Vasco da Gama Vs. Corinthians, 2012 Copa Libertadores: A Dull Scoreless Draw

On a rainy night in Rio De Janeiro, Corinthians and Vasco da Gama kicked a football for 90 minutes on a terrible, torn up, muddy excuse for a pitch. Very few people were amused by anything that took place in the game. The box score shows six shots on target for both teams, but don't be fooled. Each goalkeeper only had to make one great save, and they came six minutes apart. Cassio made a diving stop on Eder Luis in the 54th minute and Fernando made a nice stop on Alex in the 60th minute. This was the most interesting period of the game, a 0-0 draw.

The bad news for Vasco da Gama is that they only managed a draw at home against a Corinthians team that probably beats them for raw talent. The good news is that they kept a clean sheet without their star central defender Dede in the lineup. He's still out through injury, and even in a bad game on a terrible pitch, keeping a clean sheet against Corinthians without him is impressive.

Corinthians played a conservative style en route to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their tie against Emelec, then won comfortably at home, 3-0. They appear to be executing the same strategy in this tie, but the second leg should be less of a walkover than the second leg against Emelec in the Round of 16.