Tim Vickery column

By Tim Vickery South American football reporter

Read my answers to this week's questions

In November 2005 Internacional of Brazil visited Argentina's Boca Juniors in the South American Cup, the continent's Uefa Cup equivalent.

Boca won the 2007 Copa Libertadores trophy

Fernando Carvalho, then-president of Inter, recalls that the team coach got lost in the pokey streets around Boca's stadium.

They arrived in a rush, without time for a proper warm up and not in the right mental state to face such powerful opposition in a stadium known for its intimidating atmosphere.

Inter, 1-0 up from the home leg, collapsed to a 4-1 defeat and were eliminated.

All those last minute problems were no accident, according to Carvalho.

He claims to have discovered that the whole thing was a set up - the driver getting lost, faulty directions given by a policeman. It was a scheme, says Carvalho, designed to unsettle the visiting team.

Internacional put the experience to good use. The following year they qualified for the continent's club competition which really matters, the Copa Libertadores, South America's Champions League.

This time they sent people ahead to the venues of all their away matches to ensure smooth logistics, and the homework paid off.

They became the 21st club to win the competition, whose 49th edition gets under way this week.

Boca failed to qualify for the 2006 Libertadores, but roared back last year to win the title once more, their sixth in all and fourth since the turn of the decade.

Internacional have not made it to this year's campaign, but their compatriots will take some stopping.

Adriano is on loan at Sao Paulo from Inter Milan

Boca are the only non-Brazilian team to reach the final in the last three years. 'Boca against the Brazilians' is a good sales banner for the 2008 tournament.

The statistics tell the story; in 48 years there have been three triumphs for Paraguay (all by Olimpia), two for Colombia (one each for Atletico Nacional and Once Caldas) and one for Colo Colo of Chile.

The other 42 titles have been shared amongst the continent's traditional big three; and since the last Uruguayan win was in 1988 (and not since the following year has a club from Uruguay even reached the semis) we are essentially talking about a battle between Brazil and Argentina.

Mexico might have something to say about that. Their clubs have been invited to take part since 1998, and have an impressive record.

They pay the penalty for being guests; with more sympathetic refereeing they may have taken the trophy north before now, and have strong representatives this year in America and Chivas Guadalajara.

Atletico Nacional of Colombia and Libertad of Paraguay head the category of interesting outsiders, but will have to do something really special to get past Boca and the Brazilians.

Boca's local rivals have been stung into action. River Plate, whose last title was in 1996, have a new coach in Diego Simeone, bristling with ambition and attacking ideas.

And San Lorenzo, who have never won the Libertadores, have brought playmaker Andres D'Alessandro back from Spain to spearhead their challenge.

But if Boca have Juan Roman Riquelme back on a definitive basis to organise their play, Brazil's Sao Paulo have Adriano on loan to provide a world class cutting edge to a disciplined team with a strong defensive unit.

Cruzeiro have a free scoring side with a dynamic midfield. Flamengo also have an impressive midfield and can count on extraordinary support.

Fluminense, anxious to improve a dreadful record in the competition, have invested heavily in strikers, while Santos will put their faith in their next generation of young talent.

Brazil is well represented in this year's Libertadores. And their clubs would be well advised to pack a street map of Buenos Aires in their travelling kit.

You can put your questions to Tim Vickery every week on the World Football Phone-in on Radio 5 Live's Up All Night programme from 0230 to 0400 GMT every Saturday. You can also download last week's World Football Phone-in Podcast.

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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Got a question about South American football for Tim Vickery? Email him at [e-mail]

What can you tell us about new Manchester United signing Rodrigo Possebon purchased from Internacional Porto Alegre?
Matt Jackson

I've had hundreds of such requests, and unfortunately the answer is that I can't tell you very much.

He turns 19 this week, I don't recall him in the Inter first team or playing for Brazil in South American or world championships at Under-17 or Under-20 levels.

Inter are open about what they do; they invest in youth development in order to produce potential stars for the European market.

The sale of these players enables them to sustain their structure. So providing the price is right, they're happy to sell and the European club are happy to pay a relatively cheap price for someone who could go on to be a special talent.

So both sides might be happy, but whether this is always in the best interests of the player is highly debatable.

What can you tell us about Man City's new signing Felipe Caicedo? It looks a gamble, what do you think?
James Chisham

He came through the 2005 South American Under-17s, the same tournament where Anderson appeared, and showed such talent that Ecuador immediately fast tracked him - 16 caps at the age of 19 shows you how highly they regard him.

There's no doubt that he has ability - he moves with fluidity and he's filling out physically.

It seems that he did well in Switzerland, but this is a big step up and we'll have to see if he's ready for it.

It's encouraging that Sven-Goran Eriksson has the confidence in him to throw him into the closing stages of the Manchester derby, but it's perhaps not so surprising that he looked a little bit lost.

Hopefully, he'll get enough playing time to continue his development.