RIO DE JANEIRO, July 3RIO DE JANEIRO, July 3 (Reuters) - Fluminense coach Renato Portaluppi said that losing the Libertadores Cup final to Ecuador's LDU at the Maracana was the worst moment of his life, apart from his father's death.
"It was the second biggest loss of my life, after the death of my father," he told reporters after his team lost 3-1 on penalties following a 5-5 aggregate draw in the two-leg final.
"I've been knocked out."
"Our players were heroes, but unfortunately we weren't champions," he added. "For me, penalties are a lottery."
Fluminense, taking part in the competition for only the third time and in the final for the first, won the second leg 3-1 with a hat-trick from Thiago Neves, but missed three penalties during the shootout.
Despite trailing 4-2 from the first leg, Renato had guaranteed the club's supporters that his side would win the trophy and arrangements had been made for celebrations at the club's headquarters.
Many Fluminense supporters had already made arrangements to travel to Japan in December for the Club World championship.
(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Padraic Halpin)