Undestilled South American madness! John Kennedy decides utterly crazy Copa Libertadores' final

It was more than a football game.

It was beyond a showdown.

It was much bigger than passion.

It was crazier than anything you could possibly imagine.

It was life itself, and Brazilian side Fluminense have all the reasons to celebrate it ecstatically after beating Argentine giants Boca Juniors 2-1 (1-1) after extra time in the Copa Libertadores final on Saturday night at iconic Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

This is Fluminense's first-ever South American Champions League title.

What made this mythical game even more remarkable is a couple of facts. Firstly, the Flu's opener was scored by Argentine forward German Cano, who silenced his passionate compatriots with a resolute first-half shot. That was his 13th goal in this year's edition of the South American Champions League, which makes him only the fifth player ever to do so, the first one after 23 years.

That one came out of the blue, with absolutely nothing happening on the pitch for the first half an hour. However, a well-executed one-two on the right-hand side created a bit of advantage for Fluminense before Cano struck superbly to take his team 1-0 up.

The Brazilian squad, led by famous veterans Marcelo (former Real Madrid defender) and Felipe Melo (former Juventus centre-back), controlled most of the game, which lacked those clear-cut chances. And just when we thought Fluminense would celebrate a routine win for their first-ever Copa Libertadores trophy, Boca's Peruvian midfielder Advincula had all the time in the world to fire from mid-range and level the score with 18 minutes left on the clock.

From that moment on, it was clear we were heading into extra-time, as both sides restrained from any attacking risks in the final stage of the regular 90 minutes.

But the absolute madness was just around the corner. Fluminense's second-half sub, John Kennedy, stepped in with a sublime finishing to make it 2-1 in the 99th minute. But check this out - the goal celebration which followed saw him in the stands with ecstatic Fluminenese supporters, and the ref didn't like that, so he was booked for the second time and, therefore, sent off.

And it was not over yet.

Ten-man Fluminense were not outnumbered for long as Boca's Fabra was shown a red card for slapping the rival's captain in the face after a brawl.

The six-time Copa Libertadores winners pushed for another equalizer, but the slot of three former Manchester United players (Romero, Rojo and Cavani) just couldn't bounce back for the second time.

Felipe Melo, 40, burst into tears, and Marcelo became only the 14th player ever to win both the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores titles.

COPA LIBERTADORES - FINAL

Fluminense - Boca Juniors 2-1 (1-1)

/Cano 36, Kennedy 99 - Advincula 72/