El Mas Grande. Lejos.

The Departure of an Idol: Ariel Ortega to Independiente de Rivadavia

2008-08-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

It was bound to happen eventually: Diego Simeone could no longer stand Ariel Ortega's alcoholic problem and finally decided to seperate him from the team. After another incident this weekend, the ex-Estudiantes coach chose to have a long chat with Jose Maria Aguilar to decide where the idol's future would be, and it most definitely wasn't in Nuñez.

Nothing could stop the decision from occuring, not even Simeone's recent statements to the press that "Ortega was having a fantastic pre-season" and that he was "more fit than even the younger players". At first everyone speculated that "el Burrito" would be leaving to the United Arab Emirates, where he would received a $2,000,000 salary for playing for a local club for 10 months. Despite the juicy offer, the city's close-to-non-existant social life and the lack of interest to move there on behalf of his family made the #10 reject the proposal. Phone calls from several Argentine clubs then began to flood the offices in the Monumental regarding a possible loan, but all options were discarded since River did not want to benefit any direct rivals. One may call it fate, but this ultimately lead to the opening of one of the most surprising door: a move to Argentina's second division.

Both River and Ortega soon came to an agreement to let the "Jujeño" go to Independiente de Rivadavia for the rest of the year. Along with fighting to get the team from Mendoza to the first division, Ariel will also be looking to win the battle against alcohol. As part of his contract, he has agreed to cross the border to Chile every week to go seek professional help and try to get his addiction out of his life once and for all. River, meanwhile, will receive $500,000 for the 10-month deal.

It is truly sad that all this had to come to an end in this manner. Ortega is arguably the biggest club idol of the decade, and will always have a spot reserved in the heart of every true Riverplatense. He had been playing great lately, and was said to be having one of his best pre-seasons in years. I can assure that I was anxious to see him on the pitch, though we will have to see if that ever happens again: he'll be returning to the club in 2009 with over 35-years of age, and god knows if he'll still be in shape to earn himself a spot on the starting line-up. As far as the present goes, his empty spot has temporarily been taken over by recent incorporation Robert Flores, who will be looking to prove himself to the River crowd as Ariel's replacement.

Good luck "burrito"!

Fourth Incorporation: Santiago Salcedo

2008-08-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

Simeone demanded his arrival, River accepted his request. After a hard fought battle to bring in Santiago Salcedo, "los Millonarios" were finally able to acquire the Paraguayan forward from Newell's Old Boys.

The 26-year old has shown his talent throughout his career, but became River's main target after his successful 2007-2008 season with the "Rosarinos". He continuously scored goals for Newell's and eventually ended as the squad's topscorer. An interesting fact is that he was able to score vs. all five of the "big teams" (River, Boca, Racing, Independiente, and San Lorenzo), most notably twice vs. our arch-rivals. Being the owner of a powerful and precise shot, as well as good heading characteristics, Salcedo seems as the perfect replacement for Sebastian Abreu.

Unfortunately, for now he still isn't "our" player. Yes, he has officially joined River, yet we do not possess his transfer rights: just this last week he was bought by two businessmen for $6,000,000. Those two businessmen then decided to place him in Nuñez, where he will sport "la banda" for the next 18 months in exchange for a $1,000,000 fee. Once the loan ends, an option to purchase Salcedo for $9,000,000 will be presented.

In ways this is both good and bad. It is good in the sense that we won't have to spend a huge sum of money on him and won't be risking too much: A few years ago we spent millions on Jairo Patiño and Gustavo Oberman, though neither of the two were able to adapt to the club and were later left as free agents. The negative to this, though, is that if we do want to purchase him in the future, he will end up costing 50% more ($3 million) than his current value.

Another thing I dislike about this whole transfer is that we are once again dealing with businessmen. Instead of directly negociating with the clubs, Aguilar has had a tendency to bring in business groups and deal with percentages. In the long run this has made River lose lots of money (we barely recieved anything for Gonzalo Higuain's move to Real Madrid, we technically no longer "own" Augusto Fernandez, etc.). In fact, Mateo Mussachio -a huge prospect from our lower divisions- is close to sealing a deal with football giants Real Madrid. The defender is one of our most promising players in the position since Martin Demichelis, and already has six official games in Primera despite only being 17-years old. Unfortunately, he would be leaving in exchange for some "debt" River has with these infamous businessmen, and the club would not be seeing a single penny in return for his services.

Quiroga and Galmarini: New "Millonarios"

2008-07-30T00:04:00.000-07:00

After an unsuccessful attempt to bring back Roberto Ayala, River have finally achieved the incorporqtion of Facundo Quiroga. The 30-year old Argentine defender has been the main target to reinforce River's defense for the last three years, yet Aguilar had never been successful in completing his objective till now. Facundo's arrival finally became accessible recently, due to the expiration of his contract with Wolfsburg of Germany.

Quiroga will arrive to the club as a free agent full of years of experience. He officially debuted as a professional football player at Newell's Old Boys with just 19 years of age. Less than a year later, he was transfered to Sporting Lisbon of Portugal, where he began a European career that lasted ten years. He raked up over 240 games, combining his appearances in Sporting Lisbon, Napoli, and Wolfsburg. He was also featured on the Argentine National Team a total of sixteen times under the guidance of Marcelo Bielsa. He definitely seems as a good acquisition, who could help erase some of River's defensive problems.

Facundo Quiroga's transfer is also complimented by that of Martin Galmarini. Galmarini, a less known player, is a 26-year old who will be arriving from Tigre. He is less likely to rush in to a spot in the first team for now, though Simeone considers him as an interesting alternative for Ferrari (the ex-Tigre player can play either as a right-back or as a right midfielder).

Aguilar will now aim to fulfill Simeone's other request by bringing in Santiago Salcedo. The Paraguayan forward has a heavy price tag on him, but both River and Salcedo are very enthusiatic with the possibility of completing the operation. In fact, Caruso Lombardi (Newell's coach) no longer considers him a Newell's player and believes he is well on his way to Nunez.

As for other transfers, Simeone wants another central defender (Yepes recently expressed his desire to return). Alexis Sanchez could also be heading back to the Monumental: River are currently trying to find a business group to purchase part of his transfer and bring him back.

Ahumada Staying, Legend Returning?

2008-07-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

The problems with Oscar Ahumada have finally been resolved: The defensive midfielder is close to reaching an agreement with River for a contract renewal worth $1,000,000 ($500,000 annually for 2 years). He will also be handed 30% of a future transfer (a total of 40% if one adds the 10% he already owns) and has been promised to be sold in the near future. Due to the agreement, Andres San Martin has been "freed" and will once again be joining Arsenal de Sarandi on loan.

Meanwhile, Jose Maria Aguilar keeps on moving in the transfer market and looking for incorporations. Surprisingly, River and Argentine National Team legend Roberto Ayala could be close to hitting a return. His name had been mentioned in the past, but "el Raton" usually discarded the opportunity. Now, his representative said the central defender is willing to return, and Real Zaragoza would be willing to let him go in exchange for 3 million euros. River doesn't find the price tag too excessive and may actually be making an offer for Ayala within the next few days.

In case the ex-National Team captain doesn't join the squad, Simeone has already decided to take a look at alternative options. A member of Diego's coaching staff went to see 23-year old Gerardo Alcoba on Sunday and gave "el Cholo" a heads up on the current Peñarol defender.

Oscar Ahumada: Uncertain Future

2008-07-11T01:06:00.000-07:00

When it comes to controversies, Oscar Ahumada has been the first one on the list lately. Upon River's incredible elimination in the Copa Libertadores in May of this year, Ahumada made some shocking remarks to the press, suggesting that the loss came in the hands of the fans who were momentarily silent after San Lorenzo's first goal. He even went furthur than this and praised arch-rivals Boca Juniors fanbase.

Many River fans were upset with his comments, and most were hoping that he lost his spot in the first team. Despite that, Diego Simeone decided to stick with his usual tactics and kept Ahumada as one of the starting eleven players. Oscar slowly began regaining the respect of the fans, and his declarations were soon left behind.

It's been less than two months since this occured, but Ahumada is at it again. This time he didn't critisize anybody, but has made his future at the club uncertain: Jose Maria Aguilar had been negociating a new contract with the defensive midfielder for a while now (his old contract expired on June 30th), though no resolution has been made as of yet. There is said to be a clause on that contract which would make him a River player for an additional two years (till 2010), though Ahumada has decided to play the role of the blind man who knows nothing of this. Still, River have offered a new contract (worth $500,000 dollars annually), yet he wants more. Not only is he requesting to be one of the best paid players in the whole Argentine league ($800,000 a year), but he also wants to be paid a certain amount of money the club had owed him. Notice I said "had owed him", because an agreement had previously been reached to erase this debt in exchange for 10% of a future transfer fee. Many directives of the club believe that Oscar is making things complicated because he'd rather leave to another club as a free agent and recieve a juicy contract, as well as all of the transfer fees.

There will be another meeting held between Aguilar and Ahumada this afternoon. Our President is expected to offer him the contract he requests since Simeone stated he is an important part of the team. I personally wouldn't mind seeing him leave: I didn't take his comments about our fans in a good manner, he seems like a thief who puts money over the club who gave him everything, and I'd love to see Nicolas Domingo given more opportunities (the youngster is behind Ahumada and Ponzio and receives very little minutes). Updates will be posted as soon as the situation is resolved.

As for Robert Flores's arrival, more details on the transfer have been made public. Unlike Alexis Sanchez's loan (I had made an incorrect comparison to it in my previous post), River will actually have a chance to purchase part of the Uruguayan's transfer. Villarreal have given River the option to buy 30% of his rights in exchange for 1.75 million euros. The loan will be free unless "los Millonarios" lift a trophy at the end of the season: in the case of a local tournament -such as the Apertura and Clausura- the Spaniards will be owed 75,000 euros. Winning the Sudamericana and/or Libertadores, on the other hand, will raise the fee to 100,000 euros. A positive to the acquisition is that River may end up gaining free money: despite not currently holding any of his transfer rights, 15% of his next transfer will be owed to us if he is sold within the next 12 months. Not nearly as bad as I thought. Hopefully we get to see him stick around for more than a year, though.

Robert Flores: From River to River

2008-07-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

River Plate have made their first incorporation by bringing in Robert Flores. The 22-year old midfielder may not be known outside of his native country, but in Uruguay he was praised by both fans and critics alike, gaining him a strong comparison to the legendary Enzo Francescoli. In his first season as a starter for River Plate of Uruguay (yes, his now ex-club holds the same name as us), he shined and was even chosen as the best player of the tournament by a group 100 of the country's best journalists.

So far, so good. But the worst part is that his case may end up being the same as Alexis Sanchez's. Flores was purchased by Villarreal a while back, and is still owned by the Spanish side. Since there is a good relationship between Villarreal and River following the recent transfer of 50% of 6 River players (in exchange for 9 million euros), the Uruguayan has arrived on loan for one year free of charge. The big question remains: what will happen after those 12 months? Aguilar plans on purchasing a small percentage of the player, though Robert will most likely be taking a flight to Europe instead.

In terms of other incorporations, River still have two main targets in mind: Mariano Andujar (goalkeeper; Estudiantes) and Santiago Salcedo (forward; Newell's). Both are becoming more accessible as time passes. In the goalkeeper's case, Mariano Barbosa's arrival to the team has changed Andujar's "untransferable" status to "negotiable". Although he will most likely end up in Europe, Simeone still has some hope that his favorite goalkeeper will join the club. Salcedo, on the other hand, seems impossible since Newell's President Eduardo Lopez has valued him at $10,000,000. The positive? The Paraguayan was said to be very excited with the possibility of joining "los Millonarios" and upon hearing Lopez's irrealistic price tag became very dissappointed. He even went as far as missing the first two days of pre-season training with the Rosarinos to let Lopez know that the standards should be lowered. River are analyzing a part exchange offer (money + Mauro Rosales), though if it isn't accepted they are already looking at alternative options.

As for loans, many will be arriving and many will be leaving:

- Rubens Sambueza, Diego Barrado, and Andres San Martin have returned from Pumas, Olimpo, and Arsenal de Sarandi respectively. All will be given a chance during this Pre-Season, though none are guaranteed to stay.
- Cristian Nasuti is highly likely to join Racing for the next twelve months, though Godoy Cruz, Newell's, and Banfield are also after him.
- Sebastian Sciorilli will be joining Colon with hopes of gaining some valuable first-team experience.
- Omar Merlo had joined River on loan in January. The central defender arrived from Colon as an interesting prospect, though Simeone never gave him a chance. He is heavily considering cutting his loan short in order to join Estudiantes.
- Rene Lima had everything straightened out to join PAOK of Greece on loan, though he will finally be joining Gimnasia (LP).

There is currently a bit of a problem with Oscar Ahumada and his contract. Make sure to check back for the next post, which will be regarding the problem.

Torneo Apertura 2008 Schedule Released

2008-07-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

The schedule for the 2008-2009 season of the Argentine Primera Division has been released. River will begin the Torneo Apertura 2008 in Santa Fe, where they will face Colon. Many difficult matches will follow this one, but the one that everyone is curious about (the Superclasico) will be played on the 10th round (October 19th) in the Monumental. Meanwhile, what could be an extremely decisive match vs. Estudiantes will be played on the last round. Both River and Estudiantes have been some of the most competitive teams in Argentina recently, so it wouldn't be crazy to consider that the winner of this game could be the one lifting the trophy. The following is the complete list of match dates the "millonarios" will encounter this season:

1st Round - 08/10/2008 - Colon - River Plate
2nd Round - 08/17/2008 - River Plate - Rosario Central
3rd Round - 08/24/2008 - Banfield - River Plate
4th Round - 08/31/2008 - River Plate - San Lorenzo
5th Round - 09/14/2008 - Arsenal - River Plate
6th Round - 09/17/2008 - River Plate - Velez Sarsfield
7th Round - 09/21/2008 - San Martin (Tucuman) - River Plate
8th Round - 09/28/2008 - River Plate - Racing Club
9th Round - 10/05/2008 - Gimnasia (LP) - River Plate
10th Round - 10/19/2008 - River Plate - Boca Juniors
11th Round - 10/26/2008 - Gimnasia (JJ) - River Plate
12th Round - 10/29/2008 - River Plate - Newell's Old Boys
13th Round - 11/02/2008 - Lanus - River Plate
14th Round - 11/09/2008 - River Plate - Huracan
15th Round - 11/16/2008 - Independiente - River Plate
16th Round - 11/23/2008 - River Plate - Argentinos Juniors
17th Round - 11/30/2008 - Tigre - River Plate
18th Round - 12/07/2008 - River Plate - Godoy Cruz
19th Round - 12/14/2008 - Estudiantes (LP) - River Plate

As far as pre-season friendly matches go, I haven't heard anything official but we are rumored to face both Godoy Cruz and San Martin de Tucuman (the two teams who have been promoted to the first division this season) towards the end of July. Updates will be posted ASAP.

Transfer Market: June 29th Update

2008-06-29T00:34:00.000-07:00

With the transfer market already officially open, River are after quite a few players. Ex-players Roberto Ayala, Pablo Aimar, and Santiago Solari have already backed off, so here's a list with the current candidates to reinforce the squad:

Goalkeepers: Nicolas Navarro (Napoli), Mariano Barbosa (Free Agent; ex-Banfield and Villarreal), Mariano Andujar (Estudiantes; very complicated).
Defenders: Nicolas Spolli (Newell's), Sebastian Dominguez (America; coached by Simeone in Estudiantes), Facundo Quiroga (Wolfsburg), Juan Pablo Sorin (Hamburg; would be a target if Villagra leaves).
Midfielders: Ignacio Piatti (Gimnasia LP; a business group wants to buy him and loan him to us), Diego Barrado (owned by River and returning from a loan with Olimpo; Simeone is said to be interested in his services).
Forwards: Santiago Salcedo (Newell's).

Mario Yepes's name is also floating around a bit, and the Colombian himself even expressed his interest in returning. Either way, I don't see him arriving anytime soon..

As for players out:

Goalkeepers: Juan Pablo Carrizo (to Lazio), Juan Marcelo Ojeda (unknown destination; highly likely to be transferred if another goalkeeper arrives).
Defenders: Cristian Nasuti (unknown destination - wanted by a few Mexican clubs and Godoy Cruz; fed up with being a "back-up" player), Danilo Gerlo (wanted by Asteras Trípoli of Greece).
Midfielders: Oscar Ahumada (hasn't renewed his soon-to-be-expired-contract yet), Rene Lima (to PAOK FC of Greece on loan), Diego Barrado (if Simeone decides to not use him, Godoy Cruz and a few other "small" clubs are interested in acquiring the midfielder on loan), Nicolas Domingo (wanted by Atlas of Mexico), Rubens Sambueza (his loan with Pumas will finish, but his future remains in the Mexican league with a different club next season).
Forwards: Sebastian Abreu (to Beitar Jerusalem), Alexis Sanchez (returning to Udinese from his loan with River).

Banfield: 2 - River Plate: 3 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-06-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, River flipped a 0-2 partial score vs. Banfield to eventually win 3-2. The following video reviews the match:

Video: River Plate's Best Goals (Part II)

2008-06-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

I have created a second segment to add to my video collection of River Plate's best goals:

The first part can be seen here. Enjoy!

Ernesto Farias to Return to River?

2008-06-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

Many false rumours are being thrown around in the transfer market nowadays, but with the highly likely departures of Radamel Falcao Garcia and Sebastian Abreu, Aguilar is said to be seriously considering reinforcing the squad with a new striker.

To the surprise of many, one of the "stronger" names will actually be one that is well known to River fans already. Ernesto Farias (pictured right), who sported "la banda" for three years, is supposedly one of the targets. "El Tecla" is currently playing alongside ex-River player Lucho Gonzalez in Porto of Portugal and is being followed by a few Argentine clubs (Estudiantes being the other one). He had an overall good scoring record while at River, yet he never managed to get into the hearts of the fans and was often critisized. Is he the right player to go after, or should we be looking for new faces?

Another player that Jose Maria Aguilar is looking at is Santiago Salcedo of Newell's Old Boys (pictured left). Ever since he joined the Rosarinos two years ago, he's been getting the thumbs up from both the press and fans alike, and could end up being a great acquisition for "los millonarios". The Paraguayan possess a very powerful and accurate shot, and looks like a great replacement for Falcao. Unfortunately, though, I do not see this happening due to economic reasons: Newell's tend to write pretty heavy price tags (Fernando Belluschi and Oscar Cardozo being two recent examples), and will probably not let Salcedo go so easily. River, meanwhile, probably won't be looking to spend too much after finishing in failure last time they tried this.

Regarding other positions, Diego Simeone is also looking to bring a replacement for Juan Pablo Carrizo, and Mariano Barbosa of Villarreal looks like one of the candidates. He was a great goalkeeper at Banfield, and I have the best of images of Mariano. I know my opinion won't weigh too much, but I approve him.

Video: Clausura 2008 Re-Cap

2008-06-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

The following video sums up River Plate's Torneo Clausura 2008 title:

Enjoy!

River Plate: 2 - Olimpo: 1 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-06-10T15:48:00.001-07:00

River Plate defeated Olimpo by 2-1 for the eighteenth round of the Torneo Clausura 2008. Due to a combination of both this and Estudiantes' goal-less draw with Colon, "los Millonarios" were able to lift their 33rd Argentine League trophy.

River played an overall good game. Diego Simeone's team was able to go up 1-0 in the first half, after Diego Buonanotte successfully scored a previously-prepared set-piece. Everything was going well, though the team were not able to conquer several other clear opportunities. This almost came back to haunt us later on in the game, when Josemir Lujambio evened up the match for the away team. The partial score was not justified, though as we all know soccer isn't always fair. Luckily enough, Buonanotte put the ball through the net for the second time in the game and was able to lead River to their first trophy in the last 4 years.

Although it may seem like it, the "dwarf" wasn't the only key player. Many players played well, but a name that comes to mind instantly is that of Ariel Ortega. "El Burrito" was critisized by a very small group of fans (including some readers on this blog), yet his magic has once again proven why he is such a huge idol to the club's fanbase. Since his official return to the starting team three weeks ago, he has been vital to the team's victorious season: vs. Huracan he assisted Buonanotte in River's only goal, vs. Colon he assisted Cristian Villagra in a fantastic manner in our first goal (final score 2-1), and on Sunday vs. Olimpo he gave a great pass to Buonanotte to complete River's 2-1 win. There is no way to actually prove that we wouldn't have won any of those games without him, but if one substracts his assists from the final scores, we would have tied all three matches and would actually be watching Estudiantes lift the trophy instead.

Unfortunately, the transfer market is already starting to open up, meaning that several key members of this squad will not be with us next season. Juan Pablo Carrizo will finally be joining Lazio, Augusto Fernandez is being followed by Lazio and Atletico Madrid, Matias Abelairas is a name that Carrizo's future club has in mind, Radamel Falcao Garcia is one of the most wanted players currently with River, Almeria of Spain are interested in signing Leonardo Ponzio, and Mauro Rosales is highly likely to leave. As for possible reinforcements, ex-River players Roberto Ayala and Santiago Solari sound with chances of returning.

