COPA LIBERTADORES
Who is Fluminense striker Germán Cano, the top scorer in the 2023 Copa Libertadores?
The veteran striker continued his superb run in the competition by scoring the opening goal in the final against Boca Juniors at Maracanã.
For anyone who has been following the 2023 Copa Libertadores, it will have come as absolutely no surprise to see Fluminense striker Germán Cano break the deadlock in Saturday’s final against Boca Juniors in Rio de Janeiro.
Germán Cano: the Brazilians’ Argentine hitman
Heading into the game at Maracanã, which just happens to be the Brazilian side’s home stadium, they knew they that whatever happened, they were certain to win at least one trophy in this season’s competition - that of top goalscorer.
Veteran Argentine striker Cano started his career in his homeland with Lanús but has ended up in Brazil via Paraguay, Colombia and Mexico, where he scored 15 Liga MX goals for Pachuca and León. After a productive spell at Vasco da Gama, another Rio club, the 35-year-old moved to Fluminense last year and has been in prolific form ever since, netting more than 80 goals in all competitions since the beginning of 2022.
How many goals has Cano scored in the 2023 Copa Libertadores?
An impressive 13 of those have come in this year’s Copa Libertadores, putting him well out in front of Atlético Mineiro’s Paulinho, who is second on seven goals (although four of his came in qualifying). To put that into further context, the whole Boca team went into the final having scored just 12 goals in 12 matches.
Cano ran riot at the start of the group stage, scoring twice in a 3-1 win over Sporting Cristal in Lima before bagging a hat-trick in a 5-1 thrashing of River Plate on matchday three. After a couple of matches without scoring, his goal earned his side point in return match against the Peruvians in the last group game.
Cano’s decisive role in the knockout rounds
Fluminense didn’t need the striker to fire them past Argentinos Juniors in the round of 16 but he was back in red-hot form by the time the quarter-finals came around. He scored three times in the two-legged tie against Paraguayan side Olimpia and repeated the trick in the semis against fellow Brazilians Internacional, who were beaten by Cano’s late winner in Porto Alegre.
The Argentine has scored 13 of Flu’s 23 goals in the tournament - Boca Juniors knew exactly who they needed to stop, but that’s easier said than done.