Melgar, from Arequipa, has a date with history this Wednesday, August 10, when he visits the mighty Internacional de Porto Alegre at the Beira Río Stadium to face off in the quarter-finals of the 2022 South American Cup and reach the semi-finals unparalleled sporting glory, but also great financial rewards.
According to the prize scale that administers the competition, all teams that reach the semifinals will receive a payment of $800,000. If the red-black team reaches this stage, it will exceed $3 million since the start of its participation (so far it has accumulated $2 million $225,000).
Reaching the long-awaited pass to the next instance will be a real feat for the Mistians, because to date only one Peruvian club has managed it: Cienciano del Cusco, in the mythical 2003 campaign that crowned them champions. Since then, Universitario, César Vallejo and Sporting Cristal have tried but to no avail.
Melgar needs to win in Brazil to qualify for the semifinals. Photo: Rodrigo Talavera/The Republic
YOU CAN SEE: The salary that Gareca earned in the Peru team surprised the Bolivian journalist
In a press conference ahead of his trip to the Brazilian countries, coach Pablo Lavallén outlined the strategy that would go into winning. “We watched the game against Fortaleza yesterday (Sunday) and we will try to make them as uncomfortable as possible and win the game,” said the Argentina coach.
What does Melgar need to qualify?
The 0-0 draw in the first leg leaves the Arequipa club with the obligation to win by every result to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament. A new draw, with or without goals, forces the penalty shoot-out definition (due to the abolition of the away goals rule), while a loss excludes it.