Full Review of the Match:

Congratulations River Plate, Champions of the Torneo Clausura 2008!

River Campeon!

2008-06-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

Gracias Ortega por ser el idolo de siempre!
Gracias Enano por tu "grandeza"!
Gracias Carrizo por esas atajadas inolvidables!
Gracias Falcao por todos esos goles!
Gracias Cholo por ir al frente a pesar de las quejas!
Gracias Bosteros por burlarse de River todo el ano y despues quedarse sin el pan y sin la torta! Ya todos saben que el que rie ultimo rie mejor!! Shhhhh...
Gracias Dios por poner esa cosa inexplicable y eterna en mi corazon. Esa cosa que algunos llaman "River Plate", y yo llamo mi vida!

G-R-A-C-I-A-S!

Updates: June 5, 2008

2008-06-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of updates on the blog recently, but due to school, work, and a 3-day trip down to San Diego, it's been hard to keep up with the site lately. Here are the latest updates:

- Thanks to two victories (1-0 over Huracan and 2-1 over Colon) in the last two rounds of the Clausura, River are now above the other 19 Argentine teams participating in this year's Primera Division. Estudiantes follow in second place, with just two points less the "los Millonarios". With just two games remaining, River could be lifting a trophy for the first time in 4 years on Sunday.

- Boca lost 3-1 to Fluminense yesterday and have therefore been eliminated from the Copa Libertadores 2008. After so much "smack talk" given by the Xeneizes since our elimination to San Lorenzo, it looks like they will be the ones without a trophy this season.

- I was present yesterday in Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to witness Argentina defeat Mexico (once again). The final score was 4-1, and the party was seen in the stands the whole game:

Vamos Argentina y Aguante River Plate!

Transfer Market: May 21st Update

2008-05-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

As always, news regarding possible transfers related to the club has been surfacing the streets of Nunez. In a single post, here are all the updates of the 2008 off-season transfer market:

Players Out

Matias Abelairas: "Pitu" may well be on his way to Europe, after rumours state that Lazio are preparing a 5 million euro offer for the midfielder. If he doesn't leave with Carrizo to the Italian side in June, he still has chances of wearing a different jersey.

Cristian Villagra: Just when the left back began to play regularly well for River, it seems like he will move over to a team in the "Old Continent". Villarreal (Spain), Catania (Italy), and Olympiakos (Greece) would be just some of the many options for "Kity".

Alexis Sanchez: It is nothing new that the talented youngster has extremely small chances of remaining at the club after the Clausura. So what's the point of this note? Well, Independiente have expressed their interest in the Chilean and actually have a good chance of contracting him on loan after he leaves River. I could see it already: we face "el Rojo" in the Copa Sudamericana and are eliminated to the hands of Sanchez (ala D'Alessandro).

Radamel Falcao Garcia: The forward was just one step away from migrating to a different club in January, but he decided that he wanted to stay at least one more season. Now, the Colombian will probably not have a choice, and the offers will come flying in. Who will be his replacement?

Eduardo Tuzzio, Danilo Gerlo, Cristian Nasuti, Leonardo Ponzio, and Mauro Rosales: Their time in River seems to be coming close to an end. The only way these players are expected to stay is if a tempting offer does not arrive in the halls of the Monumental.

Players In

Pablo Aimar and Roberto Ayala: The two historic River players are currently playing for Real Zaragoza, who recently descended to the second division of the Spanish league. This is just one of the reasons why Jose Maria Aguilar has decided to go after the duo. Still, it seems impossible that they'll join our squad for next season due to economic reasons. Also, doesn't the same article mentioning their possible arrival appear on Ole/Clarin/La Nacion every six months?

Andres D'Alessandro: If the Aimar operation isn't successful, it is said that "los millonarios" will go after "el Cabezon". Just like the Aimar and Ayala, this transfer would be very complicated to achieve. The question is, if River are after him now, why didn't they put the money to buy him when they had a chance in January?

Ariel Ibagaza and Sebastian Leto: River will go after the two midfielders who are currently playing in Europe. It's pretty much the same story as always. I can see Aguilar already: "We couldn't bring you Aimar or D'Alessandro, but we did bring Ibagaza and Leto!".

Hilario Navarro: River would be looking for a replacement for Carrizo, and Racing's goalkeeper could be one of the main targets. The negative? His knee injury does not impress the dirigentes.

Gustavo Cabral: Diego Simeone has been pleased with the ex-Racing defender's performance this season, and has requested that the management transform his loan into a permament incorporation for River.

Dario Conca: The attacking midfielder played a key role for Fluminense today, who succesfully eliminated candidates Sao Paulo from the 2008 Copa Libertadores. He is on loan from River, and unless somebody purchases him, he should be returning in June. With so much talk of bringing in a new playmaker (Ibagaza, Aimar, D'Alessandro, etc.), could the solution to our problem be in our own hands?

Surprisingly enough, I kind of like this. Although we could be losing many great players (Falcao, Augusto Fernandez, Ponzio, Alexis Sanchez, Abelairas, etc.), we've been having a similar squad for the last few years now and things haven't too gone well. I believe that this could be the right time to clean out the squad and refresh the starting eleven with youngsters/new players.

Independiente: 0 - River Plate: 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-05-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

River Plate tied 0-0 with Independiente on Sunday, finishing the match with a score that pretty much sums up the 90 minutes played between the two. The lack of clear chances created by the team, as well as their inability to play well against the "big" teams, is starting to raise a concern within the general fanbase. With only four games left and two points away from Estudiantes, will River be able to lift the trophy in a month?

Although not too much action was seen on the pitch vs. the "Red Devils", this has been a very (unnecessarily) active week for "los Millonarios":

- Defensive midfielder Oscar Ahumada tried to take some of the weight off his shoulders and suggested that the quietness by the River fans after San Lorenzo's first goal (second leg of the Copa Libertadores match up) may have been the reason why our rivals were able to find the second goal just minutes later. To make things worse, he then mentioned Boca Juniors' fans and how he witnessed them chanting strongly despite being down 2-0 to River a few years ago. First off, he couldn't have possibly said anything worse to a River fan (how can he compare us to a group of fans that places black flags and abandons the stadium when the team is doing bad?). Second, the momentary quietness was due to shock and disbelief of what was actually occuring. Throughout the rest of the game the fans made noise and were amazing - it's proven by the following video:

As a consequence of his incredibly surprising and thoughtless words, not only did Oscar receive an economic fine from the club, but he was also the main target of 7,000 River fans on Sunday who insulted and had flags put up against him. He's been playing great lately, but I don't know if I want to see him with River next season after his statement.

- As if the Copa Libertadores elimination and Ahumada's statements weren't enough, another conflict came to light just a few days later. Argentine newspaper Ole published an article mentioning that members of the current River squad were discontent with idol Ariel Ortega, and supposedly let Diego Simeone know that they weren't happy sharing the locker-room with "el Burrito". Rumors then started circulating that Ortega would no longer be with River next season, with Barcelona of Ecuador and a few Mexican clubs expressing interest in the #10. Upon hearing the rumours, River fans sang the following song at our last game:

In a quick summary, the songs pretty much say that Ortega will not leave River and that he must play (he's been a substitute for quite a while now). Ariel returned the praise to River fans, saying he loves them and that he wants to play the remainder of his career with "la banda". Still, a few words don't guarantee anything. One question arises: is this all a press invention to make River's situation worse and sell newspaper, or is Ortega's spot really at risk?

- Lazio of Italy are said to be preparing a 5 million euro offer for midfielder Matias Abelairas. It is amazing to believe that the same player we were getting ready to offload to a small Argentine club in January is now wanted by a historically strong team and for a very interesting sum of money. If he were to leave to the Rome-based side, he would be joining the Italians along with Juan Pablo Carrizo in June.

Our next Clausura game will be on Saturday vs. Huracan in the Monumental. A loss could nearly void River's chances of winning the tournament: if Estudiantes win, we would be 5 points away from Simeone's ex-team, with barely 3 games left in play. Therefore, our aim should be to take all 9 points - not just for the tournament, but also to assure ourselves a spot in the 2009 Copa Libertadores.

River Plate: 4 - Gimnasia (LP): 2 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-05-12T01:27:00.000-07:00

River Plate returned to victory after two weeks by defeating Gimnasia (LP) by 4-2 for the the 14th Round of the Torneo Clausura 2008.

To make things worse after the mid-week elimination in the hands of San Lorenzo, "los Millonarios" began losing the match. Things could have gotten even worse, though the posts were on our side and prevented 3 clear opportunities from being transformed into goals. River finally seemed to get on track with a fierce shot by Matias Abelairas the tied the match, though not much longer a defensive disconcentration let Gimnasia find the 2-1 lead before heading to the locker rooms for half time. The first 45 minutes ended and the Monumental stadium was pure havoc. The fans, who were already deeply hurt from the match vs. San Lorenzo, became frustrated from River's poor performance vs. a very mediocre team. The away side were completely controlling the match, River's midfield didn't seem as if they were present, and the defense was more fragil than glass. Something had to be done during half time if the team aspired to fight for the title this season.

Diego Simeone must have had an inspirational speech during the 15-minute break, because the team entered the field with a new attitude and a different style of play. This quickly led River to put the match back on level terms (2-2 by Buonanotte) and then flip the score (Matias Abelairas and Ariel Ortega). The squad ultimately ended up converting strong mumbles and insults from the crowd into applauses and cheer. Now, what was this change of performance due to? Oscar Ahumada entered the field during half time to replace Leonardo Ponzio and brought the missing defensive strength to the pitch. Ariel Ortega was also subbed-in, and added pace (what was missing on Thursday vs. CASLA) and created plays. He made several clear chances for the team, including to one-on-one's. Diego Buonanotte and Alexis Sanchez -two players who played from the start- heavily improved for the last 45 minutes, after both having a very poor first half.

The goals:

Thanks to San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors's losses, River now find themselves more comfortable in the standings. With five games remaining, the top positions in the rankings look as follows:

1) River Plate - 30 Pts.
2) Estudiantes - 30 Pts.
3) San Lorenzo - 27 Pts.
4) Velez Sarsfield - 27 Pts.
5) Independiente - 26 Pts.
6) Boca Juniors - 26 Pts.

An exciting last portion of the tournament awaits us. Independiente, who have slowly crept up behind River and Estudiantes, are on a five match winning streak and must face us next Sunday. The other top teams will also be experiencing "clasicos" next weekend, with Boca receiving Racing, Estudiantes facing arch-rivals Gimnasia (LP), and San Lorenzo playing their derby vs. Huracan.

River Plate: 2 - San Lorenzo: 2 - Copa Libertadores 2008

2008-05-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

After an initial 2-1 loss in the first game of the two-legged Copa Libertadores Round of Sixteen match match vs. San Lorenzo, "los Millonarios" needed to find a victory to qualify to the next round. Unfortunately, the final result was 2-2, leaving River out of the cup.

River actually played an overall good match. They dominated 80 of the game's 90 minutes, and played some of the best offensive football we've seen this season. We were unlucky not to put the ball past the net more than two times. Despite our 2-0 lead (goals scored by Matias Abelairas and Sebastian Abreu) with just 20 minutes remaining, San Lorenzo were able to tie the match with two men less on the pitch thanks to Gonzalo Bergessio, who scored two goals in just three minutes.

Now who is responsible for this? Just about everyone. Let's review:

- The Players: How could they let a comfortable lead slip, especially while playing 11 on 9? Not only that, but the defense showed poor marking on both goals (see video above).
- Jose Maria Aguilar: One of the first decisions when River's current President assumed was to not renew Ramon Diaz's contract and let him go. The same Ramon who won a record-breaking titles with River, has flipped San Lorenzo horrendous past (they finished as a midtable team and lost 7-1 to Boca in the season previous to his arrival) into a glory filled present. Aguilar was also presented with opportunity to bring back club idol Andres D'Alessandro, but chose to rather spend money on the likes of Cabral, Archubi, and Abreu. Guess who made the assist in San Lorenzo's second goal? You guessed it.
- The Referrees: Sergio Pezzotta had a terrible night, disallowing a valid goal by Sebastian Abreu, not calling a clear penalty in favor of River, and not expelling Andres Silvera (the forward later played a key role in San Lorenzo's first goal). In the first leg of the series, Hector Baldassi alaso showed poor performance: the FIFA International awarded the "Cuervos" a controversial penalty which sealed their 2-1 win. He should have also shown Gonzalo Bergessio a red card.. yes, the same player who ended up scoring the two goals in the second match
- Diego Simeone: Our coach committed some errors during the match. "El Cholo" took out Augusto Fernandez -who was playing a great match offensively, and was also one of the players who recuperated the ball most- in the second half and brought in Mauro Rosales. He did this with the score already 2-0 in our favor. Of course, upon doing this the defense became fragile and San Lorenzo found their way to the draw. Was it necessary to take out one of the best players on the field and bring another one who has no clue when it comes to defending? Besides, if what he was looking for was offensive power, he should have put in Ariel Ortega instead. Surprisingly enough, "el Burrito" ended up watching the whole match from the bench and didn't even play a minute. This was a game for Ortega, and if there's any player on the squad that knows how to play these games it's him.

The past is not editable, but the future can be changed. As seen above, pretty much everyone committed mistakes on the night where failure was the last option. Hopefully they learn from their errors, because failures are now becoming way too common in the Monumental.

River Plate Eliminated From Copa Libertadores

2008-05-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

River Plate tied 2-2 vs. San Lorenzo tonight and have been eliminated from the Copa Libertadores 2008. Before anything, I must clarify that it's incredible that the players let the match go, being up 2-0 with 2 players more than San Lorenzo. I also blame this partially on our President Jose Maria Aguilar: he let Ramon Diaz go, and also didn't grab D'Alessandro when he had a chance. This came back to leave us out of the most important tournament in existance for River. Despite that, we should also remember the poor reffing. Let's do a quick re-cap:

1st leg (2-1 in favor of San Lorenzo):
- Controversial penalty in favor of the home side which gave them the victory.

2nd leg (2-2):
- Goal by Abreu that was disallowed. Replays show that he was not offsides.
- Clear penalty for River when the match was up 1-0, yet the ref fails to call it.
- Silvera should have been expelled for hitting Tuzzio. Not long after, the same player plays the key role in San Lorenzo's first goal of the night.

As mentioned previously, I cannot believe our players let this game slip. It is truly an embarrassment to be eliminated when up 2-0 and the rivals being down by 2 men. But, honestly, there were too many clear ref errors in favor of San Lorenzo. Had they not existed, River probably would have qualified with ease (we would have had 2 goals extra, and San Lorenzo 2 less). It is inevitable to ignore this.. who knows, maybe our present would have been different.

A more detailed review on the match is expected to be posted later.

River - San Lorenzo: The Preview

2008-05-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

River Plate will be looking to secure their permanency in the Copa Libertadores 2008 tomorrow. In order to remain in the competition, "los millonarios" must finish the 90+ minutes of the match vs. San Lorenzo with a victory.

Diego Simeone has decided to make few changes as compared to last week's game, and will only bring in Diego Buonanotte for Rodrigo Archubi. The rest of the team will remain the same, meaning that both Ariel Ortega and Alexis Sanchez will once again be substitutes. Therefore, the starting eleven are expected to be:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Gustavo Cabral-Eduardo Tuzzio-Cristian Villagra;
Augusto Fernandez-Oscar Ahumada-M. Abelairas-Diego Buonanotte;
Radamel Falcao Garcia-Sebastian Abreu;

San Lorenzo will nearly repeat their formation and line-up. As quoted from last week's preview "Their most dangerous player -without a doubt- is Andres D'Alessandro. The ex-River player is full of jukes, precise shots and accurate passes. Add that to the fact that he'll be looking to prove himself to his current team's fans (he was accused of faking an injury in the game against us earlier on this season), which makes him even a bigger threat. Forwards Andres Silvera and Gonzalo Bergessio should also be looked after, with the first being a historic goalscorer, and the second being on a good scoring streak as of late."

River literally has to win. A draw or a loss will expell the team from the competition, due to the fact that we lost the first match of the two-leg series by 2-1. In fact, certain victories would even leave us out (3-2, 4-3, 5-4, etc.; because of the "away goal" rule). So how can we qualify? Well, the only way we will automatically get through with a "minimal difference" result is by winning 1-0. A 2-1, meanwhile, would take the match to extra time and then -if necessary- penalties. Any result with a difference of 2 goals or more in favor of River, on the other hand, would grant us access to one of the eight Quarterfinal match-ups.

Luckily, this time Fox Sports en Espanol will be airing the match live at 4:30 PM Pacific / 7:30 PM Eastern Time.

Boca Juniors: 1 - River Plate: 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-05-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

River Plate lost to Boca Juniors by 1-0 in the 13th Round of the Torneo Clausura 2008. Unfortunately, the team lost more than just a Superclasico: a victory would have left River with 3 points more than Estudiantes (who lost 2-1 vs. Argentinos Jrs.) and 7 more than Boca. Since the Xeneizes won, "los millonarios" are now sharing the first place spot with Estudiantes and San Lorenzo, with Boca just one point away from the trio.

River did not show any clear signs of good football. In fact, the team hardly had any clear chances, with Abreu's header towards the end of the match being the only one coming to mind. The only people who put on a show were River's fans, who received the team with over 3,000 red-and-white balloons in the stands:

Don't get me wrong, Boca weren't all that magnificent either, but they had a few chances and were able to clinch the three points thanks to this header by Sebastian Battaglia that finished inside the net:

River's poor performance left every Riverplatense a bit worried and upset, though -surprisingly- it didn't affect me too much. I think it's a bit because we are still on top in the rankings (..and Boca is still behind us), but mainly because of the excitement of awaiting the Copa Libertadores match vs. San Lorenzo. Unlike yesterday's game, if we lose or tie on Thursday (and in certain cases even if we win), we will be eliminated from this year's edition of the tournament. We've lost two extremely important games this last week, but the most important one of the three still remains. So here's hoping the best for "la banda". Vamos River!

Boca - River: The (Mini) Preview

2008-05-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Starting Eleven: Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Danilo Gerlo-Nicolas Sanchez-Eduardo Tuzzio-Cristian Villagra;
Leonardo Ponzio-Matias Abelairas;
Alexis Sanchez-Ariel Ortega-Diego Buonanotte;
Radamel Falcao GarciaBoca Key Players: Juan Roman Riquelme (Midfielder) and Rodrigo Palacio (Forward).
Boca Surprise Player: Jesus Datolo (Midfielder)
Television Broadcast: Live on Fox Sports en Espanol and Fox Soccer Channel at 11:00 AM Pacific / 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

San Lorenzo: 2 - River Plate: 1 - Copa Libertadores 2008

2008-05-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

River Plate lost 2-1 to San Lorenzo in a typical Copa Libertadores match, which was full of excitement, tension, fights, and controversial moments - all at once.

The home side began winning 1-0 thanks to Andres Silvera. Luckily, Radamel Falcao Garcia was able to find the net a few minutes later, allowing "los Millonarios" to tie the match for the moment. Despite eventually losing, this goal may end up being important since it was an away goal (if we win 1-0 in the Monumental, we would qualify automatically to the next round).

Everything went well in the first half. River were controlling San Lorenzo's attack, yet they still went out looking to score. Unfortunately, the proposition changed a bit in the second half, when Simeone opted to play a counter-attack style of football and allowed Ramon Diaz's team to reach Carrizo's goal more often. Although we suffered at times, it seemed as if "el Cholo"'s plans were going well towards the end of the match. We were leaving with a 1-1 tie, which would force San Lorenzo to look for a win in next week's game. But the game was not yet over: in the 87th minute, referree Hector Baldassi called a controversial penalty that Adrian Gonzalez exchanged for CASLA's victory. What happened exactly in the play? The ball bounced of Alexis Sanchez hand, who in my opinion had no intention to hit it. To top it off, he was pushed by a San Lorenzo player, causing his hand to clash with the ball. Not much time was left after this for "los millonarios" to find the draw, and the game ultimately ended 2-1.

