, pushed the game open in the second half, and José Luis Rodríguez pulled a goal back to level the tie on aggregate. It looked headed for extra time and penalties until Paredes struck.
Paredes had started on the bench. He came on in the 57th minute, 11 days after tearing a hamstring against Instituto. “Obviously the result proves me right, but I don’t think I am right either,” coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena said afterward about leaving him out of the starting lineup.
The final is on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Estadio Metropolitano in Barranquilla, a neutral ground that holds more than 46,000 and is the first in Colombia to host the one-match final. Boca will face the winner of Atlético Mineiro, coached by Argentine Eduardo Domínguez, and Montevideo City Torque. Mineiro leads that tie 3-0 going into Wednesday night’s second leg in Montevideo. The champion earns a place in the group stage of the 2027 Copa Libertadores and a Recopa Sudamericana match against the Libertadores winner. Boca won the Sudamericana in 2004 and 2005.
The trophy chase overlaps with a crowded domestic schedule. Boca are the only Argentine club alive in three competitions. Next is Independiente in Avellaneda on Sunday at 5 p.m., a game Boca need to win to secure a place in the Clausura playoffs. Then come the Superclásico against River Plate at La Bombonera on Nov. 1 and a Copa Argentina semifinal against Banfield in Mendoza on Nov. 14, a week before the final. “We hope to go step by step, match by match, we have achieved nothing,” Arruabarrena said.