Vasco lose top spot in Copa Sul-Americana, Lazaroni blasts refereeing

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Papo na Colina

·21 de mayo de 2026

Vasco lose top spot in Copa Sul-Americana, Lazaroni blasts refereeing

Vasco lost the lead in Group G of the Copa Sudamericana after being beaten 3-1 by Olimpia on Wednesday night (20) in Paraguay. After the final whistle at Defensores del Chaco stadium, permanent assistant coach Bruno Lazaroni gave a press conference and blasted the performance of Colombian referee Wilmar Roldán. He had to replace Marcelo Salles in the press room after the main assistant on the coaching staff was sent off in the opening stages of the match.

During the official statement, the coaching staff member detailed the tactical reading of the international clash:

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“We had a clear strategy of giving the ball to Olimpia and, when they reached the middle block, we would press to create transitions. That worked, we had chances throughout the game, and two or three times we could have killed off the match, but I want to say that the criteria were not the same for both teams.”

He went on to point out the officiating mistakes that led to the defeat.

+ X-ray of São Januário! Understand Vasco’s priorities on the eve of the break

João Vítor Mutano’s sending-off and Vasco’s technical analysis

The match was also negatively marked by the third consecutive red card shown to Vasco players in the 2026 season. Right-back João Vítor Mutano, who was making his first official appearance for the senior team, was sent off after stamping on the opponent’s groin area. About the youngster’s incident, the coaching staff was direct:

“The red card was correct. He’s a kid, we can’t hold him responsible. It was his first game in the starting lineup. It was a crucial moment in the match. But I want to highlight again the lack of consistency in the way he was calling, or not calling, fouls in our favor.”

The loss on Paraguayan soil dropped Vasco to second place in the group, level on 7 points but behind on the tiebreaker. The result means the team must beat Barracas Central in the final round and hope their rival slips up against Audax Italiano. If that combination of results does not happen next week, the Rio club will have to play in the knockout playoff round against one of the teams eliminated from the Libertadores.

Scheduling difficulties

The statements of dissatisfaction with the officiating crew immediately drew attention across Rio de Janeiro news outlets after the match ended. Vasco is now focused on the psychological recovery of the academy players who were part of the official squad in Asunción. Bruno Lazaroni ended the press conference while maintaining a firm stance on the team’s qualification chances in the final round:

“It got more difficult because we no longer depend only on our own result, but we will approach this game the same way we approach every game, the way we’ve played this competition so far. We want to win and we’ll see who goes through in the end.”

The senior squad returns immediately to Brazil to begin tactical preparations for their next Brazilian Championship fixture. Vasco knows that the mission of advancing directly to the round of 16 has become complicated because it depends on other results in the standings. The internal message is to keep their heads up and go for all three points at São Januário to at least secure the advantage of deciding the playoff at home.

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.