The Player Review -
Juan Pablo Carrizo: The goalkeeper did not have fault in either one of the two goals, and once again made some fantastic saves. Placente had a potential shot in the first half that could have made things a lot worse for River, yet JP stopped the shot and kept River alive.
Paulo Ferrari: The best player on the field. When he attacked he was dangerous (made the assist in Falcao's goal), and when he defended he was lethal. No one could get past him, and he amazingly won several balls. In the past, he wasn't exactly known for his defending abilities, but I've been noticing a huge improvement in this aspect of Ferrari's style of play. He had a fantastic game, as simple as that.
Gustavo Cabral: Poor performance. He failed to do his job correctly. Nicolas Sanchez seems to be the better option for his position at the moment.
Eduardo Tuzzio: Tuzzio was solid, despite being verbally abused by Gonzalo Bergessio (the foward brought up the infamous conflicts Tuzzio had with ex-River defender Horacio Ameli). At times, he also fought with Andres Silvera.
Cristian Villagra: The best defender behind Ferrari. He completed his tasks and efficiently stopped several attacks.
Augusto Fernandez: The right-winger started off playing a great game, though his performance dropped as time passed. Either way, he had an overall good game, being a key player in the offensive part of the team, yet also knowing when to return to help in the defensive duties.
Oscar Ahumada: The defensive midfielder was not horrible, but did not impress me either. It wasn't his best game, though he didn't commit errors either.
Matias Abelairas: A key player in the circulation of the ball, especially in the first half.
Rodrigo Archubi: The ex-Lanus player was arguably the worst player on the field. Not in the sense that he committed nonstop errors, but he failed to impress in several ways. The only positive he had was a powerful shot in the first few minutes of the game, but other than that he was very inactive.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: The Colombian had a good game and scored River's only goal with another great header. He fought for every ball with will and passion.
Sebastian Abreu: The Uruguayan incredibly missed a one-on-one opportunity in the 4th minutes of the first half. If that would have gone in, who knows what the final result would have been. Besides that, he had a good game, being helpful in the attack and always returning to defend in set pieces. He left in the second half: would the second goal have existed if he were still on the field?
The Substitutes -
Diego Buonanotte: The "dwarf" entered in the second half and almost scored what would have been a partial 2-1 lead for us.
Alexis Sanchez: The Chilean attempted to leave his mark, but the only way he did so was by giving San Lorenzo a penalty towards the end of the match. Not at all what we expected from the ex-Colo Colo player.
Ariel Ortega: Did not play enough to comment on.

The second leg of this Round of Sixteen match-up will be played next Thursday. We must finish the game with a win if we plan on advancing, though in some cases even a victory won't be enough to get through. Either way, we must first think of the Superclasico vs. Boca on Sunday.

The Goals:

San Lorenzo - River: The Preview

2008-04-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

River Plate will be facing San Lorenzo de Almagro tomorrow in an extremely important clash for the Round of Sixteen of the Copa Libertadores 2008. "Los Millonarios" should be looking for anything but a loss tomorrow, with the following eleven players aiming for that goal:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;

Paulo Ferrari-Nicolas Sanchez-Eduardo Tuzzio-Cristian Villagra;

Augusto Fernandez-Oscar Ahumada-Matias Abelairas-Rodrigo Archubi;
Radamel Falcao Garcia-Sebastian Abreu

This formation indicates that River will be returning to a classical 4-4-2 formation, something we hadn't seen in a long time. The most surprising part, though, is that Ariel Ortega, Diego Buonanotte, Alexis Sanchez, and Mauro Rosales are all missing from the starting line-up. Many would have been considered it a better choice to field this alternative team last weekend vs. Argentinos Juniors, and put the starters tomorrow. Instead, Diego Simeone has opted to do pretty much the opposite. Despite that, his tactics may seem logical in certain point of views: not only will many players get some rest before the Superclasico, but if the team manages to hold back San Lorenzo and atleast tie, we will have the opportunity to define the game at home. It is obvious that by taking out the more offensive players (mentioned above) and inserting more defensive players (Ahumada, Abelairas, and Archubi), "el Cholo" will be looking to control the home side's offensive flare and leave Carrizo's goal as safe as possible.

Meanwhile, San Lorenzo have been keeping their best for this game. Many starters rested on Sunday vs. Boca (Ramon Diaz's team won 1-0), though they would be present vs. River. The most dangerous player -without a doubt- is Andres D'Alessandro. The ex-River player is full of jukes, precise shots and accurate passes. Add that to the fact that he'll be looking to prove himself to his current team's fans (he was accused of faking an injury in the game against us earlier on this season), making him a huge threat. Forwards Andres Silvera and Gonzalo Bergessio should also be looked after, with the first being a historic goalscorer, and the second being on a good scoring streak as of late.

Unfortunately, Fox Sports en Espanol have decided to broadcast the America (MEX) - Flamengo (BRA) match live instead of ours. This means that to catch the match, one will have to wait till 9:00 PM Pacific / 12:00 AM Eastern Time to watch it on a Tape Delay on the same channel.

River Plate: 4 - Argentinos Jrs.: 2 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-04-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

River Plate defeated Argentinos Juniors by 4-2 to remain on top of the Clausura rankings alongside Estudiantes. The team was led by an extremely inspired Diego Buonanotte, who scored the first two goals. The other two were scored by Sebastian Abreu and Radamel Falcao Garcia.

The team played well, with Juan Pablo Carrizo once again making some vital saves. Ariel Ortega, who entered the field for the second half, had an overall good performance and boosted the team's collective play. Fortunately, none of the five players with 4 yellow cards (Ferrari, Cabral, Villagra, Abelairas, and Falcao) received a card, and will therefore be present on Sunday's game vs. Boca Juniors.

As a side note, Boca lost this weekend to San Lorenzo, meaning that they are now four points away from the league leaders (River and Estudiantes). The best part about this is that even if we lose the Superclasico on Sunday, they will not be able to catch up to us. What would be even better would be to defeat them: if we are victorious, the "Bosteros" would be left 7 points away, leaving them with smaller chances of lifting the trophy in June.

The goals:

As for transfer updates, they never seem to be missing in the Monumental. Matias Abelairas, for example, was a secondary player at the beginning of the year and was originally not even called up by Diego Simeone for pre-season training with the team. He eventually won himself a spot (due to lack of players in his position) in a few Torneo de Verano games, and since then has been an essential part of the team. Of course the good performances have not only gained us points, but also European clubs that are interested in acquiring the leftie. Schalke 04 of Germany have made their intentions public, though he may end up elsewhere. Radamel Falcao Garcia is also wanted, though his case is different: foreign clubs are after the Colombian every offseason, though River fail to receive any tempting offers. This year may be different though, and Juventus are said to be preparing a $15,000,000 offer.

For now, we must put all these thoughts away and focus on our current plans. An exciting yet tough schedule awaits us, with two fatal matches vs. San Lorenzo for the Copa Libertadores and the Superclasico in between... all to be played in just 8 days. Vamos River!

River - Argentinos: The Preview

2008-04-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

River will be playing Argentinos Juniors tomorrow, in what will be the beginning of the most difficult and exciting weeks of the year thus far: after tomorrow's game, we will be facing San Lorenzo for the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday, and then Boca Juniors for the Torneo Clausura.

Despite risking the prescense of several players in the Superclasico (Cabral, Villagra, Abelairas, and Falcao all have 4 yellow cards), Simeone has decided to field the following eleven players:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;

Danilo Gerlo-Gustavo Cabral-Nicolas Sanchez-Cristian Villagra;

Leonardo Ponzio-Matías Abelairas;

Mauro Rosales-Alexis Sanchez-Diego Buonanotte;

Radamel Falcao Garcia

Meanwhile, other key players like Paulo Ferrari (also has 4 yellows), Ariel Ortega, and Sebastian Abreu will all be on the bench waiting patiently for their chance. Others such as Eduardo Tuzzio, Oscar Ahumada, and Augusto Fernandez will be missing out due to being suspended.

Argentinos Juniors will intend to prove that they are always a tough side to get past. In certain ways, their 14 points this season may make it seems as if they are underperforming a bit, but they've always given River a tough time: they have won the last two games (2-1 and 4-1, respectively), while "los Millonarios" have only finished victorious once against them since 2005 (six games have been played since then). Our future Copa Libertadores-rivals San Lorenzo even fell in the hands of "el Bicho" last weekend. 'Nuff said.

What's the reason behind their success? The team is full of less-known yet potential players. Alejandro Delorte is a giant who is unstoppable with his headers, while youngster Gabriel Hauche is a very quick foward who is the club's leading goalscorer this season. Meanwhile, others such as Alvaro Pereira should have an eye kept on, for giving them time and space can result in a deadly combination.

The match will be shown live on TyC Sports USA at 10:00 AM Pacific / 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

One may be asking why Alexis Sanchez is the main character in today's preview picture. Unfortunately, the Chilean wonderkid is commencing to attract the interest of several European powerhouses, with Manchester United being the latest club to inquire about him. The British side offered 11 million euros to have Alexis play next to C. Ronaldo, Tevez, and Rooney next season, though the offer was rejected. Still, don't be surprised if Sanchez does not wear "la banda" next season: Sir Ferguson's side are prepared to make a new offer, while Udinese (his owners) are expecting to count on him starting June.

But Sanchez may not be the only player leaving at the end of the season. Augusto Fernandez (pictured behind the Chilean) is one of the main targets for several European clubs during every off-season, and this time it seems as if River won't be able to retain him. He could end up with Fernando Belluschi in Olympiakos, though Sevilla, Lazio, and Fiorentina are also interested in him.

So with Carrizo officially leaving at the end of this season, and Alexis Sanchez and Augusto Fernandez having good chances of departing, all "millo" fans are already starting to miss them. For now, River is one the right path in both continental and league play. Will we be able to do so again next season with a demolished squad?

Confirmed: River to Face San Lorenzo

2008-04-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

With all eight groups of the Copa Libertadores 2008 finalized, the eight match-ups for the Round of Sixteen of the most important tournament in the Americas have been confirmed. River Plate have finished as the third best team in the general rankings, and will therefore face Argentine neighbors San Lorenzo. It will be an extremely tough 180 minutes, but to win the Copa you must have the ability to get through all the teams.

The next round of the Copa Libertadores will look as follows:

Fluminense (BRA) vs. Atletico Nacional (COL)
Flamengo (BRA) vs. America (MEX)
River Plate (ARG) vs. San Lorenzo (ARG)
Atlas (MEX) vs. Lanus (ARG)
Cruzeiro (BRA) vs. Boca Juniors (ARG)
Estudiantes (ARG) vs. LDU Quito (ECU)
Cucuta Deportivo (COL) vs. Santos (BRA)
Sao Paulo (BRA) vs. Nacional (URU)

*The full bracket is available here.

An interesting observation is that, depending on the final results of these eight games, we could just well see an all-Argentine/Brazilian Quarter-Finals.

San Lorenzo or Audax: Future Rivals?

2008-04-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

After a convincing 5-0 win over Universidad San Martin of Peru, River must now look ahead to the Round of Sixteen of the Copa Libertadores.

Our future rivals are unknown for now. One thing has been confirmed though: it has been reduced to two candidates - San Lorenzo (ARG) or Audax Italiano (CHI). Both are very good teams, assuring River a complicated fixture in the next round of the continental tournament.

San Lorenzo has proven to be a fantastic team. Not only do they have some of the best players in Argentina at the moment (midfielder Andres D'Alessandro, foward Andres Silvera, foward Gonzalo Bergessio, defender Diego Placente, etc.), but they are managed by none other than Ramon Diaz. We have already faced them this semester and won (the match finalized 2-0 in our favor), but nothing is guaranteed to repeat. In fact, since then San Lorenzo have had a great improvement in terms of form, and now find themselves only 3 points away from River in the Torneo Clausura. The positive to facing them would be the fact that they are at a close distance and the squad would avoid jet lag/travel inconviniences.

Audax Italiano, on the other hand, are a less known team to "los Millonarios". Their first major international appearance took place last year, while this edition of the Copa Libertadores could be the first ever that they advance from the group stage. They in no way should be underestimated, though: Chilean wonderkid Carlos Villanueva is the head of the team, and could possess a serious threat to any team. The 22-year old has been performing in a great way over the last few years, and even found a way into the Chilean National Team. Other great players are also available for Audax, who could possibly be one of the surprises of the Copa.

After today's matches between Sportivo Luqueno-Audax Italiano and Sao Paulo-Atletico Nacional, the official fixtures will be known. Make sure to check back later on tonight for updates.

Argentina vs. Mexico - Ticket Information

2008-04-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Argentina and Mexico will be facing each other in a friendly match, to be played in Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego, California) on June 4, 2008. The match itself will begin at 8:00 PM Pacific Time.

Tickets have officially gone on sale today on Ticketmaster. They are available through a Visa-Presale (Visa cardholders can purchase them now, while others will have to wait till May 5th) at the following link: Argentina vs. Mexico Tickets (Ticketmaster)

The Hinchada Argentina (Argentinean fan base) will be sitting in Plaza Level around Section 52. To purchase tickets in this section, one must follow these three steps:

1) Click the above link.
2) Select the quantity of tickets you'd like to purchase. In the box next to it, select the $30 option.
3) Under section, choose "East End of Stadium".

One should then be offered tickets around Section 52 in Plaza level. These tickets are only $30 (cheap, compared to other tickets that go as high as $300) and are very close to the field. To make things even better, these tickets will allow you to sit with the Hinchada, which will be filled with flags, balloons, drums, and chants!

If you have any questions regarding tickets for this match, feel free to contact me.

*Note: Click on the above picture to get an enlarged view of the seating chart.

Rosario Central: 2 - River Plate: 1 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-04-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

River lost to Rosario Central by 2-1, and therefore lost their unbeaten streak in the Torneo Clausura 2008. Despite initially being up 1-0 thanks to Diego Buonanotte, the home side were able to flip the score with goals by Emilio Zelaya and Martin Arzuaga.

I missed the game, but it is said to have been a good one. A more detailed review is available here, and the goals can be seen below:

As a side note, Argentine newspaper Ole claims that the referree did a poor job - not awarding River a penalty, not giving Central two well-deserved red cards, and subtracting one minute from the original injury time that had been given (played 3 extra minutes, instead of 4). A bit suspicious, but unsurprising nonetheless. As long as it doesn't happen again (especially in two weeks vs. Boca), I won't complain.

River Plate: 5 - Universidad San Martin: 0 - Copa Libertadores 2008

2008-04-18T20:43:00.001-07:00

Who said River couldn't play well? After a week of critisizm from the press on River's lack of attractive football, "los Millonarios" -led by an inspired Sebastian Abreu- defeated Universidad San Martin in a game that corresponded to Group 5 of the Copa Libertadores. River only needed a tie to advance to the next round, but the team went farther than that and demolished the Peruvians with a final result of 5-0.

River played a good game in every aspect of the word. From the first minute, it was obvious that the plan was to pressure the away side and pile up the attack. "La Banda" did just that, not allowing San Martin to possess the ball for long periods of time. The midfield was strong, the offense was doing well, and the defense/Carrizo didn't even have to show up to this game considering how little San Martin did.

The Player Review -

Juan Pablo Carrizo: He could have stayed home and it wouldn't have even made a difference. To add to his positives, though, he gained yet another clean sheet -- his eleventh this season!
Paulo Ferrari: The left-back had a good game and efficiently assisted Falcao and Rios in River's second and fourth goals, respectively.
Gustavo Cabral and Nicolas Sanchez: The two central defenders didn't have much to do, but when they did, they got the job done.
Cristian Villagra: "Kity" had an excellent night, often launching some good offensive plays. He deserved a goal, but was unfortunate not to score. The ex-Rosario Central player has managed to keep up his good form and is having a quality season so far.
Leonardo Ponzio: The ex-Newell's Old Boys player had a great game, and keeps on moving up in my books. Everytime he plays, he does not stop recuperating balls and always contributes a little something to the attack. In a way, I sort of hope that Oscar Ahumada gets a two-match extension to his current suspension, just so Leo starts against Boca.
Matias Abelairas: "Pitu" is one of the players who has played most this season, and his statistics provide reasoning for this fact. As if he hadn't already participated in enough goals this season, Abelairas once again assisted Sebastian Abreu in a set piece. Good work by Matias.
Alexis Sanchez: The Chilean tried a lot, but did not have one of his best games. Despite that, he still gave a good assist to Abreu in River's first goal.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: The Colombian scored a fantastic goal (2-0) and was very active, running from up and down the field all night.
Rodrigo Archubi: The ex-Lanus player surprisingly started over Diego Buonanotte and did well while at it. He had a few good things here and there, and left an overall good impression.
Sebastian Abreu: A dream night for "el Loco". The Uruguayan scored 3 of the 5 goals for River, hit the post on another play, and gave several good passes. Nothing wrong at all. A great fact: in the last 4 games played by River in the Copa Libertadores, he has scored 6 goals (2 vs. Universidad Catolica -1 in away and 1 at home-, 1 vs. America, and 3 vs. Universidad San Martin).
The Substitutes -
Oscar Ahumada: The defensive midfielder replaced Ponzio and did not fill his role as well. Still, he didn't commit any errors, and atleast he didn't get expelled again!
Diego Buonanotte: The "dwarf" appeared in the second half and brought his jukes and electrifying style of play to the pitch. As usual, he was unstoppable and the rivals could do nothing but foul him.
Andres Rios: The young foward finally received a good opportunity under Simeone's management, and he did not let the chance pass by: he came in with the game 3-0, scored the 4th goal, and assisted the 5th. He also did very well last season with Daniel Passarella, and could eventually by an interesting option to replace Falcao once the Colombian is transfered.

The goals:

River - Universidad San Martin: The Preview

2008-04-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, River Plate will be playing for their qualification to the Round of Sixteen of the Copa Libertadores 2008. The match will be against Universidad San Martin of Peru and will be held in our home stadium, the Estadio Monumental.

The starting team hasn't been confirmed yet, but the lucky eleven are expected to be the following:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Gustavo Cabral-Nicolas Sanchez-Cristian Villagra;
Leonardo Ponzio-Matias Abelairas;
Alexis Sanchez-Radamel Falcao Garcia-Rodrigo Archubi;
Sebastian Abreu;

The best news, for now, is that Ariel Ortega has once again concentrated with the team for an official match, and even has good chances of being on the bench against the Peruvians. Mauro Rosales will also be returning.

As for the match, River must go out with the idea of not losing. The current standings in Group 5 are the following:

1. America (MEX) - 9 points; +2 goal difference
2. River Plate (ARG) - 9 points; +1 goal difference
3. Universidad San Martin (PER) - 6 points; -1 goal difference
4. Universidad Catolica (CHI) - 6 points; -1 goal difference

A win or a draw will automatically get the team through to the next round, while a loss will make our qualification depend on the final result of the Universidad Catolica-America match. Losing by more than one goal will put River's chances of advancing at great risk, while a 1 goal difference loss will still leave us with chances, though it would be very risky to go out to the field with that mentality. Many expect "los Millonarios" to assure at least one point in front of their home crowd, though recent memories remind us to not get too comfortable.

Due to being played at the same time as the Universidad Catolica-America match, our game will be showed on Tape Delay (the Mexican audience is much larger than any other in the USA) on Fox Sports en Espanol at 9:00 PM Pacific / 12:00 AM Eastern Time.

River Plate: 1 - Tigre: 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-04-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lanus: 0 - River Plate: 1 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-04-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

River Plate defeated Lanus by 1-0 in a victory that means more than 3 points: it means rising to the top, with 1 point more than Estudiantes and 4 more than Boca (the two tied this weekend vs. Arsenal and Banfield, respectively).

The match wasn't too entertaining, but River deserved the victory and were successful in obtaining it. The only goal of the game was scored by Diego Buonanotte, though a big part of thte credit should also be given to Juan Pablo Carrizo, who effectively stopped a penalty shot taken by Jose Sand in the second half.

The Player Review -

Juan Pablo Carrizo: As mentioned previously, the future Lazio player played a big role in the win by stopping a penalty towards the end of the game and preventing other clear chances from going into the net. Half way done with the Torneo Clausura, he has only conceded goals in one game (vs. San Martin (SJ)). Another interesting fact: of the 5 penalties he's had to defend in his career, he caught 3 (vs. Rosario Central, San Lorenzo, and Lanus).
Paulo Ferrari: The right-back did not go up to attack very often, but instead committed most of his time defending. He didn't do anything that caught anybody's attention, though - neither in a good or bad way.
Nicolas Sanchez: The best player in defense. The ex-Nueva Chicago player improved considerably as compared to his previous game (vs. America). He was much more solid, recuperating the ball constantly - just as we expected him to.
Gustavo Cabral: Cabral had been one of the most critisized defenders lately, but his absence in the Copa Libertadores proved to be disastrous (the team conceded 4 goals). To top it off, he played a very good game today and committed very few errors.
Cristian Villagra: Decent game, which included some recuperation, but nothing too magnificent. Just like Ferrari, he wasn't allowed to frequently add himself to the team's offense.
Augusto Fernandez: After being injured for a while, the right-winger returned to the first team line-up but proved to not be ready to start. He wasn't too active and missed a clear chance to score when the partial result was still 0-0.
Oscar Ahumada: The defensive midfielder came back from a minor injury and played a great game, stopping every player in his path. Unfortunately, he was forced to leave the pitch in the second half due to being injured again.
Matias Abelairas: "Pitu" didn't look like his usual self today. His shots were off target, his passes were imprecise, and his presence did not signify much importance to the team.
Alexis Sanchez: The Chilean was far from having his best game with a River jersey, but this doesn't mean that he didn't put any effort: he ran non-stop and pressured to regain possession (as usual). The excessive amount of minutes he has received in the last few weeks (as well as the long roundtrips to Tel Aviv and Mexico City) are commencing to become noticeable.
Diego Buonanotte: The "dwarf" played another great match to add to his already very good season. Not only did he score the game-winning goal, but he was the player who mostly insisted on opening up the match. He did, though, miss a clear opportunity at the beginning of the game, but his goal and effort recompensated for it.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: The Colombian did not have an overall good game and missed several clear opportunities.

