The Copa Libertadores da América

In football every continent has its confederation: Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL), Oceania Football Confederations (OFC), and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Every confederation has its own continental tournament, equivalent to the UEFA Champions League, where the champion of all six competitions will qualify to the FIFA Club World Cup and play each other to decide which team is the best in the world. As of today there are three teams already booked to Japan in December 2012 for the FIFA Club World Cup; Chelsea FC (England), Monterrey (Mexico), and Auckland City FC (New Zealand). 



The competition that is arguably also one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world together with the UEFA Champions League is the Copa Libertadores da América (CONMEBOL Champions League). The final of this competition will be played in two legs, starting tonight, by Argentinian powerhouse Boca Juniors versus current Brazilian champion Corinthians FC. Boca Juniors has won the Libertadores 6 times, and are second only to Independiente that has 7 titles. On the other hand, Corinthians FC is looking for their first ever Libertadores title. 

Even though history is on the Argentinian side, their fate is resting on the one superstar on the current roster, Juan Román Riquelme. The former Barcelona and Villarreal midfielder led Boca Juniors to the Libertadores final after winning 8 matches and losing only 1 that was still in the group stage. Riquelme has experience a lot of success in the Libertadores, having won it 3 times already and all three with Boca Juniors (2000, 2001, 2007). However, this year they are the underdogs and don't have the powerful squads that they had in the previous titles. Corinthians is going to appear in the Libertadores final for the first time in history, and also for the first time in history they will be the favorites to win it all. They have a team with role players that together do the job of multiple stars combined. The player that stands out the most in the current roster is defending midfielder Paulinho, who is also a regular with the Brazilian national team. 

The first game is tonight at the legendary "La Bombonera" stadium in Buenos Aires, where Boca Juniors is known to be one of the toughest teams to beat at home. It is where the "Bosteros" are located, the Boca Juniors fanbase that carries a reputation throughout the world as the greatest fans in football. However, the Corinthians fans are the second largest in Brazil (maybe in the world) with over 28 million people and will not accept a smaller role in this promising Libertadores final when it moves to São Paulo for its second leg next wednesday.

This chart shows the value of each player in millions of Real (Currency from Brazil) and Euro. At the bottom it says the total value of all players involved in the match is 118 million euros or 303 million reais.