River Plate crash out of FIFA Club World Cup against Al Ain

By
Roy Nemer
-
50

River Plate have crashed out of the FIFA Club World Cup following a penalty shootout defeat to Al Ain.

Still hungover from their Copa Libertadores victory against Boca Juniors in Madrid, Marcelo GALLARDO’s team flew out to the United Arab Emirates to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup. The Libertadores champions went down a goal just three minutes in but Rafael BORRE equalized for the South Americans in the 11th minute.

Shortly after, BORRE gave River the lead going into half time. In the 51st minute, Caio FERNANDES drew Al Ain level. The match went to a penalty shootout.

For the South Americans, Ignacio SCOCCO, Juan QUINTERO, Lucas PRATTO and Rafael BORRE all scored. Enzo PEREZ missed the fifth kick which eliminated River Plate from the tournament.

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50 Comments

  1. No excuse for River to lose to some unheard of team… let’s be honest, it’s worse than Argentina losing to France in the World Cup…disaster! But it doesn’t mean that the Argentinian league doesn’t have potential NT players… but to be a starter on la Selección you need to be a starter in Europe’s top leagues… unless your a goalie

  2. Honestly, I don’t know what happened to Enzo Perez. He was very solid in 2014 season and World Cup. We reached the final in part due to his excellent vision. Now, I see him missing golden opportunities(Croatia) and missing penalties. I have no idea why he dipped so much since then. He is completely fit, I mean even Gago is foung better despite having injuries every season. If he isn’t doing well, either he should try harder, or give up his position as a starter. The guy had “Xavi” like skills and now he just sucks.

  4. Clearly this woeful river loss has opened the flood gates for the mundo members who say that the primera players are useless, here is how I see it:

    River losing to el 3ain is shameful but that doesn’t change the fact that Gonzalo pity and palacios should get another chance with NT because they’re both still young (in the case of palacios VERY young) but more importantly they both performed very well against a strong team like Colombia, infact the best albicelestes performance under Scaloni came in the first half against colombia where both pity and palacios were manhandling the colombian team on the left side of the field and the team only dropped form when pity was subbed.

    As for the primera and it’s potential, well the league still produces talent but how that talent performs in europe is anyone’s guess.
    Lanzini’s career was considered over when he went to the mideast but then he surprised everyone when he went to the premier league.
    Vietto took la liga by storm in his first year only to disappear afterwards.
    Kranevitter came to spain with much fanfare only to prove himself a huge disappointment while Ascacibar booked a starting place in his first season and received lots of accolades and continues to perform.
    Speaking of fanfare, Dybala was highly rated when he arrived to palermo but it sure to took him a while to reach world class status.
    Celso, A.correa and Paredes all had to abide their time but became regulars at their clubs and paredes especially seems destined to either Milan or PSG.
    players like carseres, nico gonzalez and pussetto all seemed to settle in quite well in their clubs despite the fact that their clubs are struggling in their respective strong leagues while you’ve got the likes of Lima and conti who failed to make an impression in a ‘farmers’ league like portugal’s

    All of this should illustrate that talent is plentiful in Argentina but where that talent goes is anyone’s guess but there is certainly no need to start declaring doom and gloom and eulogizing Argentine football because river lost a meaningless game.

    I personally watch Defensa and velez and could careless about River or Boca because the former 2 teams have lots of bright, up and coming talent.

  6. No need to slaughter players because they lost to a weaker team, It happens all the time in soccer.
    No need to undervalue a player for a bad game or two, as there is no need to hype a player for having a good game or two.

    AS SIMPLE AS THAT

    Hard luck River.

    River to the bone… Argentina to the bone

  7. Gonzalo
    dont have time, busy at work.
    It’s evident by now that these guys are fans of “the silver generation”! They are probably Barca fans. They dont care about Argentina. Forgive them. They are possessed like emily rose. I just troll them by throwing “friends club” or criticize one of ththe silver generation so they go balistic like emily rose.
    I think Messi is the 2nd best player ever after Maradona. I love that guy so much. It would be a traversy if he goes without a world cup… but Argentina was 2 times World champ, 15 copas and won gold medal before him. It will always be a supwrpower in football also after Messi. Soon the will be another messi. And we have a bright future always.
    All we need is work work work.