The Substitutes -
Sebastian Abreu: The Uruguayan was surprisingly placed on the bench after scoring vs. America. Unfortunately, what was even more surprising was when he missed a clear one-on-one opportunity by accidently kicking the ground instead of the ball. He is producing a rather unpleasant habit of missing easy goals, and is starting to lose many fans' confidence.
Leonardo Ponzio: Leo replaced Ahumada and did a good job. He continued his streak of good form and almost scored the 2-0 (a great chipped shot that hit the post).
Nicolas Domingo: Not enough time to judge his performance.

The goal:

America: 4 - River Plate: 3 - Copa Libertadores 2008

2008-04-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

America of Mexico defeated River Plate 4-3 in the mystical Estadio Azteca. The match was full of defensive flaws, and could have easily gone one way or another.

River began the game surprising the home side. Not only did Leonardo Ponzio manage to surprise the "Aguilas" with a shot from 40 meters away (hit the post), but "los Millonarios" actually found the net with barely five minutes of gameplay. The goal was scored by Rodrigo Archubi, who had just scored his first goal with "la Banda" on Sunday. The first half would finalize with River holding a 1-0 partial lead, but what wasn't expected was such an electrifying last 45 minutes.

The second half presented fans of both teams with several celebrations and frustrations in just a matter of minutes. Rodrigo Iñigo and Enrique Esqueda were able to flip the score between the 53rd and the 55th minute, but not long after River would put the match back on level terms thanks to an own goal by Diego Cervantes. This caused America to go up looking for more goals, and it was the same Cervantes who was able to recompensate the home fans with a partial 3-2 victory. One minute later, though, the Uruguayan Sebastian Abreu (ex-America player) would once again tie for River. The 18-minute-goalfest would finally finish in the 69th minute, when Salvador Cabañas put the final touch to the final score of 4-3.

One may argue that River might have deserved the three points, but there is no doubt that the defense was worrying. In just 18 minutes, the team conceded 4 goals -- the same amount Carrizo had received in the last 7 games combined. Nicolas Sanchez is definitely not ready to play yet, Nasuti has been showing very poor performances lately, and Paulo Ferrari and Cristian Villagra weren't even seen throughout the night.

The goals:

The quest for the Libertadores continues, but first the team must advance from the Group Stage. All we needed was a draw, but after being unsuccessful, the squad will be looking to fix their errors and find at least one point against Universidad San Martin in two weeks.

America - River: The Preview

2008-04-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

River Plate will be facing America in the famous Estadio Azteca tomorrow. The game corresponds to Group 5 of the Copa Libertadores 2008.

Los Millonarios will be missing several players because of injuries: Ariel Ortega, Augusto Fernandez, Mauro Rosales, Diego Buonanotte, Oscar Ahumada, Eduardo Tuzzio, and Gustavo Cabral will all be out due to not being fit. Therefore, Diego Simeone has decided to field the following eleven:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Cristian Nasuti-Nicolas Sanchez-Cristian Villagra;
Leonardo Ponzio-Matias Abelairas;
Alexis Sanchez-Radamel Falcao Garcia-Rodrigo Archubi;
Sebastian Abreu

One of the most interesting points of the match will be to see how well Nicolas Sanchez has progressed from his injury. It is important to note that this will be his first official game since he was injured in October 2007 vs. Defensor Sporting.

As for the midfield, Rodrigo Archubi has won himself a spot for tomorrow thanks to his goal on Sunday (also partially because of all the unavailable midfielders). He will be returning a bit back, making the team have 3 defensive midfielders at times. Sanchez and Falcao, on the other hand, are expected to do the opposite and make a line of three fowards during periods of the game.

Regarding America, the team is arriving in the middle of a huge crisis - one of the largest in the club's history according to many. Think of the 2007 edition of River, but perhaps even worse. The coach and the President of the Mexican side have both agreed that they will resign from their positions at the end of the season, while the squad is also leaving weak promises on the field. Still, this doesn't mean we should underestimate the "Aguilas". We all know what getting big-headed can do (remember our good friends Caracas?), and players like Salvador Cabañas always possess a threat.

The game will be shown live on Fox Sports en Español at 8:00 PM Pacific / 11:00 PM Eastern Time.

As a side note, Universidad Catolica defeated Universidad de San Martin today (1-0 in favor of the Chileans). This leaves the group standings as follows:

1. River Plate: 3-0-1 (6/4, +2); 9 Points
2. CF América: 2-0-2 (6/5, +1); 6 Points
3. Univ. San Martín: 2-0-3 (4/5, -1); 6 Points
4. Universidad Católica: 2-0-3 (4/6, -2); 6 Points

This means that a loss tomorrow will still leave us as one of the two group leaders, while a tie or a win will automatically qualify us to the Round of Sixteen with one match remaining. Vamos River!

River Plate: 1 - Arsenal: 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-03-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

River Plate defeated Arsenal de Sarandi yesterday, leaving "los Millonarios" alone at the top of the table. The final score was 1-0, with Rodrigo Archubi scoring the only goal of the night. Despite that, River failed to impress a single spectator who witnessed the match.

The game was slow, with neither of the two sides looking to bring something new to the pitch and defer from each other. Diego Buonanotte and Alexis Sanchez -the two usual electrifying players- made their attempts to improve the game quality, but both failed to complete their jukes and plays. Meanwhile, Ariel Ortega, Radamel Falcao Garcia, Augusto Fernandez, Oscar Ahumada, Gustavo Cabral, and Eduardo Tuzzio all watched the match from the sidelines (all but Ortega were injured). As if that weren't enough, Mauro Rosales was injured after 10 minutes of game time, forcing him to abandon the field and make room for a teammate.

Fortunately enough, the player that took over Rosales' spot was Archubi. Thanks to the ex-Lanus player we weren't left with yet another boring 0-0 vs. Arsenal (the first and second legs of the Copa Sudamericana 2007 brought us this result).

But Archubi shouldn't be the only player to be thanked for the three points: Goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo had another fantastic game and was once again the hero on the pitch. With this clean sheet, he continues a great run of not receiving goals in 7 of the 8 matches played in the Clausura.

Unfortunately, more action happened in the stands on the field. The neverending war between different groups of hooligans continued at Velez's stadium (the game was played there due to a multi-day concert taking place in the Monumental). A group known as La Banda de Gonzalo (fraction corresponding to ex-Los Borrachos del Tablon leader Adrian Rousseau) clashed with "los del Oeste" (group that ruled before Adrian and Alan's era) causing panic and havoc in the stands. The fight was actually much more brutal than some imagine. The final result? Several people injured, and many others arrested. But the question is why did all this happen? It seemed somewhat inevitable, but where were the 700+ policemen who were payed to keep the fans safe? Innocent fans -including children and women- were present at the stadium and shouldn't have to be part of all this. This needs to come to an end. No to violence, yes to football.

An Illness With No Cure

2008-03-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Ariel Ortega had unexpectedly missed yesterday's training session. Much was rumoured, but little was confirmed. It wasn't till today that the news was officially released: Unfortunately, "el Burrito" suffered yet another episode in his fight against alcohol.

This is nothing new. In fact, Ortega has a history of drinking problems. His current era in River began in June 2006, though he was set aside for long parts of the year due to this problem. In 2007 he returned to the team and had a strong pre-season. To make things better, he showed signs of good form and even scored a goal vs. Racing in a Torneo de Verano friendly. Shortly after, though, he fell in the alcohol trap once again and Daniel Passarella decided to seperate him from the team until he recuperated. In March of that year, he returned to the pitch. In June, River Plate's directives and coaching staff both agreed that the best thing to do was to place him in a rehabilitation clinic in order get rid of this illness once and for all.

Everything was on the right track since then, and alcohol now seemed like a thing of the past for the legend. To everyone's surprise a new incident happened yesterday. According to the Argentine press, Ariel had attended a party at a club on Wednesday (River was facing Universidad Catolica, but he didn't play because of an injury) and eventually ran into some alcohol. A few hours later he headed home, but the drinks were irreversable.

It is known that alcohol tends to make people react in extreme ways, and Ariel Ortega is no exception to this rule. In fact, the drinks brought out a rage in him, in what ultimately resulted in a heavy argument with his wife Danesa (physical abuse was rumoured to have happened). The neighbors, being concerned because of the loud noises that were occuring, called the Police to check-up on the Ortega household. After doing so, they took Ariel over to the local San Isidro Police station and held him there for approximately two hours.

Meanwhile, in Nuñez nobody knew what was going on with "el Burrito". The news finally broke out today, when Ortega appeared at the team's training session to explain to Simeone what had happened. He later trained with the team, though the "el Cholo" has decided that it is best for him to not concentrate for Sunday's game vs. Arsenal.

This is very unfortunate news. It is not good that he will be missing atleast one game, but this is secondary behind the fact that his illness has not vanished. We -the fans- may be sad to be missing a key player, but his wife, children, and friends will suffer more from losing an important person in their lives to alcohol. Hopefully this is the last episode of his illness - an illness with no cure.

River Plate: 2 - Universidad Catolica: 0 - Copa Libertadores 2008

2008-03-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

The timeclock had not even reached one full minute, yet the players sporting white-and-red jerseys were already celebrating. The truth is, 37 seconds had passed and Radamel Falcao Garcia (along with rival goalkeeper Buljubashich's help) took full advantage of his opportunity inside the penalty box to put River Plate up 1-0 over Universidad Catolica.

After this rapid pleasant surprise, "los Millonarios" stood their ground a bit more. This does not mean that they stopped attacking. In fact it was quite the contrary: the team had more clear opportunities than the Chileans, but were more cautious than usual.

In the second half River was a tad weaker, while Universidad Catolica some how gained some game. It was an overall boring 45 minutes, with the highlights being Abreu's goal, Luis Nunez's red card, and the injuries of several River players (Falcao, Tuzzio, Ahumada, and Cabral).

The Player Review -

Juan Pablo Carrizo: The future goalkeeper of Lazio does not get tired of displaying very solid performances. He made some top notch saves during the game and didn't commit any mistakes. Having agreed to officially join the Italian club at the end of the season, we must enjoy his world-class abilities while we can.
Paulo Ferrari: The defender often left empty spaces on the right side, causing the Chileans to have somewhat of an entry zone. As a side note, an important directive of Sevilla was in the Monumental analyzing Paulo in consideration of a future transfer.
Gustavo Cabral: The ex-Racing player had a good game and seems to be adapting slowly to the team. With no substitutions remaining, he effectively played a large portion of the second half injured.
Eduardo Tuzzio: Tuzzio did well, though he did commit some mistakes here and there. The negative? An injury caused him to be replaced by Danilo Gerlo. No word on the seriousness of it yet, but certain things indicate that he could miss a few games.
Cristian Villagra: The left-back provided us with another excellent performance. His poor levels are now a thing of the past, and it is no longer strange to have Cristian be one of the best playerse on the field.
Oscar Ahumada: Regular while on the pitch. The defensive midfielder was replaced towards the end of the first half by Ponzio due to an injury. He is expected to miss Sunday's encounter vs. Arsenal.
Matias Abelairas: Very active, especially in the first half. He recuperated the ball plenty of times, and also helped with some good offensive plays at the beginning of the game. As time passed, he began fading (something I had been noticing in the past as well). Does this mean that he is better suited as a substitute than a starter?
Mauro Rosales: The ex-Ajax foward was pure will. Mauro ran non-stop and helped both defensively (more than expected) and offensively. He has been improving lately, and Simeone seems to have recuperated a great player.
Diego Buonanotte: The "dwarf" was -once again- River's best player in terms of skill and disequilibration. He appeared on the left side, on the right side, through the middle. He gave good passes, regained the ball, juked opponents. Buonanotte improves game after game, and has rightfully auto-transformed himself from a sub to a key player.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: The Colombian played more up front, in his usual position. He awarded River with the 1-0 lead at the beginning of the game, and later continued contributing to the team in different ways. Positive image.
Sebastian Abreu: The Uruguayan foward was finally able to present us with a very good performance. He was the man of the match for participating in both goals (great assist for Falcao in the first goal, and he himself scored the second). He also ran a lot more and was very active. Last Sunday he witnessed the match vs. Velez from the bench. Was this what was needed to trigger a positive response from him?
The Substitutes -
Leonardo Ponzio: Replaced Ahumada and did well.
Nicolas Domingo: Nico played his first game since our loss vs. Universidad San Martin. Simeone brought him in to re-gain the ball and bring strength to the midfield. Not only did he do that, but a great run by him led to our second goal.
Danilo Gerlo: Decent match.

The Goals of the Match:

Velez Sarsfield: 0 - River Plate: 2 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-03-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

River Plate defeated Velez Sarsfield with a final scoreline of 2-0 to efficiently climb the table and reach the first place spot.

The goals were scored by Alexis Sanchez and Radamel Falcao Garcia. "Los Millonarios" were the much better side of the two in the first half, and the partial score could have in fact been much greater. In the last 45 minutes Velez looked much more committed to evening up the match and actually had clear opportunities to score some goals. River, on the other hand, seemed more relaxed and less clear than the first half, though this can be backed up by the fact that we were leading by two goals (this doesn't mean we should have taken the lead for granted, there could always be bad endings).

The Player Review -

Juan Pablo Carrizo: One of the key players of the game. Many chose Alexis Sanchez as the man of the match, but if Carrizo hadn't made all the amazing saves he did in the second half, Velez could have actually taken the three points.
Paulo Ferrari: Decent game, not much to comment on.
Gustavo Cabral: Improved as compared to previous matches, but still hasn't reached his peak. He hasn't convinced the fans nor -according to his interview with TyC Sports- himself yet. Will he ever become a stable player for River?
Eduardo Tuzzio: Arguably River's best defender today. He constantly recuperated the ball and was more similar to his old self for the first time in a while. He left an overall positive image.
Cristian Villagra: The ex-Rosario Central player gave yet another good performance. Nothing out of this world, but still a good game.
Alexis Sanchez: The Chilean was a key player to the three points we achieved. His contributions to the offense were fantastic.. and so was his help defensively! The team always benefits from his jukes and passes (and today's case his goal), but his pressure to recuperate the ball is also essential. A fantastic player, who will definitely be missed when his loan comes to an end.
Leonardo Ponzio: Regular game for Ponzio. He did not have any flaws, but didn't present any amazing characteristics either.
Matias Abelairas: The leftie did well and was important to the team's positive performance in the first half. Not only did he help with defensive duties, but he also connected the passes and played the ball well to the offensive players.
Diego Buonanotte: Dieguito played another fantastic team and is slowly consolidating himself as an undisputed starter on the team. When he's "on", he's unstoppable, and his speed brings electricity and excitement to the team. During the game he made several great plays, including good shots, passes, and jukes.
Mauro Rosales: The ex-Newell's and Ajax player showed lots of effort to prove himself. He does seem a bit slower than in the past, though he still has his positive contributions.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: Scored River's second goal with a great ground shot. Other than that, he didn't appear much. One thing was clear though: he looked much more comfortable in that position (center foward) than in the position he had been playing lately (more in the midfield; behind Sebastian Abreu).
The Substitutes -
Oscar Ahumada: Diego Simeone brought in Ahumada to help control Velez's offense, which looked much more fired up in the second half. He did well and completed his duties.
Gustavo Bou: Bou is an 18-year old right winger, who made his official Professional debut in the dying minutes of the game. Due to the lack of exposure he had in the game, not much was able to be concluded besides the fact that he looks exactly like ex-River player Luis "Lucho" Gonzalez.

The goals:

The victory has left River as the current league leaders (alongside arch-rivals Boca Juniors) with 15 points. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that Estudiantes and Velez both follow with 13 points, yet both have a respective suspended match.

River Plate - San Martin (SJ) Finalized

2008-03-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

River Plate finalized the remaining 13 minutes of their match vs. San Martin (SJ), with the partial 3-2 score now becoming permanent.

San Martin (SJ) went out with an offensive proposal, though they did not find too many clear chances. River, on the other hand, had less opportunities to score. Despite that, the clearest shot of the match arrived on behalf of Mauro Rosales towards the end of the game.

The three points have left River with 12 points, just behind Velez and Estudiantes (both with 13, though Velez has a suspended match).

As for the new jerseys, the second kit I speculated has been confirmed on River's o fficial website. Still, there is a lack of updates on the third jersey, but some sites seem to indicate that it will be a plain purple shirt (pictured to the right). We'll see what happens with that.

New Jerseys; Updates on Tomorrow's Match

2008-03-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

River Plate presented the team's new jersey earlier on today, with two very important footbalistic figures as the main characters of the event: Enzo Francescoli and Zinedine Zidane.

The jersey (pictured above) is not too different from our previous one and will be used for the next two years. The few differences I noticed are the following:

- The diagonal stripe ends a bit more in the center, causing the team emblem to be right on top of it.
- The collar is black on some parts.
- The back of the collar reads "El Mas Grande" (picture below). Nice way to advertise my blog, eh?

Meanwhile, there hasn't been any official news on the away jerseys, though I had seen this one previously and everything seems to indicate that it will be our second kit (pictured to the left).

As for tomorrow's game, Simeone has opted for an offensive formation and will be looking to cause the San Juaninos some problems. The following eleven will start:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Danilo Gerlo-Gustavo Cabral-Eduardo Tuzzio-Cristian Villagra;
Oscar Ahumada-Leonardo Ponzio;
Mauro Rosales-Radamel Falcao-Diego Buonanotte;
Sebastián Abreu

The game will last a total of 13 minutes, and will be played with one half of 7 minutes and another of 6, respectively.

Unfortunately some bad news was made public yesterday: Ariel Ortega and Augusto Fernandez have both suffered more severe injuries than everyone expected. "El Burrito" might be able to make it for next week's game vs. Universidad Catolica, while Fernandez will be out a while longer. One thing is for sure, though: neither of the two will be present on Sunday's key game vs. Velez Sarsfield.

To make things worse, the two will not be the only ones missing some matches. Alexis Sanchez and Radamel Falcao Garcia were called up by their respective national teams (Chile and Colombia) for some friendly matches and will be missing our next Copa Libertadores match. Long story short: at least four important squad members could be out in a tough game for us. Could things get any worse?

River Plate: 0 - Racing Club: 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-03-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Neither River Plate nor Racing Club were not able to find the net in an encounter played in the Estadio Monumental, which finished 0-0. Of the two sides, the one that was generally distinguished as the best side was the home team (River), due to having many more chances and actually looking to get ahead.

I am still rather impressed by River's defensive record: of the 6 games played in the Clausura so far, we only conceded goals vs. San Martin (SJ). On the other hand, Carrizo kept a clean sheet vs. Gimnasia (JJ), Newell's Old Boys, San Lorenzo, Estudiantes, and Racing Club. This shouldn't be taken for granted, for several of those teams have fantastic offensive players (Estudiantes is the top scoring team in the league this season, Newell's put 4 past Arsenal yesterday, San Lorenzo has the likes of D'Alessandro and Silvera, etc.). Despite the positive side, a worrying fact also arises: 3 of our 6 Clausura games have ultimately finished with a final score of 0-0. Why the lack of goals? It is true that we failed to impress vs. Estudiantes and Newell's, but yesterday we had several opportunities yet failed to score. This has been going on since the Passarella days and is definitely something we must improve on.

Perhaps the most unfortunate part of the game was Ariel Ortega's injury. He was fouled in a quick counterattack and was forced to abandon the field in the first half. There aren't many updates on how long he will be out for, but it isn't expected to be anything serious, though he could miss Sunday's key game vs. Velez.

Highlights of yesterday's match:

On Wednesday we will be making up the suspended portion of the game vs. San Martin (SJ). River is currently winning with a partial score of 3-2, though things could change in the remaining 12 minutes (will be played in two halves of six minutes each). There is no word on whether it will be televised or not(TyC Sports?), though I will make sure to keep everyone updated if there is any news.

Universidad Catolica: 1 - River Plate: 2 - Copa Libertadores 2008

2008-03-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

River Plate got through yet another difficult Copa Libertadores match, this time finding a win vs. Universidad Catolica of Chile. Just like in our previous encounter of the tournament (vs. America), we were able to scrape a win in the dying minutes of the game.

The overall performance of the team wasn't convincing at all, though the home side failed to impress as well. Lucily for us, the victory came in the hands of Sebastian Abreu and Mauro Rosales, who scored one goal each respectively.

