Rafinha joins rare club after Flamengo wins Copa Libertadores

Former Bayern Munich fullback Rafinha joined an exclusive club on Saturday when his club Flamengo beat River Plate to win the 2019 Copa Libertadores. In doing so, Rafinha became only the tenth man in history to accomplish an incredibly difficult task: winning both the Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Champions League.

Winning one continental championship is a monumental task. Traveling halfway across the world and winning a second continental championship is a Herculean effort. Here’s the full list of players who have won both:

• Dida — Cruzeiro, Milan
• Cafu — São Paulo, Milan
• Juan Pablo Sorin — River Plate, Juventus
• Roque Júnior — Palmeiras, Milan
• Carlos Tevez — Boca Juniors, Manchester United
• Walter Samuel — Boca Juniors, Inter
• Ronaldinho — Atlético Mineiro, Barcelona
• Neymar — Santos, Barcelona
• Danilo — Santos, Real Madrid
• Rafinha — Flamengo, Bayern Munich

As for the game itself, River Plate looked to be on the verge of winning their second straight (and fifth overall) Copa Libertadores, when Gabigol struck. The Brazilian forward scored in the 89th and 92nd minutes to give Flamengo the massive victory. It’s their second Copa Libertadores title.

In fact, Gabigol scored those two goals in the final minutes of the game even after touching the trophy with this hands when the two teams walked into the field to start the match! For most of the match, it looked like the curse was going to hold up, but he somehow overcame it and came up huge when Flamengo needed him the most.