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Boca Juniors win thrilling Superclasico on penalties vs. River Plate

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It was Boca Juniors who got the 4-2 win on penalties vs, River Plate at La Bombona after finishing 1-1 after 90 minutes. Boca advanced to the semifinals of the Copa de la Liga Profesional with the shootout win. The team coached by Gallardo played with an XI consisting mostly of substitutes due to a massive Covid outbreak which struck 15 players inside the squad.

Carlos Tevez opened the score for Boca with a header in the 11th minute, after what looked like a clear foul that was not called by the referee. Boca’s idol had pushed River’s center back Jonathan Maidana right before giving Boca the lead.

River drew level in the 68th minute with a great header from the young but experienced striker Julian Alvarez, which came after great cross from Fabrizio Angileri on the left.

With the score at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the Superclasico went to a penalty shootout. Two great saves from Boca’s goalkeeper Agustin Rossi led the hosts to the semifinals, where they will face Racing Club in the next round. Boca also snapped a three-game losing streak.

Riquelme’s statement:

After the win, Boca’s vice president and legend, Juan Roman Riquelme, talked with TNT Sports and had some controversial things to say:

“The victory is deserved; River did not even have a kick on goal.

“I have no doubt that we have the best team in the country.”

He even spoke about the possibility of Edinson Cavani joining the squad next year:

“I think next year he will be with us, God willing. In December he told me that he wanted to come. The only thing we can offer him differently is that our stadium moves when it is full. But today we are not playing with people so we can’t offer him that now. He’s a star.”

Alan Díaz great debut

Because all four of River’s goalkeepers tested positive for COVID yesterday, 21-year-old Alan Diaz, who had never played a single minute in the Reserves, made his debut in Sunday’s match. The inexperienced goalkeeper did a great job and was one of the stars of the match. One highlight was a save in a decisive moment, a difficult shot from Carlos Tevez. He also saved one of the penalties in the shootout, when Cardona tried to score with a Panenka.

Carlos Izquierdoz and Hector Martinez solid defensively

Boca’s center back “Cali” Izquerdoz and River’s center back Hector Martinez were crucial in their respective defensive structures. Both played at a high level, with constant interceptions and clearances.

Lionel Messi, Emiliano Buendia, Emiliano Martinez in Argentina team for World Cup qualifiers

Roy Nemer
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Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has selected his list of players for June’s World Cup qualifiers vs. Chile and Colombia.

The European based list has been announced with a lot of fan favorites included. A total of 30 players have been announced with the likes of Emiliano Buendia, Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero called-up. The veterans on the team are Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria and Agustin Marchesin have all been included.

Paulo Dybala and Mauro Icardi both don’t make the squad with the surprise being Dybala. With the Copa America beginning just a few days after the qualifiers, his place in that squad could be in jeopardy. The 27 year old has missed much of the season due to injury and only has four goals to his name.

Despite the fact that Lucas Alario and Exequiel Palacios are both set to miss not only the World Cup qualifiers but also the Copa America, all three players have been included in the squad. The list of local based players is expected to be announced within the next few days. Here is the list:

Marcos Acuña (Sevilla)
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Lucas Alario (Bayer Leverkusen)
Emiliano Buendia (Norwich City)
Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid)
Joaquin Correa (Lazio)
Rodrigo de Paul (Udinese)
Angel Di Maria (PSG)
Nicolas Dominguez (Bologna)
Juan Foyth (Villarreal)
Alejandro Papu Gomez (Sevilla)
Nicolas Gonzalez (Stuttgart)
Giovanni Lo Celso (Tottenham)
Agustin Marchesin (FC Porto)
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
Lisandro Martinez (Ajax)
Lucas Martinez Quarta (Fiorentina)
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Nahuel Molina (Udinese)
Juan Musso (Udinese)
Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis)
Cristian Romero (Atalanta)
Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla)
Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica)
Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen)
Jose Luis Palomino (Atalanta)
Leandro Paredes (PSG)
German Pezzella (Fiorentina)
Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax)

 

River Plate with 12 COVID cases, including Gallardo, on eve of Superclasico

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Ten players from River’s squad tested positive for Covid-19, this morning with two more along with coach Marcelo Gallardo testing positive in the afternoon. At the moment, the Superclasico to be played this Sunday is not at risk.

Paulo Díaz, Federico Girotti, Enrique Bologna, Germán Lux, Robert Rojas, Nicolás De La Cruz, Rafael Borré, Bruno Zuculini, Tomás Castro Ponce, and Franco Petroli are the ten players infected in River’s squad. Three of them (Borré, De La Cruz, and Díaz) were supposed to be starters in tomorrow’s line up vs. Boca. Suarez and Rollheiser tested positive this afternoon.

On Friday, Alberto Montes, River’s goalkeeper coach, tested positive for coronavirus and was quickly isolated. Hours later, several players began to present symptoms related with Covid-19, including three of the four goalkeepers (Franco Armani was the only one who tested negative) for which the medical team decided on massive swabs.

This afternoon, the whole squad will do PCR tests to confirm the cases and see if there
are more.

Due to previous covid outbreaks in other Argentine teams and matches, tomorrow’s Superclasico looks to be happening as rescheduling would be difficult. In addition, we are just a month away from the Copa America and there is not much time to reschedule the match.

Per Ole, for now, Boca and River will play tomorrow at La Bombonera (17:30 local time) in the quarterfinals of the Copa de la Liga Professional. The tournament format is of just a single match, so the team that loses will be eliminated from the competition.

FIFA selects 16 Argentina national team icons

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With Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, and Mario Kempes as the main figures, FIFA chose the most iconic players of the Argentine national team’s history, which did create some controversy among fans.

Releasing the picture through their social media channels, here were the 16 which were selected by FIFA:

First half, from left to right: Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Mario Alberto Kempes, Javier Mascherano, Gabriel Batistuta, Daniel Passarella, Claudio Paul Caniggia, and Angel Di Maria.

Second half, from left to right: Juan Román Riquelme, Ubaldo Fillol, Diego Simeone, Oscar Ruggeri, Javier Zanetti, Jorge Burruchaga, Hernán Crespo, and Sergio Agüero.

The absent players most requested by the fans were Fernando Redondo, Ariel Ortega, Juan Sebastian Veron, Jorge Valdano, Sergio Goycochea, and Carlos Tevez.

Alfredo Di Stefano, perhaps one of the top 10 players in history, was also, mistakenly, asked a lot by the people. The Real Madrid legend played very little for the national team, and he didn’t even play a World Cup for Argentina, in an unjust story mixed with politics and a lot of bad luck.

Oscar Ruggeri, the great defensive leader who was part of the World Cup winning squad in 1986 and the final of 1990, wrote through his Instragam account the following:

“It makes me very happy to see myself together with these great players, although I think there should be many more! I thank FIFA for choosing me among these legends of Argentina. Today I look at myself and say, ‘so much sacrifice was worth it.’ THANK YOU.”

Who would you have to liked to have seen included in this list of players?

Exequiel Palacios injured, will miss Copa America for Argentina

Roy Nemer
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Exequiel Palacios has suffered an injury and will miss the Copa America for Argentina.

That’s two Argentine players for Bayer Levenkusen who will miss next month’s Copa America. In addition to Lucas Alario, Leverkusen reported earlier that Palacios has suffered an injury and will be out for eight weeks.

Palacios was getting called-up to the Argentina squad and was expected to be one of the names who makes the final cut of 23 players. A muscle injury in the area of his right adductor, he will not require surgery but will miss the rest of the season.

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