Athletico Paranaense vs. Fluminense FC Ganzes Spiel

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This match, aside from the obvious opportunity to be one of the finalists of the Brazilian Série A, meant a lot more for both teams: Athletico Paranaense could surpass their historical 1983 campaign when the Furacão reached the semi-finals and became just the second Paraná state team to reach the Finals (the other being Athletico's archrival, Coritiba FC in 1985). For Fluminense, a victory would mean one step closer to a full redemption after being a Third Division club just two years earlier, the rock bottom of the Tricolor's history. The Rubronegro from Curitiba came to this match with a very strong team, with the highlights being: Alessandro (played the 2001 Copa América), Gustavo (one of the best defenders of the Championship - Bola de Prata), Kléberson (one of the best midfielders of the Championship - Bola de Prata -, a key piece in the Seleção throughout the play-offs in the 2002 World Cup, a reserve member in the 2010 World Cup and a constant name in the National Team in the 2000s), Adriano "Gabiru" and Ilan (both played in the 2003 Confederations Cup), Kléber Pereira (a deadly striker that was the winner of the Brazilian Golden Boot in 2001 as the top goalscorer of the year in Brazil and would be the 2008 Brazilian Séria A top goalscorer) and Alex Mineiro (simply the 2001 Brazilian Série A MVP - Bola de Ouro). The Fluminense featured a very good Paulo César (a Seleção player in 2002, but was left out of the World Cup team), Marcão (the 11th player with the most appearances for the club and a legend for Fluminense), Roger (one of the best midfielders of the Championship - Bola de Prata -, nicknamed "Maradoninha", or "Little Maradona", by Brazil legendary head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira when he coached the Tricolor in the 1999 Third Division, Roger was one of the greatest Brazilians prospects in the early 2000s, but an injury-plagued career combined with one of the most talented Brazilian generations ever resulted in just 1 cap for the Seleção), Roni (always a threat in the field, he played the 1999 Confederations Cup, even though he was playing the Série C for the Tricolor Carioca), Magno Alves (played the 2001 confederations cup, was the 2000 Série A top goalscorer, alongside Dill and Romário, a terrific finisher and the 4th greatest goalscorer among active players as of 2019 and no official retirement at the moment - he was the greatest in 2015, but was surpassed by Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ibrahimović) and Caio Ribeiro (once the U-20 World Cup MVP in 1995, a 1996 Gold Cup player and one of the greatest prospects in Brazil in the mid 1990s, even playing for Internazionale and Napoli, Caio - unfotunetely - never lived up to the expectations, but was a candidate to do a good performance in this match). In the 2001 Format, the semi-final would occur in just 1 match, with a tie leading to the extra time, at the end of which Athletico, having a better regular season than Fluminense, would advance to the Finals if the tie persisted. The Furacão had only lost 1 game at home in the entire regular season and it was to the Carioca Tricolor, so anything could happen here.