The Player Review -
Juan Pablo Carrizo: The goalkeeper did not receive too many shots on behalf of the Chileans, and was more of a spectator than an actual player on the pitch. He did his job when he had to, and did not have fault in the goal. The bad news? His good performances have caused Lazio to confirm that he will officially start playing for them after this season.
Paulo Ferrari: In Simeone's tactics he seems to have less offensive duties. Defensively, meanwhile, he isn't the greatest player: the goal we conceded came in through his side, yet he was no where to be seen.
Gustavo Cabral: Like in previous games, the ex-Racing player was lost and was one of the worst on the pitch. He also gave away an easy ball that could have resulted in a goal for Catolica. On Sunday he will be resting, due to being expelled in his last Clausura match (vs. Estudiantes).
Eduardo Tuzzio: Arguably the best in the defense. Nothing fantastic, but solid nonetheless.
Cristian Villagra: More similar to the Villagra of last season than to the one we had recently been seeing. No contributions whatsoever, and he got an unnecessary yellow for pushing around a Chilean player (problems like this could effect us heavily in more important games).
Augusto Fernandez: The best player for "los millonarios". He ran non-stop, constantly went back to defend, and made good offensive runs (our first goal was completely thanks to him). A great game for a great player!
Leonardo Ponzio: Not as good of a game as his last few, but he was still one of our "better" players. He recuperated the ball all the time and didn't give the rivals too much space in the midfield.
Matias Abelairas: "Pitu" showed little to nothing and seems closer and closer to the bench as time passes. He has shown more when playing as a defensive midfielder than a winger, due to him not having too much offensive flare. Rumour has it that Archubi will now start over him on Sunday. This situation seems very similar to last season's with Passarella: he won himself a spot in the pre-season friendlies, played well in the first few matches, and then slowly started dropping after receiving regular opportunities.
Ariel Ortega: Played a role in the first goal, but other than that did not do much. He has been underperforming a bit lately, so hopefully his level of gameplay rises soon for the good of the team.
Alexis Sanchez: The Chilean was just not himself and seemed shy and pressured because of the bad treatment he received from the fans. He left with an injury, though he is expected to be fine by Sunday.
Sebastian Abreu: The Uruguayan scored his second goal with a River jersey, after being critisized for his lack of goal-scoring. Still, the goal was nearly "served" for him by Augusto Fernandez, so not much credit can be given to him.
The Substitutes -
Diego Buonanotte: The "dwarf" substituted Abelairas and helped the team tremendously, just like in our last game vs. America. He brings speed and quickness to our game, and he always pressures rival players (this is what led to Rosales' goal). A fantastic contribution to our squad.
Mauro Rosales: Came in in the second half and scored the winning goal. Besides that he seemed very active and with lots of will to leave a good image.
Oscar Ahumada: Played the last few mintues.. not enough to comment on.

The goals:

Universidad Catolica - River: The Preview

2008-03-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

River Plate will be experiencing a tough away match in Santiago, Chile tomorrow. The encounter will be vs. Universidad Catolica, who currently lie in second place in the Chilean Torneo Apertura.

Diego Simeone has once again decided to return to the 4-3-1-2, which resulted effective vs. San Lorenzo. The eleven players that will make up this formation will be:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;

Paulo Ferrari-Gustavo Cabral-Eduardo Tuzzio-Cristian Villagra;

Augusto Fernandez-Leonardo Ponzio-Matias Abelairas;

Ariel Ortega;

Alexis Sanchez-Sebastian Abreu;

The line-up shown above shows little changes from Sunday's game, though the differences may end up being larger. Ferrari will be replacing Gerlo and Ponzio will be coming in for Ahumada, both adding offensive flare to the squad. Augusto Fernandez, meanwhile, will be substituting Radamel Falcao Garcia (suspended), though Alexis Sanchez will technically be the one taking the Colombian's position.

On paper, foward Hector Tapia is the biggest threat to a possible clean sheet. He is Catolica's top goalscorer this season, and has an impressive track record in previous clubs such as Colo Colo, Palestino, and several other clubs. In my opinion, though, the Chilean's best player seems to be Dario Bottinelli. The Argentine is currently on loan from San Lorenzo -where he was unsuccessful- and has scored goals in both the Chilean league and the Copa Libertadores this semester.

A victory tomorrow will be extremely important, for whoever wins will find the top spot in Group 5. The match will be televised live on Fox Sports en Espanol at 5:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM Eastern Time.

Estudiantes: 0 - River Plate: 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-03-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

Neither River Plate nor Estudiantes were able to find the net in last night's encounter between the two, held in El Estadio Unico de La Plata.

The match was rather unentertaining, though the home side was much closer to initializing an open score in the first half as opposed to "los millonarios". River's clearest opportunity came on behalf of Sebastian Abreu, who completely missed a very accessible shot inside the penalty box.

The second half of the game was much more even. Despite that, River failed to leave a good impression, especially in the 80th minute when defender Gustavo Cabral was expelled for an unnecessary foul.

The complete highlights can be seen below:

River Plate: 3 - San Martin (SJ): 2 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-03-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

After a surprising 3-2 lead (surprising in the sense that we weren't winning by more), the match between River Plate and San Martin (SJ) was called off with 9 minutes remaining. The reason behind this was excessive amount of rain, which did not allow the players to run with the ball - literally.

River's goals were scored by Sebastian Abreu, Diego Buonanotte, and Cristian Nasuti. San Martin were able to minimize their partial loss thanks to their shot accuracy (.. and the ref, who completely invented a penalty in the first goal).

The game was pretty much River's to lose. The team had innumerous chances, yet failed to put the majority past the net. Diego Buonanotte and Alexis Sanchez, who were both starters, were brilliant, and were once again the best players on the team.

The goals:

The remaining 9 minutes will be made up on March 19th. Meanwhile, the squad will prepare to travel to La Plata, where we will be facing league contenders Estudiantes on Sunday. Vamos River!

River - San Martin (SJ): The Preview

2008-03-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

River Plate is currently preparing to receive San Martin (SJ) in the Monumental Stadium for the 4th Round of the Torneo Clausura 2008. After losing 1-0 against the same team last season, "los millonarios" will be looking to find revenge and also stay up in the fight for the tournament.

Simeone has decided that it's time for the rotation to commence, and therefore has decided to give some players rest. With that said, we will be seeing the following eleven tomorrow:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Danilo Gerlo-Cristian Nasuti-Cristian Villagra;
Augusto Fernandez-Leonardo Ponzio;
Alexis Sanchez-Ariel Ortega-Diego Buonanotte;
Sebastian Abreu

"El Cholo" has brought back the 4-2-3-1 formation that was so succesful in the Torneo de Verano vs. Boca, yet inefficient in our official game vs. Newell's Old Boys. Technically, though, a similar formation showed us a very offensive side in the second half vs. America on Wednesday and led us to the win. Besides the change in formation, several players will be missing: usual starters Cabral, Tuzzio, Ahumada, and Falcao are expected to rest this game, yet may enter the field later on in the match.

As mentioned previously, San Martin (SJ) beat us last time around, and shouldn't be taken as a "small and weaker" side. This season they got off to a good start, defeating both Argentinos Jrs. and San Lorenzo, but eventually falling to Boca Juniors (undeservedly, let me add). The green-and-black team has shown an organized defense, and only conceded goals in the game they lost (vs. Boca).

Last time around their goal was scored in a magnificent free-kick by defender Sebastian Brusco. Although we must be careful with his shots once again, their best player is considered to be Luis Fransico Tonelotto. The 29-year old striker spent three years of his career in Spain, before returning from the Old Continent. After that, he passed by a few different clubs before arriving at San Martin. Last season he was the club's top-scorer and will be looking to repeat the same achievement in the Clausura.

The match will be shown live on Fox Sports en Espanol at 11:00 AM Pacific / 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports World Canada will also be broadcasting the match (on tape delay) at 2:00 PM Pacific / 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

River Plate: 2 - America: 1 - Copa Libertadores 2008

2008-02-29T17:24:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night, River Plate managed to accumulate their first three points of the Copa Libertadores 2008 upon defeating America of Mexico. With this win, the team's chances of advancing to the next round have once again increased.

The match began poorly for "los Millonarios". Just after 15 minutes after the initial whistle blew, Salvador Cabañas scored and gave the Mexican side the partial victory. River were trying, but weren't showing much besides a few shots here and there (two hit the post). Fortunately, Falcao was able to put the ball through the net, and therefore equalize the match.

The first 45 minutes ended, and 1-1 was a fair result. Both teams had their chances to be up, but neither was able to stick out more than the other, and thus were not able to find many advantages.

The second half was pretty much one-sided. Diego Simeone opted to play an offensive scheme, bringing in Alexis Sanchez for Paulo Ferrari and Diego Buonanotte for Matias Abelairas. This left the team with only three defenders, one defensive midfielder, and 6 very offensive players (Ortega, Falcao, A. Sanchez, Abreu, Buonanotte, and A. Fernandez). Luckily enough, America did not take advantage of the situation and went out with a more conservative style of play. This allowed River to easily recuperate the ball and continue attacking. As time passed, Armando Navarrete (goalkeeper for the "Aguilas") slowly began transforming himself into the player of the game with his endless saves. To make things worse, Falcao was expelled in the 89th minute due to getting in a small fight with a rival player. Everything indicated that the match would end as a draw, especially without the prescence of our key foward, but Ariel Ortega found the ball inside the box in injury time and efficiently put it past Navarette.

The Player Review -
Juan Pablo Carrizo: A few good saves in the first half and not much to do in the second. Overall, another good game for the keeper.
Paulo Ferrari: Didn't show much while on the pitch. Correctly substituted in the second half.
Gustavo Cabral: The ex-Racing player didn't play as well as he had on Sunday vs. San Lorenzo, but he had a decent game nonetheless. Either way, there's always room for improvement.
Eduardo Tuzzio: His error led to America's goal. After that he improved a bit. I may not seem to mad at him since we won, but if we had lost the game he would have been my main target.
Cristian Villagra: Just like Cabral, Villagra failed to repeat Sunday's performance. At times he would go up to attack and leave the left part of the defense way too open. Was Sunday's game just a one-time thing?
Augusto Fernandez: The right-winger has yet to duplicate last season's form. He did well at times (centered the ball in our first goal), though he still hasn't been all that convincing in the last few games.
Oscar Ahumada: Great game for the defensive midfielder. Ahumada was left with the tough task of controlling the defensive duties of a very offensive team in the second half. He did it by himself and in a convincing manner. Positive performance.
Matias Abelairas: "Pitu" was never able to get himself going, and his substitution eventually brought a better River to the pitch. Based on his season so far, though, he still deserves a spot on the starting squad.
Ariel Ortega: Despite starting the game a bit slow, Ortega improved as time progressed. It wasn't his best game, yet he managed to do a few good things. Most importantly, he scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute of the match.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: An essential player to the team. His contributions and efforts are priceless, and his goal once again helped the team raise it's confidence. Towards the end of the match he was expelled in an unnecessary fight and will be missing the next two games vs. Universidad Catolica.
Sebastian Abreu: Besides assisting Falcao in a great manner in the first goal, the Uruguayan did not do much and has yet to improve. Will he ever debut his goalscoring skills with River's jersey?
The Substitutes -
Alexis Sanchez: The Chilean entered during half time to replace Paulo Ferrari and completely changed the face of the game by adding flare to the attack. I am also impressed by his effort in returning to recuperate the ball, something most players of his caliber do not usually do.
Diego Buonanotte: Another key player in the win. Other than assisting Ortega in the second goal, he constantly attacked and posed a serious threat to America. This is not the first time he enters the field and plays very well, so if he doesn't begin starting anytime soon he will definitely be a super-sub for the squad.

The goals:

With this win, River have managed to reach the first place spot in the group, which we are currently sharing with the other three teams (all four have 3 points). Our next Libertadores game will be in Chile against Universidad Catolica, but we must first worry about our Clausura matches vs. San Martin (SJ) and Estudiantes. Vamos River!

River - America: The Preview

2008-02-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

Our second match corresponding to the Copa Libertadores 2008 will take place tomorrow in the Monumental Stadium. Our rivals will be America of Mexico, the toughest team in the group on paper and in terms of history.

Diego Simeone has decided to field the efficient formation that led the team to a win over San Lorenzo on Sunday. Therefore, the following will be on the field from Minute 0:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Gustavo Cabral-Eduardo Tuzzio-Cristian Villagra;
Augusto Fernandez-Oscar Ahumada-Matias Abelairas;
Ariel Ortega;
Radamel Falcao Garcia-Sebastian Abreu

High quality players such as Alexis Sanchez, Leonardo Ponzio, Mauro Rosales, and Diego Buonanotte, meanwhile, will be waiting on the bench with expectations of entering the field and helping the team with their tremendous amount of skill.

The key player to look out for on the Mexican side will definitely be Salvador Cabañas. The Paraguayan International striker was chosen the Best South American Footballer in 2007 due to his impressive scoring (37 goals last year). His qualities led him to become to the Top Goalscorer of the Chilean League, the Mexican League, and the last edition of the Copa Libertadores. Ex-River foward Federico Higuain (Gonzalo's brother) will be on the bench, but he can prove to be vital: the two times he faced River he scored against the club (both times playing for Nueva Chicago). In fact, he even managed to score America's winning goal vs. Universidad Catolica in the 90th minute, leading the "Aguilas" to the first place spot in the group for now.

This will be a very important game for River. A win can help the team catch up to the top spots of the group. Since Universidad Catolica defeated Universidad San Martin today (1-0 in favor of the Chileans), all four teams would be sharing the same position with three points. A loss, meanwhile, could result in a tough position: the "Millonarios" would end up 6 points away from America with some tough games awaiting the squad.

The game will be shown live tomorrow on Fox Sports en Espanol at 2:30 PM Pacific / 5:30 PM Eastern Time. A tape delay will also be shown on the same channel at 8:00 PM Pacific / 11:00 PM Eastern Time.

River Plate: 2 - San Lorenzo: 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-02-25T23:46:00.000-08:00

River Plate managed to pull off a convincing win over San Lorenzo yesterday, thanks to goalscorers Radamel Falcao Garcia and Matias Abelairas. The team may have not played pure attractive football throughout the 90 minutes, but they did show an organized and competitive scheme that clearly made River deserve the three points. With a strong defense and an effective offense, "los Millonarios" were able to win and therefore increase the team's total points in the Clausura to seven.

As mentioned previously, the defense had a good match (it was about time!). Gustavo Cabral played his best game since arriving in January, Paulo Ferrari recuperated the ball plenty of times, and Eduardo Tuzzio was firm. But perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was Cristian Villagra, who had an excellent game. He had been playing well in the last few encounters, but yesterday he was arguably the best player on the pitch for a large amount of time. This is completely contrary to last season, where he was not able to find his form the whole year. If he continues playing like he has lately, he can become a class act for the club.

The best midfielders were probably Augusto Fernandez and Matias Abelairas. The two fought for each ball as if it were the last, and made a huge impact in the final score. Ariel Ortega, meanwhile, did not have a good night (besides a few good passes here and there). As for the fowards, Falcao's contributions were more than evident: he ran the whole game -like usual- and scored the first goal. Sebastian Abreu, on the other hand, showed little to nothing, and has yet to impress the fans.

The two goals:

The team's best characteristics were those of playing as a "team" and fighting for every ball. As seen above on the first goal, it was created by a set piece. But that corner kick was not just any corner kick: most players would have usually let that ball go out, but Augusto Fernandez fought for it till the end, forcing the San Lorenzo defender to touch it and concede a corner kick. The final result? Falcao's goal. This was constantly seen in the game, and although it may not be the prettiest way of playing football, its efficiency could lead to long term results and trohpies.

Our next game will be our midweek Libertadores match vs. America of Mexico. It will be a very tough match, but if River manage to repeat Sunday's performance a win is definitely obtainable. Make sure to check back on Tuesday for the preview!

River - San Lorenzo: The Preview

2008-02-23T13:12:00.000-08:00

River Plate will be facing San Lorenzo tomorrow in what will be the team's third appearance in the Torneo Clausura 2008.

After two games played, "los millonarios" currently hold 4 points (1 win and 1 tie). Think River didn't exactly get off to the perfect start? Think again.. After looking at San Lorenzo's start of the season, our partial records look glorious: they played 4 games (two for the Clausura, and two for the Libertadores), lost 3, and tied 1. What's even worse is that they haven't even scored a goal in any of their four matches. Either way, the "Cuervos" poor start shouldn't be taken for granted. They have arguably the best squad in the whole Argentine league, and from one day to the other they can transform losses to goleadas in their favor.

The following eleven have been chosen by Diego Simeone to start tomorrow:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Gustavo Cabral-Eduardo Tuzzio-Cristian Villagra;
Augusto Fernandez-Oscar Ahumada-Matias Abelairas;
Ariel Ortega;
Radamel Falcao Garcia-Sebastian Abreu

The confirmation of this team means the official return of the 4-3-1-2 formation, which hadn't been seen since Daniel Passarella resigned from his position. This proves that Simeone wasn't fully convinced with neither the 3-3-3-1 or the 4-2-3-1 formations he had fielded before, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he will stick with the 4-3-1-2 either. For now, though, this seems like the correct decision, for most of the players will feel comfortable and in their actual positions now (Falcao as a forward, and not a playmaker; Ortega in the center, and not on the left side; Augusto Fernandez being a bit more forward).

San Lorenzo, meanwhile, will have several different weapons on hand that will cause plenty of fear to Carrizo & Co. Andres D'Alessandro -in my opinion the best River player of the last decade-, was incorporated by Ramon Diaz's side in January. His constant jukes, precise passes, and magnificent shots will without a doubt pose a real threat. Forward Andres Silvera knows just how to put the ball past the net and will be looking to end CASLA's goal-less streak.

The game will be played in River's Monumental Stadium and will be shown live on Fox Sports en Espanol at 11:00 AM Pacific / 1:00 PM Eastern Time. A tape delay will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports World Canada at 2:00 PM Pacific / 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Newell's Old Boys: 0 - River Plate: 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-02-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

River Plate finished the second round of the Torneo Clausura 2008 with a total of 4 of a possible 6 points. After defeating Gimnasia (JJ) last week, we tied 0-0 in a rather unimpressive match vs. Newell's Old Boys.

Although there were slight improvements as compared to our loss vs. San Martin in the Copa Libertadores, the team still failed to impress fans and has yet to succeed in portraying Diego Simeone's offensive tactics.

Both teams had a few good opportunities here and there, but the best player of the match was Juan Pablo Carrizo. The goalkeeper made several incredible saves (literally) and avoided a defeat to the hands of the "Leprosos". Our most interesting opportunities, meanwhile, were at times saved by Justo Villar (Newell's' goalkeeper), the goal post (on Cristian Villagra's shot), and the referree (who did not call a penalty against Sebastian Abreu -pictured above-).

Next week we must face San Lorenzo. The team will finally receive some rest, after having played three games this week following a tough pre-season. Hopefully this leads to some much needed improvement and three more points.

U. San Martin: 2 - River Plate: 0 - Copa Libertadores 2008

2008-02-14T15:43:00.000-08:00

First it was Cienciano, then Almagro, Godoy Cruz, San Martin (SJ), Tigre, Olimpo, Arsenal, Caracas...... now Universidad San Martin of Peru. Yes: River Plate have managed to achieve the unimaginable and lost to a team that was just recently founded 4 years ago and has an average crowd attendance of 50 people per match.

Truth be told, the Peruvians were not 11 Maradonas. Although they were constantly over-praised by the commentators, they did seem very mediocre and very few of them actually seemed like talented players. Their overall gameplay wasn't anything fantastic, and the only reason I could say they deserved the win was just because River played a worse, less organized game.

Our offense continously lacked ideas, while our defense went from bad to horrible. I leave you guys with the "P.R":

The Player Review -

Juan Pablo Carrizo: JP had a really good game and made some great saves. One of the few players that can actually escape from being bashed this time.
Paulo Ferrari: The ex-captain of the team was slow, attacked horribly, and defended even worse. If he is one day remembered for being a great player, it surely won't be for what he did yesterday.
Eduardo Tuzzio: The central defender continues showing signs that he will be turning 34-years old this year. Despite his positives, he has become a slow player who takes way too long to react (a common symptom for his age). Once a strong and secure player, we cannot rely on Tuzzio for these characteristics anymore.
Gustavo Cabral: The ex-Racing player still has a debt with River fans: having arrived a month ago, he still lacks good performances. Over the summer he received red cards, and was often the victim of poor performances. Yesterday wasn't an exception.
Cristian Villagra: Arguably the best on the backline, yet he still had a bad game. Not much was shown by the defender, though not too many errors were committed by him either.
Augusto Fernandez: Little to nothing. At the beginning he did a few interesting things, but his game decreased as time passed.
Nicolas Domingo: I love the kid and see a bright future ahead of him, but yesterday wasn't his day. He was replaced by Falcao during half-time, which was the correct decision based on his performance.
Leonardo Ponzio: The defensive midfielder had a fantastic game, especially when he was left as the lone DMF when Domingo left the field. He recuperated the ball throughout the whole game and made some amazing saves in which he single-handedly avoided goals. Ponzio was without a doubt the best player for "los millonarios" last night.
Ariel Ortega: "El Burrito" wasn't the player we are used to seeing: he failed his juke attempts, his passes were unsuccessful, and he had little overall influence in the team's offensive duties. As proven in the past, much more can be shown on behalf of Ariel.
Alexis Sanchez: Along with Ortega, he was probably the most marked player on the field. He did very little while on the pitch - a rare thing for the Chilean.
Sebastian Abreu: The Uruguayan had a relatively good game and was River's best attacking gun. A few good headers summed up the night for the foward, who was unable to get the ball past the goalkeeper.
The Substitutes -
Radamel Falcao Garcia: The Colombian replaced Domingo in the second half with the mission of adding offensive flare to the team. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, though this could be due to the fact that he had to play further down the field than his usual position. He didn't touch the ball too often, causing his presence to not leave any marks.
Matias Abelairas: Decent game, yet little shown. There's always room for improvement.
Mauro Rosales: Nothing at all from the ex-Ajax foward. Many fans are starting to lose patience with him, and although he will continue to be given opportunities, his level of gameplay is expected to improve greatly if he plans to continue receiving chances.