    • That’s all true Ghostdeini,

      In this nation massive talent always will be there. A lot of people only looking for fame as indicator of quality to camouflate their shallow football knowledge.
      How many players of 1995 Pekerman’s U-20 World Champion made European career. No one. Look at the names and answer youself. Look who wear No.10, No.9 No.5 in this team. No one of big name. Good coach, time to work on collective team is big factor:

      1 GK Joaquín Irigoytia
      2 DF Sebastián Pena
      3 DF Federico Domínguez
      4 DF Gustavo Lombardi
      5 MF Mariano Juan
      6 DF Juan Pablo Sorín
      7 FW Francisco Guerrero
      8 MF Guillermo Larrosa
      9 MF Carlos Arangio
      10 MF Ariel Ibagaza
      11 FW Leonardo Biagini
      12 GK Gastón Pezzuti
      13 DF Diego Crosa
      14 DF Cristian Díaz
      15 MF Andrés Garrone
      16 MF Julio Bayon
      17 MF Walter Coyette
      18 FW Cristian Chaparro

      or how many of the 2001 team really succeded in Europe. Even two best players Saviola and d’Alessandro hardly. Maybe Maxi Rodriguez:

      1 GK Germán Lux
      2 DF Nicolás Burdisso
      3 DF Julio Arca
      4 DF Mauro Cetto
      5 MF Nicolás Medina
      6 DF Fabricio Coloccini
      7 FW Javier Saviola
      8 MF Oscar Ahumada
      9 FW Estebán José Herrera
      10 MF Leandro Romagnoli
      11 MF Maxi Rodríguez
      12 DF Ariel Seltzer
      13 DF Diego Colotto
      14 MF Leonardo Ponzio
      15 MF Andrés D’Alessandro
      16 FW Mauro Rosales
      17 FW Alejandro Domínguez
      18 GK Willy Caballero
      19 FW Sebastián Bueno

      • You make a good point but you cannot discount probabilities here. The better the players (europe) the more likely the team will come out victorious. When you hold all constants equal, the team with better players should win in the long run. Just look at last 3 WC winners…SPAIN, GERMANY, and FRANCE. These team all had european superstars: Spain = Barca/Real, Germany = Bayern, and France = Real/Barca/Atleti/PSG. The sad reality is that Europe has taken off and leaving the rest of world in the dust. They have the MOST MONEY = best coaches, best facilities, best physiotherapists, best diets, etc. There really is no argument at this point. However, this is not to say that players outside Europe cannot do incredibly well because we know thats bullshit and we can all site 100 examples. However, going to back to holding all variable constants, a team with superior players will do better and right now, thats in Europe.

        • “The better the players (europe) the more likely the team will come out victorious”.

          That’s true (in Europe generally the level is higher GENERALLY) but it doesent mean we should ignore the players from SA like ignorants Csabalala or Mrinal suggest

      • Hell yeah we’ll always have talent! i’m sure of that but teams do go through lulls. If it weren’t for Icardi (aguero gone soon), we’d have Martinez, Simeone, Alario, etc. I really really like Martinez but the other guys, come on be real…theres a massive gulf in talent right now after Aguero and Icardi.

    • Any troll that says Messi generation is SILVER certainly doesn’t give two shits about the ARG national team. btw, if these guys are “Silver” whats the current crop…aluminum foil? (im being a troll, i actually wouldn’t say something so retarded)

    • >It will always be a supwrpower in football also after Messi. Soon the will be another messi. And we have a bright future always.
      All we need is work work work.

      finally agreed 🙂

      although the next Messi and Maradona isnt something to be overly optimistic about. These guys come few in a lifetime.

    • If Argentina is to be considered as a superpower due to 2 world cups won, then let me remind you that the first was thanks to some (if you are not Argentina fan) questionable results at home turf and the second one thanks to Diego. To me, it looks like two anomalies (which we can be grateful of) rather than something we should take for granted.

      Some writers here are defending River’s players after the shameful loss in the semis, which is fine with me. But what I find peculiar is when those same guys are seemingly accusing the “silver generation” to be some sort of losers. That’s not logical, if you ask me.

    • Yeah, but by work you mean efficiency. We have worked a lot with our team in the last decade, and that is why our players are very well suited for their clubs(individually), but we have not been working smart. Hard work is training a bodybuilder, efficient work is training a physician(scientist). We only focused on the players we have, leaving out the potentials, and then years later labeling them as flops, even though that isn’t true(only because they never got given a chance). For example, Perotti was very talented and much faster when he was younger. Now, when Argentina try and call him up, he deteriorated quickly. The efficient way is to call players up when the’re young, and then try and adapt them to multiple positions. An adaptible team will always come up on top, survival of the fittest.

