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SAO PAULO (AP)—Two of South America’s most successful soccer teams face off in the Copa Libertadores final on Wednesday, with Santos attempting to win its first title since Pele was playing and Penarol trying to revive its dominance of the 1960s and ’80s.

The clubs drew 0-0 in last week’s first leg at Penarol in Uruguay, and Brazil’s Santos heads into the decisive match in front of its fans at Pacaembu Stadium in Sao Paulo.

Santos is set to field Neymar, the 19-year-old who is touted as the future star of Brazil’s national team, and possibly Brazilian teammate Paulo Henrique Ganso, who has recovered from a muscle injury.

“We have 90 minutes left,” Neymar said. “We need the fans packing the Pacaembu to help us. We are going to go after them.”

Penarol coach Diego Aguirre is confident but knows his team faces a hard task.

“The truth is that Santos is the favorite after drawing away and now playing at home, with the support of its fans,” he said.

The Copa Libertadores is Latin America’s most important club competition, the equivalent of the Champions League in Europe.

Santos is in the final for the first time since losing to Boca Juniors in 2003, when playmaker Diego and striker Robinho led the team.

Penarol is having its first shot at the title since beating America of Colombia in the 1987 final. With another triumph Wednesday, it would join Argentina’s Boca Juniors as the second-most successful club in South America with six titles. Argentina’s Independiente has seven.

Penarol won the first two Copa Libertadores, in 1960 and ’61, then lost to Santos the following year. The Uruguayan giant lost the title to Independiente in 1965, but beat River Plate the next year. It also reached the final in 1970, losing to Argentina’s Estudiantes.

Penarol also dominated in the 1980s, winning the ’82 championship over Chile’s Cobreloa and finishing runner-up to Brazil’s Gremio the following year.

But after the title in 1987, the club hadn’t been able to thrive in South America until this year’s impressive campaign in which it eliminated traditionally strong teams like Velez Sarsfield of Argentina, Universidad Catolica of Chile and defending Copa Libertadores champion Internacional of Brazil.

“Penarol is not just another team,” Santos striker Ze Eduardo said. “It didn’t get to the final without having quality, we respect it a lot and we will need to play very well to win the title.”

The Uruguayans were in similar position when facing defending champion Internacional in the round of 16. The teams drew 1-1 in Uruguay and Penarol had to pull off an upset victory in Brazil to advance. And it did it despite allowing an early goal in the first half.

“We know that we could’ve had a better result in Montevideo, we had the best chances to score but couldn’t get the win,” Penarol goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa said. “But if we play like that again we can make our fans happy.”

Labels: Libertadores, Penarol, Santos, title

After Celtic's 3-0 Old Firm win, Kayal said on Monday: "We're not favourites. We must win every game because Celtic is a big club. I like it like that.

"All the focus for everyone here is to try to play better in every game.

"I am very happy because yesterday we won but the next game on Sunday is not against Rangers."

Kayal has become a fans' favourite with his combative nature allied to his range of passing and positional sense.

His manager, Neil Lennon, has also recently highlighted the former Maccabi Haifa star's workrate.

The player says he enjoyed appearing in Celtic's 3-0 win over Rangers and credits Lennon for forging an impressive team spirit.

"All of Europe speaks about this derby," he said of the Old Firm match.

"It was my dream to play in this game and I am happy because I played in it."

And of the team manager, Kayal said: "He makes us all feel special, and we all try 100% for him.

"At the beginning of the season the majority were new players. A great credit must go to the manager for putting us all together and make us feel we have been playing together for years.

"Every day, every game, everyone here wants to play better and we try every game to continue (the form) this month because last month everyone played very well."

Kayal is suspended for Celtic's match on Sunday at Motherwell but in the meantime he will try to recover from a hamstring strain, which he predicted would heal in the next three or four days.

The Israeli was out of action earlier in the season with a groin injury and is delighted to get back playing in front of the club's fans.

He said: "It's fantastic to come back after two months out injured. It's a new country and the fans give me the drive and energy all the time.

For Gary Hooper, who scored twice in the first half in Sunday's win and was described by Kayal as "fantastic", self-belief is the key behind the team's run of 17 games unbeaten.

Rangers emerged with a 3-1 win at Celtic Park in October but their old rivals won at Ibrox at New Year, before the teams drew 2-2 at the same ground in the Scottish Cup.

With the Cup game producing a replay, and the teams' meeting at Hampden in the final of the Co-operative Insurance Cup on 20 March, it means the Old Firm will play seven times this season and Celtic will enjoy the greater confidence going into their next contest.

Asked what had changed since the home defeat by Rangers in the autumn, Hooper said: "We showed with this performance that our mental strength is really good, we are performing well and everybody is comfortable on the ball.

"Maybe we are just more confident. Not much has changed so maybe we just believe in ourselves more now.

"We are performing well and we have shown that for the last few months."

Like Kayal, Hooper refuses to write off Celtic's title rivals' chances, with Rangers second and Hearts in third, 10 points behind.

"I'm not focused on the trophy," said the striker.

"The main thing was to win the game and to carry on winning games and see what happens. There is confidence everywhere.

"We are not thinking about the championship, we are just focusing on the three points.

"We are eight points clear now and if we just keep on winning, we can put more pressure on them.

"The manager told us to enjoy it and, basically, win. He didn't want anything less and we showed that."

Labels: Celtic, dismisses, Kayal, title

The world number four continued his dominance against the Frenchman, as he made it four wins in as many matches while dropping his first set in the series.

Tsonga, playing in his first final since October 2009 following a series of injuries, out-aced his opponent 20-12 in a serve-dominated match, but the Swede's consistency proved decisive in the end.

Soderling broke immediately to lead 2-0 but Tsonga levelled at 3-3 before a further break in the eighth game gave the Swede the upper hand.

He served out the set but Tsonga quickly forged into a 5-2 lead in the second set on the way to levelling the match.

The decider was a keenly fought affair but it was Soderling who earned the crucial break of serve in the eighth game, and he duly served out for the match.

"It has been a tough week as defending your title always gives some extra pressure... I played some close games but the margins have been on my side," he said.

"With three finals and two wins in Rotterdam I can say that I like it here and that the circumstances suit my game."

The Frenchman was content with his week and said he now feels that his tennis - stalled in 2010 with various injuries - has been re-born.

"I played a good match, in fact, it was my best of the week," he said. "I got better with each match this week, I'm pleased with the state of my game.

"I played well but Robin was too strong, especially at the end of the match. I'll take confidence form this match into Marseille next week and then hopefully into the Davis Cup."

Labels: defends, SkySports, Soderling, title