Although this loss hurts deeply and could just be a preview of what the future will be like, one shouldn't be let down just yet: last year Boca Juniors were humiliated in the group stage (lost 3-0 to Cienciano and Toluca) and still won the tournament. In fact, the last time the champions of the Libertadores won their first game was in 2004 - in 2005, Sao Paulo tied with The Strongest (BOL), in 2006 Internacional couldn't defeat Maracaibo (VEN), and last year Boca had trouble taking one point vs. Bolivar (BOL).

My point? Nobody will be happy with yesterday's display, but we must not lose confidence and should stick with the team till the end.

Vamos River!

River Plate: 2 - Gimnasia (JJ): 0 - Torneo Clausura 2008

2008-02-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

River Plate defeated Gimnasia de Jujuy in our opening match of the Torneo Clausura 2008, with a final result of 2-0. The goals were scored by Matias Abelairas and Paulo Ferrari, both off of set pieces.

In the first half, River did not leave an overall good image. With Gimnasia's defensive tactical scheme (8 players defending, 2 attacking), it was hard for the team to find open spaces.

During the last 45 minutes, things changed: thanks to "Pitu" Abelairas' goal, the away team was forced to begin attacking and "los millonarios" began improving in terms of gameplay. Not only did Ferrari's goal arrive, but the team was able to create more chances that unfortunately did not go in.

Alexis Sanchez did not have one of his incredibly inspired nights, but he still managed to be one of the most interesting players on the field. Diego Buonanotte, who entered the field in the second half, was arguably the best player of the night.

The two goals:

Although it may not seem like that much of an important win, it truly was: in 2007 we were not able to defeat this same team (0-1 at home; 2-2 away). Looking into the present, it also had a great deal of matter, for none of the other "big 5" teams won (Boca tied with Central, Racing just got a point vs. Olimpo, Independiente lost to Lanus, and San Lorenzo were taken down by Newell's Old Boys).

With this game now officially a thing of the past, we must begin to concentrate on the future, which will included decisive compromises. The always-difficult Newell's Old Boys await us in Rosario for the next round of the Torneo Clausura, but we must first travel to Lima, Peru to face Universidad San Martin in our first match of the Copa Libertadores 2008.

River - Gimnasia (JJ): The Preview

2008-02-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

River Plate will be debuting in the Torneo Clausura 2008 tomorrow against Gimnasia (Jujuy). Hopes are high, and although no one can be fully confident on the team after last year's failures, it would be a lie to claim that one is not excited about Simeone's proposal of an attractive offensive football display.

"El Cholo" will be fielding the same team that defeated Boca Juniors last week, with the exception of Sebastian Abreu (his transfer hasn't gone through yet). Therefore, the following eleven will be playing from the first minute:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Eduardo Tuzzio-Gustavo Cabral-Cristian Villagra;
Oscar Ahumada-Matias Abelairas;
Mauro Rosales-Ariel Ortega-Alexis Sanchez;
Radamel Falcao Garcia

Keep in mind that although this will be the starting team tomorrow, there is no promise that they will continue being on the first team throughout the season: Ponzio and Gerlo will not be playing due to being suspended, Abreu's transfer hasn't gone through, Omar Merlo (defender from Colon) was just recently incorporated, and others such as Augusto Fernandez, Archubi, Nasuti, etc. will continue fighting for a spot.

Gimnasia (JJ), meanwhile, will be presenting a very conservative 3-5-1-1 (only one attacking midfielder and one foward). Unless a last-minute surprise is planned by the coach of "el lobo", River will have to rely heavily on Ortega and Sanchez's creativeness to get through their defensive scheme.

The match will be shown live on TyC Sports USA at 1:30 PM Pacific / 4:30 PM Eastern Time.

Argentina: 5 - Guatemala: 0 - Friendly in Los Angeles

2008-02-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

Argentina defeated the Guatemalan National Team by 5-0 in the Los Angeles Coliseum. The goals were scored by Higuain (2), Lavezzi, Maidana, and Marco Ruben.

I am not going to get into a detailed report, since this blog is about River and not the Argentine NT, but if you'd like to see what it was like in the stands, you can read my report here.

The following is a compilation I made, which includes both photos and videos of the fans:

River Plate: 3 - Boca Juniors: 2 - Copa Revancha 2008

2008-02-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

River Plate have been declared the first Argentine Bi-Champions of 2008. Wait, wait, wait.. don't get too excited: the team only won two friendly tournaments (Torneo de Verano and the Copa Revancha 2008), but at least it shows that the team is heading in the right direction.

The second friendly trophy of the season was won after "los millonarios" defeated Boca Juniors by 3-2. The game began with the Xeneizes winning with a great header by Gabriel Paletta. After that, River were showing little sign of life, allowing our rivals to dominate the game. Fortunately enough Radamel Falcao Garcia was able to find the net, allowing us to tie the match. A while later Abreu would score. Before you knew it, we were (undeservedly) winning 2-1. From thereon after, River learned to take control of the game. Led by an inspired Alexis Sanchez, the team produced an inexistant penalty -taken by Ariel Ortega- that would increase our lead even more. After that, the team failed to take advantage of a few other situations, and finished the first half above 3-1.

As soon as the second half commenced, referee Sergio Pezzotta seemed to want to apologize to Boca Juniors for his first half mistake (called an inexistant penalty for River) and awarded them with an inexistant penalty as well. Just like in the other play, a player was expelled, this time Paulo Ferrari being the victim. Martin Palermo then traded the penalty for a goal. Having lost a defender, Diego Simeone was forced to make a defensive substitution, and therefore subbed out Ariel Ortega with Rodrigo Archubi. This caused River to lose plenty of offensive power. Eventually Leonardo Ponzio and Gustavo Cabral were also expelled, leaving us with only 8 players for the remainder of the match. With two more players on the field, Boca had the game opened up to them, yet they failed to score one more goal.

The Player Review -
Juan Pablo Carrizo: No key saves, no major mistakes. Decent game for JP.
Paulo Ferrari: Poor Paulo had to put up with Rodrigo Palacio's diving and complains throughout the whole game. In fact, one of Palacio's dives in the box earned him a red card.
Gustavo Cabral: The ex-Racing player still hasn't consolidated himself as a starter on this team. Although he is considered one of the starting eleven, he hasn't done much to earn himself the spot. From the impression he's left me in the last few friendlies, he seems a bit nervous and commits a lot of fouls. Either way, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and some time to improve.
Eduardo Tuzzio: Not the same player as a few years ago, but still one of our best in defense. Last night he covered Palermo well, and made him unnoticeable throughout most of the game.
Cristian Villagra: I was surprised by the level of the ex-Rosario Central player. Although he's one of the players on our current squad whom I dislike most, he did play a good match, both offensive and defensively. If he continues playing like this, I would say it's fair to give him another shot.
Oscar Ahumada: Recuperated the ball plenty of times, and seems like he is regaining himself a spot.
Matias Abelairas: "Pitu" made Ahumada's job a lot easier by recovering the ball constantly on the left side. Interesting game by Abelairas, who also played well against San Lorenzo on Saturday.
Ariel Ortega: Not the best of games for "el Burrito". He did participate in two goals, though: he assisted Abreu in our second goal, and scored the third one himself.
Alexis Sanchez: Another fantastic game for the Chilean. I would go as far as saying that he was the sole reason we were initally able to flip the partial 0-1 result in the first half. An amazing assist to Falcao for the 1-1 tie, and an immense display of his dribbling abilities in our third goal were the key parts of his performance. I only wish his loan with us (ends in June) could be extended: I just can't get enough of his Jogo Bonito.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: After recuperating his spot on the first team, the Colombian did not let Simeone down. He scored an exiquiste goal, and played an overall good game. One of our best players, just behind Sanchez.
Sebastian Abreu: The Uruguayan scored our second goal. Although it may initially look like an easy goal, upon watching the replays one may realize that he could have missed it as well. I am not saying that I didn't expect him to score, but I believe it was actually a lot harder that it seemed. But he didn't only help our attack: after being left with 8 (2 defenders and one defensive midfielder expelled), "el Loco" went back and helped with the team's defensive duties. This definitely made him go up one level in my books. He did commit some mistakes, though, such as often taking too long to shoot, but I'll cut him some slack due to the other positives he showed.
The Substitutes -
Rodrigo Archubi: The ex-Lanus player continues leaving me with the same impression as in the last few friendlies: he's way too slow. His attacks are way too obvious at his speed, while his defending isn't anything miraculous. Unfortunately, it seems as if we made the wrong choice by bringing him in.
Leonardo Ponzio: Came in in the second half and was expelled. Not much more I can say.

The goals can be seen by clicking on the text in red. If anything, here are the complete highlights:

Torneo de Verano 2008: Champions

2008-01-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

After today's 1-0 victory over San Lorenzo, River were crowned champions of the Torneo de Verano 2008. Not like it has any significance, but this was the second year in a row in which "los millonarios" won the tournament, having won the previous edition in 2007.

This time around, Simeone presented us with a 4-2-2-2 -like formation. Although it was supposedly a 4-3-1-2 on paper, this is what it looked like on the field:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Cristian Nasuti-Gustavo Cabral-Cristian Villagra;
Oscar Ahumada-Matias Abelairas;
Mauro Rosales-Ariel Ortega;
Radamel Falcao Garcia-Sebastian Abreu;

The only goal of the match came through a penalty, taken by the Uruguayan Sebastian Abreu. Although the result implies a boring match, River displayed pretty attractive football (considering it was only a friendly game) and had complete domination over San Lorenzo. The final scoreline was rather minor, though it could have been increased if Paulo Ferrari had not missed his penalty shot. Either way, the team left me (and most River fans in general) happy with what they showed in their 90 minute of fame.

The Player Review -

Juan Pablo Carrizo: The goalkeeper seemed to be a little risky, just like vs. Boca, yet he had some good saves.
The Whole Defense: Solid. Except for a header by Bilos in the commencing moments of the match, San Lorenzo had little to no action in River's back-zone.
Oscar Ahumada: Good game for the DMF. He was over-praised by the Fox commentators, though there could have been something I missed. Still, I believe Ponzio deserves the spot over him.
Matias Abelairas: Recuperated a lot and did well. Not enough to deserve a spot in the starting eleven, but "Pitu" continues being a good alternative for those busy Libertadores-Clausura schedules.
Ariel Ortega: "El Burrito" continues being a magician. He had great jukes, those extremely impressive passes, those precise shots. He just played the first 45 minutes, but when he was on the field he was on fire.
Mauro Rosales: "Speedy" brought plenty of speed to the game (who would have thought that a guy with that nickname would do so?!). Still, he has plenty of room for improvement: his centers have gotten worse, and his moves are often predictable. If he completes a good pre-season, though, he will be very important to the team this coming semester.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: In Simeone's new system, Falcao is no longer the "goleador", but rather the complimenting striker. He was very active on the field, gave good passes, and almost scored a goal or two. In my opinion, he continues proving that he should be on the first team.
Sebastian Abreu: Took his penalty in a very good manner. In the rest of the match, he showed willingness and had some interesting things, though I would still put him behind Falcao.
The Substitutes -
Alexis Sanchez: The Chilean came in for the second half and completely upgraded River's offensive powers. His jukes dazzeled fans and pundits alike, while San Lorenzo's player could not stop fouling him. In fact, our only goal came from a penalty that was produced by a foul against him. From my point of view, he was the man of the match.
Diego Buonanotte: "El Enano" entered the field in the second half as well, and had a good game. He ran a lot and gave some great passes (including one that left Falcao one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper). There is no doubt that he will be a vital super-sub in 2008.

Overall River left us with a positive image. They constantly attacked, yet maintained a solid defense. Another point I noticed was that the team displayed fast football, with many fast touches - something that was often missing in Passarella's era.

On Saturday we will be facing Boca Juniors once again. It will be another friendly match, but definitely not a game you'll want to miss.

River Plate: 0 - Boca Juniors: 2 - Torneo de Verano 2008

2008-01-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

Boca Juniors defeated River Plate by 2-0 in the annual Torneo de Verano Superclasico friendly match.

In the first half, River left the impression of being the better team, with a fast attack and an offensive mentality. Despite that, the blue-and-yellow side were the ones to find the partial advantage in the first half thanks to midfielder Sebastian Battaglia.

In the last fourty-five minutes, the gameplay from "los millonarios" decreased, causing Boca to find the finalizing goal after a header by Martin Palermo. This second goal was illegal, according to FIFA rules, since the #9 was hanging himself off the post.

Although this match wasn't too important due to being a friendly match,I would have wanted to see more from River. The new incorporations brought some of the biggest upsets, with very little action on behalf of Rodrigo Archubi and Sebastian Abreu. The best player, meanwhile, was Ariel Ortega - the new team captain. Now the question is: is the 3-3-3-1 formation suitable for River, or should we return to the old 4-3-1-2? Hopefully as time progresses the team starts functioning ideally to Simeone's standards and begins winning tournaments.

After facing San Lorenzo on Tuesday for the last game of the friendly tournament, River will have yet another encounter against Boca Juniors on Saturday.

The Seven Million Dollar Man

2008-01-23T21:51:00.000-08:00

I was astonished yesterday when I mentioned that River's representative in the National Team squad was going to be Marco Ruben. Even more surprisingly enough, there will no longer be any current River player in the game vs. Guatemala. How come -- was Ruben excluded from the list? No. One of the biggest shocks of the week was made official today, when "los millonarios" confirmed that the ex-Rosario Central foward will be sold to Villarreal of Spain for... seven million dollars! The transfer also guarantees us 15% of a future sale.

In many ways, this is good news. At the moment he was behind Abreu and Falcao, meaning that he wouldn't receive too many minutes this coming season. Not only that, but his statistics in River are anything but impressive (7 goals in 36 games). That's just barely a bit more than 3 goals per season.

Perhaps the best part of this whole sale (putting the economic point aside) is that it nearly confirms that Radamel Falcao Garcia will be staying. Just a few days ago the club mentioned that they were going to sell one of the two fowards, but selling both would enfuriate Diego Simeone. Besides, today they rejected a $12,460,000 offer from Deportivo La Coruna, meaning that Aguilar & Co. are in no hurry to sell this time around.

As for possible incorporations, Sebastian Leto continues being the closest option. Rumour has it that he has his arrival details confirmed and would be arriving on loan, yet without a future transfer clause.

Argentina-Guatemala Ticket Information; River Updates

2008-01-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

The tickets for the Argentina-Guatemala game in Los Angeles are now officially on sale. I just ordered four from the official Ticketmaster website, and one can do the same by visiting this link (it will take you directly to the match page).

RESERVED SEATING $25.00 - $75.00
NON-RESERVED GENERAL ADMISSION SEATING $25.00

Internet Onsale to General Public: Tue, 01/22/08 05:00 PM PST

GEBKA'S CO. PRESENTS ARGENTINA VS. GUATEMALA
LOS ANGELES COLISEUM
WED FEB 6 2008 7:30 PM

Although Lionel Messi has been excluded from the list due to being prone to injury (he just barely returned to the pitch), other great players will form part of the squad. Riquelme, Mascherano, Demichelis, Aguero, Lavezzi, Zabaletta, Higuain, Gago, amongst others, are part of the 18-man list. Besides the fact that many ex-River players will be present (Mascherano, Demichelis, and Higuain), a shocking surprise was the inclusion of a current "millonario" on the team: none other than Marco Ruben. Despite not being able to consolidate himself as a solid player for River, the ex-Rosario Central player has been called-up and could have a chance of playing in the Olympics if he completes an effective task.

As for River news, the transfer market is anything but closed. Sebastian Leto, an Argentine left-winger with little playing time in Liverpool, could follow Archubi's footsteps and join the club on the loan. The similarities between the two are more than alike: both play on the left wing, both would be arriving from Europe, both played in Lanus last year... the list can go on. Unfortunately, in order to bring in players, Aguilar puts his "I buy, I sell" rule to effect: the club is said to be prepared to sell one foward (either Falcao or Marco Ruben) to a European club before the start of the season. Falcao is wanted by Aston Villa, while Ruben is being followed closely by Deportivo La Coruna and Villarreal.

Apologies to everyone for turning this River blog into an Argentinean one. I contained myself during the Copa America and didn't make any posts related to the team, but I couldn't help it now: it's not everyday that the Argentine National Team comes to my city!

Off-topic: Argentina in Los Angeles

2008-01-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Argentina will be playing a friendly match vs. the Guatamalan National Team in Los Angeles on Wednesday, February 6th. The encounter will be part of the preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The match will begin at 7:30 PM. The arriving squad is unknown for now, though it will be confirmed on Tuesday. Either way, it doesn't take a genious to anticipate a U-23 squad (with the additions of Riquelme, Demichelis, and Mascherano), due to the Argentine staff's will to prepare the team for the coming Olympics. Don't be surprised if players like Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Mauro Zarate, Gonzalo Higuain, Ever Banegas, Oscar Ustari, etc. form part of the team that will be playing the Central Americans.

The tickets, which will be priced between $25-75, will be available through several different methods:
- Outside the stadium in the ticket stands. Arguably the most common method, though one would have to wait in line.
- Online through Ticketmaster. This is probably the easiest way to get a hold of your tickets, though there is a small service fee.
- By charge by phone. In my opinion, the other two are the better options. Still, one can still chose to order them this way by calling (213)480-3232.

A huge positive to ordering them in advanced is that you will receive free admissions to see the team train in the Coliseum the day before the match (confirmed by the official website of the stadium). The training session will begin at 7:30 PM, and in order to get in you must present your actual game tickets.

I do not work for the company who is organizing this friendly match, nor do I get commission for every ticket sold. I am just a fanatic of Argentina, who will be attending the game and would like to see as many people as possible. If you (or anyone you know) have the opportunity, make sure to attend this event. I am trying to make this a huge party, so the taking of balloons, confetti, flags, etc. is highly welcomed. Spread the word!

*Note: Click on the image to enlarge it.

Third Incorporation: Rodrigo Archubi

2008-01-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

River Plate have confirmed the arrival of Rodrigo Archubi on loan for six months. After his term with "la banda" concludes, "los millonarios" will have the possibility to purchase 50% of the transfer of the ex-Lanus player.

When everything indicated that he would joining the team last semester, the deal fell through. Fortunately enough, we were able to acquire Rodrigo this time around. He has signed his contract and will be traveling to Mar del Plata to meet and train with his fellow teammates tomorrow.

The arrival of Archubi will bring a lot of tranquility to Diego Simeone: the 22-year old is accustomed to playing both as a left-back and a left-winger, positions in which we currently lack talented players. Rodrigo knows how to attack and defend, and therefore pictures to be a vital part of Simeone's tactics. Statistically, he is also an interesting player: despite arriving from an unsuccessful season in Greece, he was able to play for Lanus's starting team for over four years and achieved a tournament title with the Argentine National U-20 team in the 2005 World Cup.

Having incoporated a defender (Gustavo Cabral), a midfielder (Rodrigo Archubi), and a foward (Sebastian Abreu) over this pre-season break, River Plate will be retiring from the transfer market sooner than later. A maximum of four player inscriptions are allowed over the Summer session in Argentina, meaning that "el cholo" could be looking to bring in one more player to complete his fantasy team.

As for tomorrow's game vs. Racing (second round of the Torneo de Verano 2008), River will once again use an alternative squad. The game will be shown on tape delay on Fox Soccer Channel at 8:00 PM Pacific / 11:00 PM Eastern Time, as well as on Fox Sports en Espanol at 12:00 AM Pacific / 3:00 AM Eastern Time.

Official Traitor

2008-01-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

Not to long ago, I had mentioned the possibility of an ex-River player joining Boca Juniors. Unfortunately, the undesirable became reality a few days ago, when Julio Cesar Caceres signed his contract with the Xeneizes, confirmed his arrival, and even tried on his new jersey.

The transfer of the Paraguayan to Boca has left a very bitter taste in the mouth of River Plate fans. Less than two years ago, he was our undisputed starting center-back, and was even chosen as captain of the team by Daniel Passarella. That same year, he received more minutes than almost any other player on the team, and also constantly received a standing ovation on behalf of the fans. When his loan came to an end, Jose Maria Aguilar attempted to make his stay with los millonarios permanent, but Caceres was unhappy with his contract terms and decided to head over to Spain to join Gimnastic.

