Kansas City Wizards 2011 signing Omar Bravo and Chivas Guadalajara will battle Brazilian giants Internacional Wednesday night in the final match of the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports en Español beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT. If you don't have FSE, follow along live with the Wizards via Twitter.
Wizards fans will likely be able to see their 2nd Designated Player signing in action, as Bravo has been a key member of the Chivas squad throughout their run to the Libertadores final. Chivas enters the away match trailing 2-1 after losing at home last week to Internacional at Estadio Omnilife in Guadalajara. Bravo has scored four goals in seven games during the 2010 tournament. For his career, Bravo has played in 34 Libertadores games, scoring 13 goals.
Road matches in major international tournaments are always tough, but Chivas has experience advancing with an away result. In the semifinals, Bravo and Chivas went to Universidad de Chile with the series tied 1-1 and recorded a 2-0 victory to advance to the finals. Chivas became just the second Mexican club to ever reach the finals of Copa Libertadores, a home-and-home aggregate-goal series. Cruz Azul first accomplished the feat in 2001. To see Chivas' road through the tournament, click here (en Español).
Bravo, who wears 17 for Chivas, went the full 90 minutes in the first match against Inter. Guadalajara took a 1-0 lead in first half stoppage time through Adolfo Bautista, only to see Internacional respond with goals in the 73rd and 76th minutes from Giuliano and Bolìvar, respectively. To see the full match report from Chivas' website, click here (en Español).
Chivas is looking to capture their first international tournament since 1962, when they won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Internacional has been extremely successful in international tournaments over the past decade. They won the 2006 Copa Libertadores and, subsequently, the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup over FC Barcelona on the strength of standouts Adriano and Alexandre Pato, who is now with AC Milan. Inter then won the Recopa Sudamericana in 2007 and the Copa Sudamericana in 2008.