Boca Juniors of Argentina and Ecuador's Deportivo Cuenca clinched the last two places in the Copa Libertadores round of 16 on Thursday. Boca trounced Venezuelan club Deportivo Tachira 3-0 in Buenos Aires to top Group 2, while Cuenca qualified by finishing second in the group after drawing 1-1 at Guarani of Paraguay.
The knockout round will be played over two legs during the first two weeks of May. The tournament seeds each club according to its group results to decide the lineup, with group winners playing away in the first leg. Pre-tournament favorite Boca will travel to Uruguay to face Defensor Sporting, while Brazilian hopefuls Palmeiras and Sport Recife, who have already played each other twice in the group stage, will meet again for a place in the quarterfinals.
The swine flu outbreak has complicated two games scheduled in Mexico. South American soccer confederation Conmebol had announced the Mexican clubs would play home matches in Colombia, but the Colombian authorities today refused to host the games. Mexican club San Luis is scheduled to play Nacional of Uruguay and Chivas of Guadalajara is set to face reigning Brazilian league champion Sao Paulo.