After his departure, River continued making gestures every six months to bring him back. I don't believe I have to state the final result of our efforts. But despite that, things were never as bad as they are now with Julio Cesar. How one can go from being idolized and being the captain of a team, to almost singlehandedly deciding to join their arch-rivals is beyond me. But perhaps the most unpleasant detail in this whole transfer is that he publicly stated that he would resign money to join Boca. Yes: we are talking about the same guy who left River in 2006 due to not being paid enough. In fact, Tigres initially rejected the Bosteros' proposals, yet JC's monotnous desire to wear Boca's jersey forced the Mexicans to back down and let him go.

My opinion of Caceres' skill has not changed one bit. I still see him as a talented defender with tons of experience (played in Europe, South America, and Mexico; participated in the World Cup), a strong personality, and good defensive characteristics. Honestly, though, the Paraguayan has let me down, and I fail to realize how one can be so cold-hearted and lack soul and respect towards the fans.

With that said, I hope he fractures his knee in the Torneo de Verano and never touches a ball again.

Copa Libertadores: Group 5 Update

2008-01-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

With yesterday's win over Cruz Azul by penalties, America (MEX) have qualified to the Libertadores as Mexico 2 and therefore will be in River's group. The group will looking as follows:

Group 5
America (MEX)
River Plate (ARG)
Universidad San Martin (PERU)
U. Catolica (CHI)

Looks like a complicated group, in my opinion. I don't expect a failure, such as the one we saw last year, but it won't be an easy six games for River either. The first match for "los millonarios" will be played in Lima, Peru against Universidad San Martin. Vamos River!

River Plate: 1 - Independiente: 1 - Torneo de Verano 2008

2008-01-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

River Plate tied 1-1 with Independiente in their first game of the Torneo de Verano 2008.

In his debut as the club's coach, Diego Simeone decided to set-up a team that consisted of reserve players and youngsters. The following eleven started today:

Juan Marcelo Ojeda;

Danilo Gerlo-Mateo Musacchio-Cristian Nasuti-Cristian Villagra;

Damian Lizio-Nicolas Domingo-Matias Abelairas-Diego Buonanotte;

Sebastian Sciorilli-Marco Ruben;

The overall display wasn't anything spectacular, but one must realize that it was a completely secondary team. In fact, not many of these players will be on the first team in the coming season, if any at all.

Here are the highlights of the match:

Two New Incorporations

2008-01-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

Two new players are on their way to becoming River's latest incorporations: if everything goes as expected, Gustavo Cabral (pictured above) and Rodrigo Archubi will be wearing "la banda" next season.

Cabral has actually already began his career with the Riverplatenses. After finalizing the transaction for $1,500,000 for 50% of the transfer, the now ex-Racing player passed by the Monumental and signed his new contract. Despite have only 22 years of age, he has plenty of experience: he debuted for "la academia" when he was 18, and since then has racked up an impressive 110+ matches in Primera. But that wasn't his only accomplishment: in 2005, he integrated the Argentine U-20 National Team squad (who later went on to win the Youth World Cup that year), a team that was completely free of River players. Gustavo is an interesting prospect for the future for both River and Argentina, so his time with "los millonarios" could be vital to the remainder of his career.

While Gustavo was in Nunez finalizing the last details on his compact, Rodrigo Archubi was in Piraeus, Greece, anxiously waiting for a new chapter in River's transfer book. His loan with Olympiakos wasn't as successful as expected, yet River are still highly interested in incorporating the ex-Lanus player to the squad. In fact, a final agreement is close to being reached, since the businessman Pinas Zavahi will invest on the left-winger and ultimately loan him to "los millonarios"

As for other transfers, the always-wanted Andres D'Alessandro continues on expressing his desire to return. His lack of minutes in Zaragoza, combined with his enthusiasm of a possible six month loan, make the rumours of a transfer to River come to life. Chances remain slim, though why not dream?

Abreu to River, Belluschi to Olympiakos

2008-01-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

With 2008 just barely beginning, River have officially confirmed two transfers: one in, and one out. The club will be presenting Sebastian Abreu, who will arrive as a free agent on loan for 18 months. Meanwhile, Fernando Belluschi will be dismissing himself from his friends and family, as he prepares to travel to Greece to join Olympiakos.

A pleasant surprise, though, is the news of Radamel Falcao Garcia's temporary stay with "los millonarios". Everything indicated that he would be sold to Fluminense of Brazil, but the suspicious deal ultimately feel. Despite that being good news for us River fans, I still use the term "temporary", since he can always be sold to another club before February. If he does indeed stay, he will have to fight for a spot in the starting eleven with Sebastian Abreu, Alexis Sanchez, Mauro Rosales, Marco Ruben, Andres Rios, Diego Buonanotte, and others.

Besides the arrival of Abreu, River are still looking into the possibilities of incorporating either Rodrigo Archubi or Sergio Almiron on loan to reinforce the left side of our midfield. As for the defense, the club is still concentrating on Facundo Quiroga, but they may look to bring in Gustavo Cabral of Racing, since the possibilities of bringing in Wolfburg's defender are extremely slim. Another name that was mentioned was that of Julio Cesar Caceres, who previously played six months with the club in 2006. Surprisingly enough, the team to which he is now most closely linked to is Boca Juniors, our arch-rivals. If his transfer goes through, he will be one of the few traitors since Gabriel Cedres.

As a side note, the right-hand side "Fixtures and Results" bar has been updated. It now includes the match dates for River throughout the next six months (Torneo de Verano, Torneo Clausura, and Copa Libertadores). Minor schedule changes may be made in the future, though the matches are expected to be played on those days for now.

2007: The Year in Review

2007-12-31T21:12:00.000-08:00

In just a few hours, the year 2007 will come to end, giving rise to a brand new and fresh 2008. Unfortunately, this review will not be the one I imagined or even hoped for in January of this same year. Throughout the 12-month period that took course, we saw more frowns (such as in the top left picture) than positive moments (such as in the top right picture), going down as a year to not be remembered in the history books for River Plate fans.

The season began in January with River giving some fantastic performances in the annual Torneo de Verano. Being crowned champions, with some two great defeats over arch-rivals Boca Juniors, River's winning year finally seemed to have arrived. Any fan that admits to not having his/her hopes high at the beginning of the year is lieing, for Fernando Belluschi's magic was giving us all hope, and even back-up players such as Diego Galvan were performing well. Add that to the arrival of big-name players from Europe (Ponzio and Rosales) and interesting prospects (Ruben and Villagra), and the final mix resulted in sugar and spice and everything nice... or so it seemed.

The start of official competitions finally began in January, and "los millonarios" started off by delivering everything they had previously promised. In our debut in the Copa Libertadores, we defeated Colo Colo (the current sub-champions of the Copa Sudamericana) in their own stadium, impressing both the press and the fans. The good results continued, with five wins in the first six matches played in the Argentine Torneo Clausura 2007. Unfortunately, things began dropping from there on out: River only found four more victories in the remaining 13 games, finishing 12 points away from the champions (San Lorenzo de Almagro). But perhaps the biggest upset came in the Copa Libertadores, in which River did not even advance from the Group Stage and lost twice to Caracas FC! The season eventually came to an end, but it didn't bring a good second-half of the year to us either.

By the time June arrived, the fans were already asking for Daniel Passarella's head. The "Kaiser" requested another six months to get his act together, and that if he did not win a single tournament by December he would depart. Contrary to his expectations, the Torneo Apertura 2007 was disastrous for River. The final result? 14th place in the league rankings, which included goleadas in favor of San Martin (SJ), Olimpo, Tigre, and Argentinos Juniors against us. There were few delightful times, including a fantastic performance in the Superclasico, some fantastic goals, a miraculous win over Botafogo, and a few other bits here and there. The closest we got to winning a tournament was the Copa Sudamericana, in which we were eliminated in a penalty shoot out in the semi-finals of the tournament, though it wasn't enough. The negative results ultimately led to Daniel Passarella resigning from his position.

December finally arrived, and to the joy of fans the year came to an end. The first positive of the post-Passarella era came with the arrival of Diego Simeone to the club, taking over Daniel's empty spot on the bench. Big names, such as Andres D'Alessandro, Diego Placente, Fernando Cavenaghi, etc. were mentioned , yet nobody has arrived, and only less-known players are now being linked to the team.

With 2008 just a few steps away, let's all hope for a positive year this time around, full of successful tournaments, victorious Superclasicos, and good performances throughout the 365 days of the year. Aguante River!

Top 5 Goals of 2007

2007-12-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

In a year in which more frustrations than positives were found, River did manage to give us small quantities of joy in some tremendous goals in the semester. There is no official confirmation stating that these were our best goals, but in my opinion these were the top five we scored in 2007:

5) Fernando Belluschi vs. Lanus

4) Diego Buonanotte vs. Rosario Central

3) Augusto Fernandez vs. Velez

2) Fernando Belluschi vs. Velez

1) Radamel Falcao Garcia vs. Estudiantes (LP)

Can you say G-O-L-A-Z-O-S? Pure class. Other honorable mentions are Radamel Falcao Garcia (vs. Rosario Central, Botafogo, and Boca Juniors), Leonardo Ponzio (vs. Colo Colo), amongst others. Hopefully we see more of these goals (..along with championships) in 2008.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to everyone!

A few updates regarding River:

- Radamel Falcao Garcia is very close to joining Fluminese of Brazil, though a few minor details must still be arranged between the two clubs. In Brazil they guarantee that he will join Flu within this next week, yet no deal has been sealed for now.
- Fernando Belluschi already has one foot in Greece, due to almost surely joining Olympiakos before the next season. The Greek side plan on having the "rasta" help them obtain positive results in their Champions League campaign, and therefore would invest around 6.5 million euros for 60% of his transfer (the total would go to River, while the investors who own the other 40% would wait for a future transaction).
- Sebastian Abreu seems to be "los Millonarios"'s first incorporation. Nothing is official for now, but everything seems to indicate that the Uruguayan foward will join the club on loan for 18 months. Other players rumoured to join the club are Andres D'Alessandro, Diego Placente, Facundo Quiroga, and Rodrigo Archubi.
- Universidad Catolica have been confirmed as Chile 2 in next year's edition of the Copa Libertadores, and therefore will be competeing in River Plate's group, along with Universidad San Martin (Peru) and Mexico 2.

Happy holidays to everyone (except the bosteros)!

Copa Libertadores 2008: Groups Drawn

2007-12-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

The groups for the Copa Santander Libertadores 2008 were drawn earlier on today in Paraguay. River have been scheduled to face Universidad San Martin (Peru), Chile 2, and Mexico 2. The last two teams have obviously not been determined yet. Depending on who they are, it could turn out to be an easier group than last year, though things could also get very dangerous: both the Chilean and Mexican league consist of powerful teams, and the group could get filled up with the likes of Universidad Catolica, America, and Toluca, just to give a few examples.

Anyway, here's the rest of the draw:

Group 1
San Lorenzo (Argentina)
Real Potosí (Bolivia)
Caracas (Venezuela)
Winner of Playoff 2

Group 2
Estudiantes (Argentina)
Danubio (Uruguay)
Deportivo Cuenca (Ecuador)
Winner of Playoff 1

Group 3
Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Colo Colo (Chile)
Maracaibo (Venezuela)
Winner of Playoff 4

Group 4
Flamengo (Brazil)
Nacional (Uruguay)
Coronel Bolognesi (Peru)
Winner of Playoff 5

Group 5
River Plate (Argentina)
Chile 2
San Martín (Peru)
Mexico 2

Group 6
Santos (Brazil)
San José (Bolivia)
Colombia 2
Chivas (Mexico)

Group 7
Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Sportivo Luqueño (Paraguay)
Atletico Nacional (Colombia)
Winner of Playoff 6

Group 8
Fluminense (Brazil)
Libertad (Paraguay)
Liga De Quito (Ecuador)
Winner of Playoff 3

Playoffs
1) Olmedo (Ecuador) - Lanus (Argentina)
2) Cruzeiro (Brazil) - Cerro Porteño (Paraguay)
3) Arsenal (Argentina) - Mineros de Guyana (Venezuela)
4) Mexico 3 - Bolivia 3
5) Cienciano (Peru) - Montevideo Wanderes (Uruguay)
6) Colombia 3 - Audax Italiano (Chile)

Aguante River!

Confirmed: Simeone Will be on the Bench in 2008

2007-12-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

The search has ended: after a month of seeking a replacement for Daniel Passarella, River Plate have finally confirmed the arrival of Diego Simeone as our new coach. Unlike many of our ex-coaches (Ramon Diaz, Merlo, Passarella, Gallego, etc.), Simeone never wore our jersey as a player, yet he still has several aspects that can make us all aspire for a positive future.

As an athlete Diego played in several teams, but perhaps his most important appearance was for the Argentina National Team. He played for 14 years with the albiceletes, appearing in a total of 106 games between World Cups, Copa Americas, Olympics, friendly matches, and other encounters. He was often the captain of his teams, due to his strong personailty and great motivation skills. Luckily for us, those two traits can be vital to reverting a situation such as the one we currently are in.

Simeone made his debut as a coach in 2006, when he decided to manage the club he loves - Racing Club de Avellaneda. "La Academia" had a poor season, though "El Cholo" Simeone should not be blamed for it either, since the team was broken and in an even worse situation than River. In order to take over the role of Estudiantes' coach, he departed shortly before the season ended, and that's when his true managerial career began.

Once on Estudiantes' bench, Simeone began to create miracles. In spite of taking over a team that was closer to the relegation zone than to tournaments, he led them to success. In his first season there (Apertura 2006), he managed to win 7-0 in the teams derby (La Plata derby vs. Gimnasia (LP); equivalent to River vs. Boca for them), as well as the tournament itself. He led the team to finish first alongside Boca Juniors, and defeated them in a championship final, crowning the red-and-white team as champions for the first time in 23 years. After losing several star players during the January transfer window, "El Cholo" wasn't able to repeat the same campaign in the Torneo Clausura 2007, yet he still achieved the third place spot -a more than acceptable position for Estudiantes' normal standards-. In his last season there (Apertura 2007) he had a good campaign, and eventually departed to River.

On his arrival at the Monumental, Diego stated that he had players like Belluschi and Falcao in mind, though it seems that they are both very close to departing (a lot closer than many think). Either way, Simeone also stated his ambitions of bringing out the best of Ortega, Rosales, Ruben, and many others. His plans to play an offensive yet organized football sound tempting in River. His motivation skills bring faith to us all. For now, Diego "Cholo" Simeone sounds as the perfect coach, but only time will tell if his spell at the club is successful or not.

Side Note: View the side bar showing Fixtures & Results for some "pleasant" news (tip, tip: it involves Kaka). :D

Simeone In, Belluschi and Falcao Out?

2007-12-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

Despite expecting to be presented as River Plate's new coach today, Diego Simeone is still jobless. Well, technically speaking, he is not, and that's the same exact reason why he is not on the bench yet: Estudiantes are making his departure much more complicated than it should be, claiming recision fees and demanding that his team of coaching staff leave as a whole. Either way, he is still expected to sign with "los millonarios" and officially become our new coach next week.

As if the coach crisis weren't enough, the transfer market is the main event at the Monumental nowadays, linking key players such as Carrizo, Belluschi, A. Fernandez, Buonanotte, and Falcao with other clubs:

Juan Pablo Carrizo: The goalkeeper had confirmed that his era in River had come to an end, though his European passport has not been validated yet. Other possibilities exist at the moment, yet the doors to stay with "la banda" have opened up once again.
Fernando Belluschi: Porto of Portugal and Olympiakos of Greece are interested in him. Although there are no official offers for him, River's directives aren't going to put any traps to his possible departure. A positive point? Simeone requested that they don't sell him, not to mention that River would only get 40% of his transfer money if he is sold (not too much money).
Augusto Fernandez: Fiorentina (Italy) and Levante (Spain) are planning on acquiring the right winger over the January transfer window. The plan, for now, is to not sell both Belluschi and him at the same time (one would leave, while the other would stay for at least another six months).
Radamel Falcao Garcia: Fluminense of Brazil are still interested in the foward's services. They were willing to pay $5,000,000 for 50% of the transfer, though River want to get paid around $16,000,000 for the full transfer. The reason? If only 50% is sold a good percentage will have to go to the Fair Play school (where Falcao originally came from), while selling all his rights would mean only paying 10% to the school.
Diego Buonanotte: Atletico Madrid are rumoured to be chasing the "dwarf". Not much more is known on his situation, though it would be an extremely huge upset to see him leave at such a young age and with a very small amount of minutes in Primera.
Daniel Vega: The ex-Nueva Chicago goalkeeper is on loan, though he would like to leave due to not receiving chances. The directives will be looking to convince him to stay, though his future does not seem to clear, especially if Carrizo remains in the team next semester.
Sebastian Dominguez: Estudiantes's defender, who was one of the candidates to reinforce our back-line next sesaon, has agreed to join America (Mexico) and therefore will not be wearing red-and-white starting January.

At the moment, the search of a new coach seems endless. To top it off, many players have possibilities of leaving the team, causing an uncertain future for River Plate. Players like Aimar, Crespo, Cavenaghi, and Placente have all been named as possible reinforcements, though it will be highly unlikely to see any of them arriving any time soon. Our situation keeps on worsening, leaving the hope of a better 2008 as our only option.

Updates: December 9th

2007-12-09T23:06:00.000-08:00

River lost 2-0 to Banfield, in an encounter that took place for the 19th Round of the Torneo Apertura 2007. The loss extended the "millonarios"'s non-winning streak to 9 games (including both Apertura and Copa Sudamericana matches). This game has officially ended the second part of the 2007 season for River, which left us with a team that was eliminated in the Semi-Finals of the Copa Sudamericana and finished 14th in the Argentine league.

But that is not all the bad news. Many of our best players could be on their way out of the club anytime soon, leaving the future coach (could be Simeone - see below) with a big problem to resolve: Radamel Falcao Garcia is close to Fluminese of Brazil, who would be buying half of his transfer rights for $8,000,000. Goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo has already confirmed the end of his era in River, and will be on the way to an unknown club in Europe (he is owned by Lazio, but could be loaned out). Others, such as Belluschi and Augusto Fernandez, are also wanted and are very likely to leave before the beginning of next semester.

Regarding Passarella's replacement as coach of River Plate, everything seems to indicate that Diego Simeone will be the chosen one. The ex-Argentine International had been rumoured to join "la Banda" for a while now, but his arrival is now closer than ever, after he parted ways with his now ex-club Estudiantes. In River they are confident that he will sign in the next few days, but they still are conversating with Pumpido and Borghi incase things go wrong.

There could be surprises, just like when Ramon rejected our proposal, so make sure to check back soon for more news regarding the subject.

Olimpo: 4 - River Plate: 0 - Torneo Apertura 2007

2007-12-02T01:10:00.000-08:00

Though it may sound as a joke, River lost 4-0 to Olimpo de Bahia Blanca for the 18th Round of the Torneo Apertura 2007. One of the main factors was the lack of presence of many starters such as Ariel Ortega, Radamel Falcao Garcia, Juan Pablo Carrizo, Oscar Ahumada, Nicolas Sanchez, Cristian Nasuti, etc., as well as the inclusion of alternative players (Oliva debuted, failures such as Gerlo, Peralta, and Ruben played once again, etc.), yet there is no excuse to losing to a team the size of Olimpo, especially with such an abundant score. The only option now is to wait for the new season to begin, though things just seem to be getting worse as time passes.

Passarella's Replacement: The Search Continues

2007-11-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

It's been almost two weeks since Daniel Passarella resigned from his position, yet River Plate have not been able to find a replacement coach. With Ramon Diaz, Carlos Bianchi, and Americo Gallego officially out of the race, "los Millonarios" have once again turned their attention to Diego Simeone. "El Cholo", though, is still coaching Estudiantes and would like to stay if his reinforcements are brought in for next semester. Simeone refused to talk about the subject for now, but did not discard the possibility either.

The clock is still ticking, and Jose Maria Aguilar does not want to be left without a manager. So in case Simeone refuses to join the club, our President now has a back-up plan which includes Jose Pekerman, Claudio Borghi, and Nery Pumpido. Of those three, the only one I wouldn't want to see is Pekerman, who has left me with a very negative impression of him after his time managing the Argentine National Team. In my opinion, many of his tactics and decisions made us (Argentina) lose the 2006 World Cup, and I wouldn't even want to think of having him coach River during a Superclasico or an important Copa Libertadores game. But putting all my thoughts aside, his arrival wouldn't be too accessible either, since he is doing well in Toluca and is earning plenty of money. Pumpido and Borghi, on the other hand, are easier options to bring in and are more identified with the club than, say, Pekerman.

In other news, River lost 2-0 to Colon on Saturday for the 17th Round of the Torneo Apertura 2007. Colon, managed by Leonardo Astrada, were the better side throughout the match, but it is important to be noted that Ariel Ortega, Fernando Belluschi, and Radamel Falcao Garcia were all absent on the home side.

