Guerrero has a bad day, but finally becomes continental champion at the age of 39 – 10/28/2023 – Sport

The Ecuadorian club LDU won its second Copa Sudamericana title this Saturday (28), and the Peruvian Paolo Guerrero, 39, lifted his first continental cup after inauspicious years in his career, even though his participation in the victory was not decisive as in past disputes.

The player, an old acquaintance of Brazilians, sealed Corinthians’ victory over Chelsea in the 2012 Club World Cup, scoring the only goal of the match. He had also scored, with a header, the goal that guaranteed the victory of the São Paulo team over the Egyptian Al-Ahly in the semi-final of the championship.

In 2013, the Peruvian also played a role in winning the 2013 Recopa Sul-Americana — contested between the winner of the Copa Libertadores (elite South American tournament) and the Copa Sul-Americana (second-tier South American tournament)— , when he scored one of the two goals against São Paulo, in the first match, played at Morumbi. Guerrero left Corinthians in 2015 and joined Flamengo.

In recent years, the player has faced difficulties in his career. In 2020, when he was at Internacional, he suffered a knee injury, which required surgery, and was away from the field for almost a year.

He then played for Avaí and Racing, from Argentina, a period that was marked by low consistency. The player hadn’t taken to the field as a starter in a championship final for years, and this Saturday’s title crowns a good performance at LDU.

On his debut at the club, in early August, Guerrero scored the winning goal against Ñublense, from Chile, also in the Copa Sudamericana. In the first leg of the tournament’s semifinals, the player scored two of LDU’s three goals against Argentine Defensa y Justicia, guaranteeing the club a comfortable position in the second leg.

In this Saturday’s decision, Guerrero remained on the field during both regular halves and extra time, but remained far from the goal. The Peruvian also wasted the first penalty taken by LDU — his shot was saved by João Ricardo, Fortaleza’s goalkeeper.

The title, however, is collective, and there is no shortage of reasons for Guerrero to celebrate. In an interview after the end of the match, the player cited wear and tear and stated that the victory was fair.

“A lot of happiness. We fought so hard for this. We came here to Punta del Este knowing that the match would be tough, but this group did everything to deserve the championship. [É de] take off your hat.”