Copa Libertadores Roundup, April 14

Universidad Catolica of Chile and Argentina's Velez Sarsfield clinched berths in the final 16 of the Copa Libertadores after winning their group matches Thursday.

Marcelo Canete scored the decisive goal as Catolica rallied to win 2-1 over compatriot Union Espanola to top Group 4.

Kevin Harbottle opened the scoring for Espanola in the 48th minute, but Pablo Calandria equalized for Catolica just a minute later.

''The goal had us worried for a moment but we stayed calm and managed to turn the game around,'' Canete said. ''We trust in our team and we trust in our teammates. We know there are errors to correct but we have got to try to keep winning in the next round.''

Meanwhile, Velez won 3-0 at Caracas with two goals from Santiago Silva to secure second spot and eliminate the Venezuelan club that had started the day as group leader.

Maximiliano Moralez put Velez on the way to victory with an opener in the 21st, before Silva scored in the 47th and 55th. Velez finished with 10 men after Gaston Diaz' red card in the 86th.

''It was a long trip and the pitch was in a poor state but we played a really impressive match,'' said Silva. ''The group has been very equal right up to the last day and thankfully we managed to qualify.''

Elsewhere, Brazilian club Santos, one of the title favorites, kept its qualification hopes alive with a 2-1 win at Paraguay's Cerro Porteno in Group 5.

Danilo opened the scoring with a 30-yard (meter) strike in the 12th minute, with Maikon Leite adding a second just after half time. Pedro Benitez headed a consolation goal for Cerro in stoppage time.

Santos was forced to play without suspended star striker Neymar after the 19-year-old was sent off for celebrating his goal in last week's victory against group leader Colo Colo of Chile by pulling on a paper face mask of himself.

The referee deemed the celebration to be illegal and showed the striker a second yellow card.

The result left Colo Colo atop the group with nine points, while Cerro is second with eight, ahead of Santos on goal difference.

Santos hosts already-eliminated Deportivo Tachira of Venezuela and Cerro travels to Colo Colo in the remaining group fixtures next Wednesday.

The final matches in Group 2 were largely academic because Colombia's Atletico Junior and Gremio of Brazil had already qualified.

Junior drew 1-1 with Leon de Huanuco and Gremio lost 3-0 at Oriente Petrolero. The results meant Junior qualified as group leader, with Gremio second.

Nine teams have now qualified for the final 16 of Latin America's top international club competition: Junior, Gremio, Velez, Paraguay's Libertad, Brazil's Cruzeiro, Argentina's Estudiantes, Chile's Catolica, Ecuador's Liga and Uruguay's Penarol.