  9. i will not accuse Enzo or Armani for anything.
    i will not blame anybody else too.

    it is only one bad day after the hangover of Madrid
    and the tired of travel the half earth straight away. (Buenos aires -Madrid-Arab emirates).

    our players didn t have the energy it was needed and about that.

    GRACIAS POR TODO.
    VAMOS RIVER.

  10. Di Maria goal against France was pure WORLD CLASS, nothing else, it wasn’t ”luck”. Di Maria would score that same goal 9/10 times if he should have a do over. People need to understand, this was the world cup, in that situation there was a lot of pressure to score especially going down one goal to France. Before Di Maria goal you could see the moral of the entire team went down after France penalty goal. Di Maria could have easily blast the ball into the stands, slice it to either side of the goal post or hit it straight at Hugo Lloris but he instead places the ball inside the upper left side corner of France goal net. If you watch football you would realize by now that Di Maria score these types of goals over and over again since his Benfica days. Di Maria scored a long distance cracker against Barcelona in Paris https://youtu.be/bfL2U-99BYk similar to his 2018 world cup goal, the only difference was that his goal against Barcelona went to the opposite side of the goal net under way more pressure. Compare Di Maria chance against France to Enzo Perez chance against Croatia in the group stage (which was an easier chance). Enzo had a side foot tap in with no goalkeeper to be found in the Croatia goal yet he could not convert the chance, this goes to show the limits of Enzo talent, he may be hard working but at the end of the day talent on the pitch always supersedes someone who run all day long with limited footballing ability. Guys like Enzo, Fernandez and Rojo were Sabella discoveries, these players suited Sabella system and succeeded for the most part.

    Someone said Di Maria was all by himself against France that’s why he scored? Well, against Barcelona during the 2017 UCL knockout game he had five players around him and he still had the composure to shoot from distance and score. Di Maria also did this recently against Napoli (the goal that saved PSG 2018/2019 UCL hopes). Di Maria is a world class player, he has the goals, assist, trophies, consistency for a decade on the biggest stage to prove this. Nothing anyone say here will take away Di Maria accomplishments and greatness in world football. Talk about national team consistency all you want but the players post 1994 world cup who came before the Messi generation didn’t win anything for Argentina either yet some here hyped them up as football legends. Why are these guy’s legends (hint, hint Crespo, Riquelme, Aimar etc.) in some people eyes without winning a single national team trophy yet Messi and his generation are all failures for making a world cup final? This is not a rational argument; I just can’t see the logic behind such reasoning.

    Focus on the youth teams like U20 world cup and the Olympic tournament. These are the tournament that should be use to shape a country footballing future and not friendly games against a Mexico C level national team.

  11. Argentina knocket out of the WC because of armani, enzo perez,meza, pavon and cabellero if romero would be playing the story would be different.
    Here some peoples are just blind haters of superstars besides knowing that their superliga farmers are no where near them, i know messi will come back and save argentina from embarassement and if something goes then these minions will point their finger on him and call him a failure . None of the players from superliga deserved a call for NT , we have better talents in eur

    • “armani, enzo perez,meza, pavon and cabellero”

      It’s only 5 players. Now you may sum up totally their minutes on last WC and sum up totall minutes of oldies in the tournament and you will see how the burden of resposibility should be displaced. You forgot also about Tagliafico – another example of your “farmer category”who could not be good player if left in local league over till his 26.

      “i know messi will come back and save argentina from embarassement” probably you forgot Messi was also there, on last WC. One player can’t save whole team anymore on highest level of knockout stages.

      • Messi was there then only they could play in knockout stages, honestly now without him argentina dont have even quality to play in WC.
        Aguero saved from embaressement against iceland.(i know u will talk about messi penalty miss).
        Against croatia enzo and meza missed two clear scoring chances.
        Messi saved argentina against nigeria.
        Dimaria , messi and aguero almost saved argentina against france if that looser armani would not be there and romero would be playing.
        You calling di maria a chicken head but you yourself talk like a chicken head.

        • Your explanations sounds naively like little kid. I was not going to remember of Messi missed penalty but if it did one of the “farmer” players you could bring that here no doubt.

          Example: “Against croatia enzo and meza missed two clear scoring chances”. I can’t remember the “clear” chances. Anyway was only Meza and Enzo on the pitch? Where were all the oldies to creat enough opportunities to score at least one. Whatever excuses you could looking for you can’t honestly justify the 0 goals.

