Corinthians Knocked Out by Argentina's Racing in Copa Sudamericana Semifinal

Players of Racing celebrate after a Copa Sudamericana second leg semifinal match between Racing Club and Corinthians, at the Presidente Peron stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 October 2024. EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
Players of Racing celebrate after a Copa Sudamericana second leg semifinal match between Racing Club and Corinthians, at the Presidente Peron stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 October 2024. EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
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Corinthians Knocked Out by Argentina's Racing in Copa Sudamericana Semifinal

Players of Racing celebrate after a Copa Sudamericana second leg semifinal match between Racing Club and Corinthians, at the Presidente Peron stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 October 2024. EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
Players of Racing celebrate after a Copa Sudamericana second leg semifinal match between Racing Club and Corinthians, at the Presidente Peron stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31 October 2024. EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni

Argentina's Racing beat Brazil's Corinthians 2-1 on Thursday and advanced to its first Copa Sudamericana final. The first leg in Sao Paulo last week ended 2-2.
Racing's rival at the Nov. 23 decider in Asuncion will be another Brazilian team, Cruzeiro, which reached the final after beating Argentina's Lanus 1-0 on Wednesday.
Corinthians opened the scoring in Buenos Aires with a back heel assist by Dutch striker Memphis Depay to Yuri Alberto. But Racing turned its fortunes around by converting a penalty kick in the 36th minute and three minutes later after a quick counter. Both goals came from Juan Fernando Quintero, The Associated Press reported.
Racing avoided a full field of Brazilian teams in the South American club soccer finals. The Copa Libertadores final will be contested by Atletico Mineiro and Botafogo in Buenos Aires on Nov. 30.
The 30-year-old Depay, who looks to continue playing for the Dutch national team, has a contract at Corinthians until the 2026 World Cup. His team is currently fighting against relegation in the Brazilian championship, which has seven more rounds to go this season.



Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

 Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
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Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

 Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)

Bayern Munich have enough talented players to replace injured striker Harry Kane, starting on Tuesday with their German Cup round of 16 tie against holders Bayer Leverkusen, coach Vincent Kompany.

The England captain, who has netted 20 goals across all competitions this season and leads the Bundesliga scorers' list with 14, suffered a thigh muscle injury in Saturday's 1-1 league draw at Borussia Dortmund.

Kane is expected to be out for a couple of weeks but Kompany said he hoped he could still return to action before the winter break starts on Dec. 22. Bayern are top of the Bundesliga with a four-point lead over Eintracht Frankfurt.

"It is difficult to say at this moment but there is a chance for him to still play this year," Kompany told a press conference on Monday.

"But he will miss several games and to replace him, you know you cannot replace the goals or the player one-for-one. That's why he is a top player."

Kompany said players like Thomas Mueller, Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise and Leroy Sane had enough experience to fill the gap.

"We have talent in the team and need to solve it differently. We won't be lacking talent tomorrow but it will look different," Kompany said.

"We have many options. Thomas Mueller, Mathys Tel, Gnabry, Olise, Leroy. I now named almost everyone. Obviously, Harry has scored 20 goals... but we have dangerous players in attack."

Bayern last won the German Cup in 2020 and have failed to get past the quarter-finals since, losing in the second round in three of the past four seasons.

"We play the Cup holders tomorrow. One of the top two or three games in Germany, and I hope our performance will match the importance of the game," Kompany said.