Corinthians reach the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamericana

SAO PAULO, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) — Corinthians scored three goals in the second half to comfortably advance to the semifinals of the Copa Sudamericana with a 3-0 home win over Brazilian rivals Fortaleza on Tuesday.

Angel Romero scored in the second leg after just under an hour, before goals from Igor Coronaldo and Pedro Henrique sealed the result.

The final result at the Corinthians Arena gave the team from São Paulo an overall victory of 5-0.

“We have to stay calm and humble because there is still so much at stake,” said Corinthians coach Ramon Diaz. “I want our team to celebrate, but we still have a lot of work to do, both in this competition and in the Brazilian Serie A.”

Despite Corinthians’ impressive form in the Copa Sudamericana, they are 17th in the table of the 20-team Brazilian top division and continue to fight to avoid relegation to the Brazilian second division.