          “Dimaria , messi and aguero almost saved argentina against france”

          France also made huge defensive mistakes in that game like the one on Di Maria goal (plus funny/lucky goals like the one of Mercado). SO let’s assume both teams gets eliminated the mistakes and bad luck and it’s clear France still stay with more goals. Don’t be naive like 10 yo child. France deserved the title.

          Argentina were not able to win with France because there a minimum of justice in this football world – France deseved the WC. Just like in 2014 Germany deserved for whole the tournament form, no matter how good we were in this single game of final we didn’t deserved that title crawling to final.

          • > France also made huge defensive mistakes in that game like the one on Di Maria goal

            it was not huge defensive mistake, at all. it was due to Di Marias attacking skill. Many other would have missed. not a lucky goal either.

            > game of final we didn’t deserved that title crawling to final.

            yes, happens with 5ATB and super defensive coaches

        • Di maria’s goal was lucky but pavard’s goal was pre planned, when Mbappe scores a goal within armani’s hand was not a mistake.
          When france gets early penalty then they deserved , if argentina would have done then u would have said they were lucky to get a goal from penalty.
          “France also made huge defensive mistakes in that game like” when?
          either you didnt watch the match or you are a liar. France was very organized defensively, there were playing defensive game still scored 4 goals against because of that looser armani.

          • Only our third goal was really convinceable. Look how much space France defence left to Di Maria on his goal. And the Mercado goal?! Really a big dose of luck.

          • France gave him space in midfield not in penalty box, it needs a great accuracy from that range to score a goal and it was a absolute beauty from dimaria nothing to do with luck as he has done it many times against germany, against barcelona, against athletico madrid , against napoli he cant be lucky everytime.
            If kun aguero would have started he would have put couple of goals in the ass of hugo lloris but that idiot sampoli started pavon instead who was invisible in the game.

      • Great players change games, even if in 15 minutes.
        – Aguero came on against France and scored.
        – Banega started and controlled the Argentine midfield more, not totally due to Enzo’s innability to do anything productive.
        – Di Maria scoring a wonder goal to equalize against France, and when switched flanks with Messi, beating Hernandez 1v1 every encounter and providing dangerous balls in.

        – Pavon had his chance. He played EVERY game in the World Cup. Might not have started half of them, but he had time to impresss, to make the difference… but he didn’t.
        – Meza as well. I didn’t expect much from Pavon personally then, but I had high hopes for Meza after how he played phenomenally against Spain despite the goleada. However, he had chances as well, and didn’t make the difference either.
        – Caballero & Armani… Never liked either! How can two goalkeepers who had never played for Argentina before be deemed good enough to represent us in a WORLD CUP?!!!
        – Salvio another disappointment. Acuna as well. I cringe every time I see them wear the albiceleste jersey, thinking “how did we get so low?”

        Meza, Salvio, Acuna, Enzo, Caballero all started against Croatia… no wonder Messi had his head down during the anthem… probably had a headache thinking “I’m surrounded by Idiots!”

        Had Romero played, Aguero started EVERY game, Banega started EVERY game, Mercado started EVERY game, have Dybala come in every game as a sub instead of Pavon or Meza, we’d be having a whole different conversation.

        • Yep, the story would have been different. Di Maria, Aguero, Messi were the best options and should have started every fucking game with Pavon and Dybala sub or start if others are worse than them. Banega added stability and control to the midfield but i would have loved to have seen Lo Celso play (for god sake i’m still so pissed, what a mystery). Masche and Biglia were the obvious weak links and we could have done better with Paredes, Battaglia, etc. Armani got a bad wrap, the dude was on fire but he didn’t start until an incredibly important match with a shit ton of pressure. he would have done better if he warmed up throughout the qualifiers.

          you’re missing an equally important factor though – Kamikaze Sampaoli. that fucked us all.

    • Argentina knocked out because of Sampaoli’s crazy formations and tactics, and because of Highly critical unfair blame game of Media and many fans.

      Carlos Tevez said in 2009 during the tough road of qualifications for WC2010:

      “When I play for Argentina I spend more time suffering than enjoying myself. The fans insulted us, the journalists criticized everything. Sometimes I think about quitting the national team. Why should I come to Argentina and have a bad time?”

      But many don’t want to admit that and not willing to take lessons of the past.

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