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The closing of the quotas for the Copa Sudamericana 2024 will have a movie ending. Three clubs define the last ticket to the tournament, including Cienciano, which not only has to win the scheduled duel against Sport Boys, but also has to wait for the results of Cusco FC against César Vallejo. With this panorama, Óscar Ibáñez, coach of 'Papá', admitted that it will not be easy to qualify for the international tournament, but they will go for it anyway.
"Qualifying for the Copa Sudamericana is complicated, but we will try," said the coach in an interview with RPP. However, that was not the only thing he talked about. At the moment, Universitario de Deportes is the club with the most chances of winning the Clausura Tournament, a fact that the former national goalkeeper hopes will happen: "Of course I want Universitario to win, it will be a very close final. But first I want Cienciano to win."
Regarding the victory they had last Sunday, which complicated the ambitions of the rimenses for the Clausura title, he added: "We thought about the match against Sporting Cristal, we focused on ourselves, to win it." However, a topic he couldn't ignore was the present of the Peruvian national team and the words Juan Reynoso had about the Peruvian tournament. "I think Juan was referring to the young players who are starting out. And it's true that the rhythm of the national team is different from that of the local tournament," he stated.
The fight for the last spot
The clubs that are competing for the last spot in the Copa Sudamericana are Cusco FC, César Vallejo, and Cienciano, since Deportivo Garcilaso, even if they lose their match against Alianza Lima, has their qualification guaranteed by points and goal difference. In the case of the first two, if the cusqueños win, they would have 53 points and secure the qualification. If the 'Poetas' win, they would have 51 points and be in eighth place (since Garcilaso has a higher goal difference).
But if both teams draw, Cienciano would have a chance to move up. However, for 'Papá' to take the last spot for the international tournament, they will have to win the match against Sport Boys in Callao by two or more goals, since they currently have 48 points in the Accumulated Table and a goal difference of -3, while Cusco FC's is -1. Only under this scenario could they qualify.
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