Very few "fútbol" experts gave the two Mexican teams still standing in the latter stages of the Copa Libertadores, but Club América and Atlas are just one game away from meeting each other in the semifinal round. Mexican squads have never met in the semifinals of a CONMEBOL competition, let alone in the 10 years that this country has participated in the Copa Libertadores.

Let's begin with América. The "Aguilas" (Eagles) go into the second leg in their series against Santos of Brazil with a modest two-goal advantage.

Just imagine if the Mexico City side scores just one at the Vila Belmiro. That would force the "Peixe" (Fish) to score four goals just to overtake América. Three goals would level the aggregate, but the "Aguilas" would have the tiebreaker advantage because of the away goal. Santos didn't help their cause in the first leg at the Azteca by not scoring a single goal.

Expect América to score at least a goal at the Vila Belmiro. After that shocking 3-0 upset of Flamengo in the second leg of the Round of 16 at the Maracana, the Aguilas actually started believing in themselves. Believe it or not, that was their first shutout against any opponent in this year's tournament. And to secure that 2-0 blanking of the Peixe (another Brazilian side) was just astounding.

As if that wasn't enough, the Aguilas accomplished a couple of unprecedented feats in Mexico's history in the Libertadores. They became the first Mexican team to eliminate a Brazilian side in a Libertadores tournament. And they were the first to win on Brazilian soil in the knockout stage. By bumping out Flamengo, América ended Mexico's futility against Brazilians in the definitive phases. Before this year's competition, Brazilian opponents had eliminated the Aguilas on three occasions (Sao Caetano in 2002 and 2004 and Santos in 2007).

Going back to their series against Santos, the Aguilas are mindful that the Peixe eliminated them in last year's Libertadores and will be playing motivated. This is not the same team that stumbled and barely clinched a berth for the Round of 16. Since Rubén Omar Romano handed over the reigns to Juan Antonio Luna, the Aguilas have played inspired, even defeating a tough Monterrey side in a league match in the final round. Since Luna took over, América has three wins in a row in both competitions. As I mentioned earlier, the Aguilas should be able to score a goal, which should be enough for them to move on to the semifinals. In my view, Flamengo appeared to be a more solid team than Santos. If they are to win at the Vila Belmiro, they would pick up Mexico's first win in a Libertadores match at that stadium.

Meanwhile, Atlas is in a more favorable spot when comparing the Zorros' situation with América's.
It helped that their current manager Miguel Angel Brindisi coached Boca Juniors in the past, which explains the 2-2 result in Buenos Aires last week. Give the edge to Atlas in the return match because of those two away goals.

Another reason that the Zorros could eliminate the defending champion is due to that fact that the Xeneizes will not be able to count on their reliable keeper Mauricio Caranta. When it was thought that center back Claudio Morel would miss this match at the Jalisco in Guadalajara, the Paraguayan international attended to his personal matters in time to make the flight to Mexico.

This is only Atlas' second participation in the Libertadores, looking to improve on its performance back in 2000. That is when then-manager Ricardo Antonio Lavolpe guided them to the quarterfinals. Reaching the semifinals would put the Zorros on the international map and perhaps make the rumors of current players such as Gerardo Flores and Luis "Macue" Robles going to European teams growing louder.

While Brindisi knows how Boca functions on the pitch, Zorros striker Bruno Marioni is looking forward to eliminating the team that he played for in the 2007 Argentina Apertura season. It wasn't a very good run for him while wearing the Xeneizes colors since he spent a lot of time on the bench since Miguel Angel Russo never had plans for him in any starting lineup.

Boca's strikers Martín Palermo and Rodrigo Palacio will have to be accurate on their shots on goal in the return match. In the first leg they shot like defenders and could have helped Boca defeat their counterparts from Guadalajara.

Playing in Mexico is not really the Xeneizes' favorite place to play. Their record in that country consists of a win and five losses. Their only win came in the 2001 final in Mexico City against Cruz Azul. In their only other matches at the Jalisco, Chivas of Guadalajara handed them an embarrassing 4-0 loss in the first leg of the quarterfinals in 2005, then Atlas defeated them 3-1 in a group stage game.

Look for Atlas to end Boca's run at a repeat to advance to the semifinals. And to think that the Zorros are participating in the Libertadores thanks to a coin flip. A coin flip that Marioni took after his team finished tied with Toluca for one of the spots for the third place game in the Interliga. Atlas then rolled over San Luis 3-0 to advance to the preliminary stage of the Libertadores against La Paz FC. When you think how long the road has been for Brindisi's boys it's been a rather long one. Four matches of Interliga, then two matches in the preliminary stage. Then add the six group stage matches plus the last three matches in the knockout stage. I'm sure that the Red and Black do not mind the surprising run that they've had, looking to get more "fútbol" fans to notice them on the international stage.