And One Day Ramon Said "No."

2007-11-22T16:38:00.000-08:00

The title to this post says it all: Ramon Diaz rejected Jose Maria Aguilar's proposal to return to River Plate and will stay with San Lorenzo till atleast December of next year. The conclusion surprised many, especially with the Argentine Press nearly concluding that his arrival was confirmed, but nothing can be done now.

Today is Thanksgiving, and what better way to celebrate the holiday than by thanking our President for the return of Ramon Diaz. But why should he have gotten our thanks? Aguilar deserved to receive a slap in the face, not a praise, and that's exactly what he received. After dismissing Ramon in 2002, despite having the coach clearly win the Argentine tournament playing great football, the two have been getting along like Water and Oil, and many are forgetting that. A few years ago, Aguilar even went as far as saying in a press conference that Ramon Diaz would never return to River while he was in charge of the club. Now I hear some people critisizing Ramon for not returning when given a chance: "If he was a real River fan, he would chose River over San Lorenzo any day" is one of the things I've heard more than once. Well, put yourself in his position. If somebody fired you without a legitimate reason, would you return to save that same person's career? In most cases, no, and there is nothing wrong with that decision.

Of course this decision has brought more negatives than positives along with it. One that upsets me a lot is the possibility of having ex-River star Andres D'Alessandro join San Lorenzo instead of River in January because of his friendship with Diaz. But besides that there is a big problem circulating "los Millonarios" now. With the two main targets (Ramon Diaz and Diego Simeone) now discarded, who will replace Daniel Passarella? Claudio Borghi, Leonardo Astrada, Omar Labruna, and Americo Gallego are the most rumored names, though Aguilar guarantees that there is not one firm candidate in mind now. Personally, I am not too interested in seeing any of them. Of those four, I think Astrada would be the one with most chances of succeeding. Either way, he is comfortable in Colon and plans on staying there for next semester.

So who will coach the club if it's not them? Call me crazy, but I'd like to see Jorge Gordillo stay a while extra. "El Tapon" will be on the bench for the last three games of the Clausura, and maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to extend his term. He may not be the most luxurious coach in terms of tournaments won, but he is a person that is identified with River and already knows the players well since he's been managing the reserves for a while now. Of course if I had Ramon and Simeone as options, I wouldn't go with Gordillo, but there is no other "juicy" names going around, and I don't want to see anybody become our coach just because we need one. Besides, Ramon Cabrero was in Gordillo's position two years ago, and now his team (Lanus) is first in the Argentine league with just three games left. Whatever Aguilar's decision is, let's pray it's a good one.

Passarella Out: Possible Replacements

2007-11-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

With Daniel Passarella resigning just recently, River Plate have begun to search for a replacement for the "Kaiser". Many names are going around, but the top two firm candidates are Ramon Diaz and Diego Simeone. There is no doubt that the two are excellent managers, but will either one of them be able to make it to Nuñez?

Just a few days ago, the main man was ex-Argentine National Team captain Simeone. Diego joined Estudiantes not to long ago and was an instant success: he managed to win the Argentine Apertura 2006 (defeating none other than Boca Juniors in a tournament final) and also humiliated and demolished arch-rivals Gimnasia (LP) by beating them 7-0 in the derby. Ever since then he has been considered one of the best coaches in Argentina, and many see him as the ideal person to be in charge of "los millonarios". With a strong personality and good leadership, Simeone could get the best out of his players and could make a tournament return to the Monumental after 4 years. The biggest problem, though, is that he still is at the helm of Estudiantes, who don't want to even think of releasing their adored coach before the 2008 Copa Libertadores. The team President has mentioned that he would be very upset to see him depart, which would also bring a $500,000 fee along with him (recision fee; his contract is set to expire in June 2008). "El Cholo" would be a fantastic coach to bring in, but will he be willing to break Estudiantes fans' hearts by leaving to a club he never even played for?

As mentioned previously, the other "big" candidate is Ramon Diaz. His arrival seemed ever so far, due to having a well-known dispute with Jose Maria Aguilar. The fight began in 2002, when Ramon's contact with River was never renewed, despite having won the tournament that same season. Ever since then, things got even worse between the two, including a public appearance by Diaz supporting a rival candidate for President in the elections of 2005. His name is often mentioned when River is looking for a coach, and this time was no exception. Even though his past with our President is more than rusty, his return no longer seems as distant: Aguilar has been praising Ramon lately and has mentioned that they will make an attempt to bring him back. This official decision has sparked some fury in San Lorenzo's surroundings, with many mentioning that he would be a traitor if he left them now. Either way, Savino (San Lorenzo's President) has assured that he will sign a new contact and will stay with the "Cuervos" to fight for next season's continental competition. What has R. Diaz said regarding the subject? He didn't close any doors, but he didn't open them either. His decision will be presented to the press and public on Thursday.

If both fail to arrive, River is expected to go after Americo Gallego or Claudio Borghi. Others such as Leonardo Astrada, Enzo Francescoli, and Omar Labruna have been rumored to join too, but seem to be more of a distant reality. Nobody knows for sure who Passarella's succesor will be, but hopefully Aguilar does not make a foolish decision.

Daniel Passarella Departs

2007-11-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Just like the Copa Sudamericana 2007, Daniel Passarella is now only a part of history for River Plate. The "Kaiser"had promised in May of this year to leave if he did not win either the Torneo Apertura or the Copa Sudamericana, and he did just that.

I am not the typical Anti-Passarella River fan. Although I do think it is time for a change, I do not have the urge to go out and bash Passarella game after game. Sure, I've been angry at him several times before, but I also think many fans were wrongfully outraged. He was often blamed when making a wrong tactical change in matches that we lost, but in general they were the right changes to do at the moment (of course if we would have won those games, people wouldn't have said anything).

In his second cycle coaching "los Millonarios", Passarella left both positive and negative points. I've tried summing some of them up, and this is what I got:

Positives (things people fail to see):
- Discovered Gonzalo Higuain, Juan Pablo Carrizo, Augusto Fernandez, Diego Buonanotte, etc. All these players ended up being stars, with a tremendous future. With other coaches, who knows if they would have even debuted yet.
- Gave opportunities to other great players such as Andres Rios, Rene Lima, Matias Abelairas, Nicolas Domingo, etc. I wouldn't go as far as saying they are stars, but they are all great players who will almost surely have a great future. Other youngsters such as Mussachio, Oliva, Lizio, Sciorilli, Valencia, Antonio, Burzac, etc. were able to debut on the first team thanks to the "Kaiser", but did not get as much continuity.
- Resurrected Ariel Ortega. The same player that was in a hospital recuperating from an alcohol problem is now the star and leader of our team. With another coach, his return might have not been assured. Passarella is like "el Burrito"'s dad and helped him progress tremendously.
- Brought back the best Falcao. Despite the Colombian underperforming for a long time, Passarella insisted on bringing his old form back and continued getting minutes. Guess who is now the top-goalscorer of the team.
- Pretty much brought Fernando Belluschi, Mauro Rosales, and Leonardo Ponzio - all three now being very important players to the team. Daniel insisted tremendously that all three of them arrive at "la Banda" until his wish became a reality.
- Literally "owned" Boca Juniors. He did not lose once, winning twice and tieing the same amount of times.

Negatives:
- Managed the team for two years but did not win a single tournament. In his reign he played 4 Argentine tournament, 2 Copa Libertadores, and 2 Copa Sudamericanas. Surprisingly enough, we did not see the team lift the trophy in ANY of those eight tournaments.
- Lost to many small teams such as Caracas, Almagro, Tigre, San Martin (SJ), Gimnasia (JJ), Arsenal, etc.
- Gave away German Lux, a goalkeeper with tremendous skill, by seperating him from the first team. Lux later let his contract expire and joined Mallorca of Spain.
- Was eliminated in the first round of the Copa Libertadores 2007, as well as in the Copa Sudamericana 2006.

In the end, we have been left with good moments and.. well.. let's just say not-so-sweet moments. Time has passed and it cannot be reversed. We cannot do anything but move along and look for a new coach.

River Plate: 0 (2) - Arsenal: 0 (4) - Copa Sudamericana 2007

2007-11-15T16:24:00.000-08:00

River Plate tied 0-0 to an almost unnoticeable Arsenal last night. Unfortunately, the match went on to be defined in a penalty shoot-out, where the away side were able to find the difference over "Los Millonarios" and proceed to the final.

Arsenal went out from the first minute looking for a 0-0 result. With 10 men defending every ball played, things were made difficult for River, who were not able to reach Cuenca's goal too often in the first 45 minutes. In the second half, "la Banda" improved a bit and deserved atleast one goal. Still, Mario Cuenca's espectacular night caused the match to finish the same way it had started. Arsenal then won 4-2 in penalties, leaving River with another trophy-less season.

The Player Review -

Juan Pablo Carrizo: Our goalkeeper did not have much to do throughout the entire 90 minutes played. In the penalty shootout, though, he resurrected River by stopping Andrizzi's shot and partially tieing it. Unfortunately this didn't have too much importance later, since we lost, but Carrizo still did an overall good job.
Paulo Ferrari: Our captain played a decent game, but he didn't attack as much as expected. Nothing amazing, but no errors nonetheless. Converted his penalty shot. His overall good performacnes this season have brought Villarreal to be interested in incorporating him in December.
Eduardo Tuzzio: He continued playing despite what seemed to be a minor injury in the first half. He did well, though he almost gave Arsenal a goal when he kicked the air rather than the ball in one play.
Cristian Nasuti: "El Colorado" was once again solid in defense and tried to score with his killer headers. He was one of the players who cared most about the match and once again left a good image as a center-back.
Leonardo Ponzio: Personally, I think he was one of the best players on the field. Ever since the day he was included on the starting team vs. Boca, the ex-Zaragoza player has delivered some exceptional performances. He has been defending very well and attacks when needed. Ponzio has managed to transform himself from a substitute to a very important first-team player. With no known interested teams in him, he could be a vital part of the team next semester.
Fernando Belluschi: Missed an extremely clear chance at the tenth minute that would have left us previewing the final vs. America rather than talking about our elimination. Later on in the match he had some great shots, including a fantastic one in the dieing minutes of the game, but Cuenca did not let the midfielder celebrate. He was one of the players that missed his shot in the penalty shoot-out.
Oscar Ahumada: A very poor performance by the #5. He didn't do much (if anything) throughout the whole game. To top it off, he was expelled in the second half.
Rene Lima: In my opinion, the best player on the field last night (behind Cuenca -Arsenal's goalkeeper). He recuperated, distributed, gave the great assist to Belluschi (10th minute), and had a potential shot. Unfortunately, he was not able to continue his positive performance after the match, and took an extremely horrible penalty which left us out of the tournament.
Diego Buonanotte: Tried more than most of the players out there. He had a few sparks here and there, but more than often seemed to hold on to the ball for way too long.
Ariel Ortega: "El Burrito" was not able to do much. He did well while on the field, but was injured early on in the game by Andres San Martin (it just happened to be an ex-River player!). No word on how long he will be out for (not like it matters much now).
Andres Rios: The youngster did not receive the ball much and was not able to mark his prescence. His substitute was able to do much more (see below).
The Substitutes -
Mauro Rosales: The ex-Ajax player entered sooner than expected to replace the injured Ortega. He didn't do as much as we expected, but did contribute every now and then. He should have taken the fourth penalty instead of Lima.
Rolando Zarate: It was a surprise to see him enter the field, but he ended up being one of the best players present. He gave a few good crosses and had some good shots. He was one of the two players who converted his penalty shot (Ferrari being the other).
Augusto Fernandez: Augusto was a substitute do to not being completely fit after his injury. He came in towards the end of the match but did not have time to do much. Why he wasn't one of the penalty takers is beyond me.

The Copa Sudamericana 2007 is now a thing of the past for River Plate. Only hypothetical questions remain: What if Colombia would have shown some respect by letting Falcao play? What if Ariel Ortega had not gotten injured during the start of the match? What if Augusto Fernandez/Rosales/Ponzio had taken our fourth penalty shot instead of Rene Lima? What if the pitch was in good conditions? There is no correct answer to any of these questions, yet they keep on appearing in my mind.

Highlights of the match:

Penalty Shoot-Out:

River - Arsenal: The Preview

2007-11-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

River Plate will be facing Arsenal de Sarandi in what will be the second leg to the Semi-Final match up between the two Argentine sides. The final match result of the first game was 0-0, meaning that a win tomorrow will automatically give us the qualification to finals to play against America (Mexico)/Millonarios (Colombia).

The following players will be starting for "La Banda":

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Cristian Nasuti-Eduardo Tuzzio-Leonardo Ponzio;
Fernando Belluschi-Oscar Ahumada-Rene Lima-Diego Buonanotte;
Ariel Ortega;
Andres Rios
In regards to the team that tied on the first leg, there will be four changes:
- Paulo Ferrari will be replacing Danilo Gerlo. Our captain had missed the first match due to being suspended, causing Tuzzio to play as a right back and Gerlo as a center back. With Ferrari once again on the first team, Tuzzio will return to his original position, while "Paco" will be on the bench.
- Rene Lima will replace Nicolas Domingo. Passarella will be looking for a less aerial game than last time and believes that Lima can help out more offensively than Domingo.
- Diego Buonanotte will replace Matias Abelairas. After el "Pitu" Abelairas's mediocre performances lately, Buonanotte will once again return to the starting team. Diego will be a bit more ahead on the field than Abelairas, though, causing Lima to move to the left side from time to time.
- Andres Rios will replace Radamel Falcao Garcia. Our top-goalscorer this season (Falcao) was called up to the Colombian National Team and will be forced to miss tomorrow's game. The decision was a bit controversial, since Colombia doesn't even play till Saturday, but River could not have their say in the situation. Either way, Rios is a great player and is the striker on the team with most similar characteristics to the "Tiger".

The following results will determine our destiny in the Copa Sudamericana:

River Wins: River Qualifies
Arsenal Wins: Arsenal Qualifies
0-0 Tie: The match proceeds to a penalty shootout.
Tie With Goals (i.e.- 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc.): Arsenal Qualifies.

The match will be shown live on Fox Sports en Espanol at 4:15 PM Pacific / 7:15 PM Eastern Time. A tape delay will also be shown the same night on the same channel at 8:00 PM Pacific / 11:00 PM Eastern Time.

Huracan: 2 - River Plate: 1 - Torneo Apertura 2007

2007-11-11T18:31:00.000-08:00

A River Plate team composed mainly of debuting youngsters and a few reserve players lost to Huracan last night in the Diego Maradona Stadium. The final score was 2-1, though it could have been different.

In the first half River showed some interesting things and were able to take the partial lead thanks to Sixto Peralta. "Los Millonarios" continued being greater than Huracan in the first part of the second half, and could have easily extended the difference. In fact, River should have been awarded a penalty, but the ref amazingly saw it out of the penalty box and only gave us a free-kick (not to mention that Huracan's defender should have been expelled for being the last man, but he only received a yellow card). This could have changed the outcome of the game, but unfortunately the "man-in-yellow" saw things differently as compared to everyone else.

Later on in the game Antonio Barijho entered the field and the tables slowly began turning. As time passed, Huracan gained control of the match and were able to flip the score (though there was an offsides by Barijho in the second goal). For what they had done earlier on in the match, River's youngsters did not deserve to lose, especially considering that there were several strong calls in favor of our rivals given by the referree (1 penalty not called for us, 1 red card not given to them, 1 goal by them on offsides, and several other "minor" calls).

The Player Review -
Juan Marcelo Ojeda: Neither of the two goals were the ex-Rosario Central goalkeeper's fault. Despite making a few good saves, he did not show the same firmness he had shown earlier on in the season.
Carlos Valencia: The Colombian was one of the most impressive players on the field. His form did decrease as time passed, but he was unstoppable when at his best. Valencia is fast, full of technique, and has good touches. He is a very interesting option to replace Paulo Ferrari (we all know he will be transferred sooner or later).
Mateo Mussachio: The 17 year old is one of River's main defensive prospects for the future, but he did not leave a big mark last night. Bare in mind though that he is only 17 years old and has more than enough time to grow.
Federico Lussenhoff: "El Colorado" improved as compared to when we had last seen him vs. Botafogo, but he still committed a few errors every now and then. Overall I think he did a good job, but I still wouldn't even consider having him on our first team.
Emmanuel Martinez: This wasn't Martinez's first game in Primera, so we know him a little bit more than many of the other players that played last night. He had some great slide tackles and stopped a shot (that was almost certain to finish in the goal) right on the line. Still, he was often beaten by opponents on the right side, and one of the goals began just there.
Matias Abelairas: A few good passes were given by el "Pitu", but he did not managed to do much more than that. In a night where he was one of the players with most official minutes played, Abelairas was expected to be one of the key players. Despite that, he was one of the worst and a cold question is starting to arise: Was he meant for River? Matias has been given several opportunities this season, but he hasn't been able to perform even half as well as he had in pre-season Peace Cup tournament in Korea. Will Passarella continue giving him chances?
Matias Diaz: Not much was shown by Diaz, though he did well when he appeared. Nothing amazing, but a decent match nonetheless.
Facundo Affranchino: Little to nothing. Actually, I am being way too nice: Affranchino did nothing whatsoever. Except for a good cross early on in the game, the 18 year-old pulled a "Riquelme" and disappeared throughout the rest of the game. No positive thoughts for now on Facundo.
Sixto Peralta: Despite me still thinking he is a tremendous failure who doesn't belong in River, el "Mumo" played his best game since his arrival. He scored his first goal with "la Banda" (and it just happened to be vs. his ex-club!) and was one of the best players on the field. Still, I don't get convince that easily: he should not be anywhere near the starting line-up (or even the bench).
Damian Lizio: Arguably the most impressive debutee. Had some good jukes, a free-kick that was millimeters away from going in, and received a foul that should have resulted in a penalty. There is no question why Fiorentina of Italy called the 18-year old up to tryout last year.
Andres Rios: Rios continues on playing well and proves that he should be a serious consideration for the first team. Last night he played very well and assisted Peralta on our only goal. Even though he has received way less opportunities than Marco Ruben, he has done a lot for the team and has scored several goals (let's not forget that if he hadn't scored that one night vs. Botafogo, we wouldn't still be fighting today for the Copa Sudamericana). Many of us forget that he is only 18 years old and can develop into a tremendous talent in the near future.

Mauro Rosales, Rolando Zarate, and Rene Lima all entered in the second half. Lima was probably the best of the three, though none of them were able to make their prescence too valuable.

With the starting eleven yesterday, it was more than clear that River is concentrating purely on the Copa Sudamericana. The team must find a win on Wednesday vs. Arsenal, for Lanus's 4-1 win over Rosario Central on Friday has officialy left us out of the competition for the Torneo Apertura 2007 (chances were small previously, but now they have been destroyed mathematically). Unfortunately, Radamel Falcao Garcia will be absent, but we can still do it. Aguante River!

Huracan - River: The Preview

2007-11-09T23:31:00.000-08:00

Affranchino? Valencia? Lizio? M. Diaz? Do those names ring a bell? Not exactly. In fact all four of these players will be starting tomorrow for River Plate vs. Huracan. The four youngsters will be making their official debuts with a River jersey, but they won't be the only unusual players tomorrow. The following eleven will be looking for the win:

Juan Marcelo Ojeda;
Carmelo Valencia-Lussenhoff-Mateo Mussachio-Emmanuel Martinez;
Facundo Affranchino-Matias Diaz-Matias Abelairas;
Sixto Peralta;
Andres Rios-Damian Lizio;

Careful, though: that's not it. Other youngsters such as Maxi Oliva, Diego Bogado, Lucas Sanchez, and Diego Cardozo have been concentrating for this match as well, and it wouldn't be surprising to see some of them enter in the second half.

Besides the experienced (and underperforming) players like Lussenhoff and Peralta, most of these players have just recently stepped out of their baby cribs: Affranchino and Mussachio are 17, while Martinez, Valencia and Lizio are 18. Even Andres Rios and Matias Abelairas, whom we are now so used to seeing, are just 18 and 22 years old respectively. The match will be more than interesting to watch. I don't expect a downright amazing performance by "Los Millonarios", but it will be fun nonetheless to see the future players of the team getting a shot.

The match will be shown live on TyC Sports USA at 4:00 PM Pacific / 6:00 PM Eastern Time.

Arsenal: 0 - River Plate: 0 - Copa Sudamericana 2007

2007-11-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

River Plate and Arsenal tied 0-0 in a generally boring match played in Sarandi last night. The first ten minutes were fantastic, with River constantly pressuring. After that the team started relaxing, causing neither of the two sides to take the leadership role.

In the second half River began playing better again, especially once Diego Buonanotte stepped on the field, but the overall image left in the 90 minutes of gametime did not show a very offensive River. Either way Arsenal didn't do well either, and did not have the efficient aerial attacks that were expected. Our defense did a splendid job, with Tuzzio being at his best, Ponzio avoiding any possible threat on the right side, and Nasuti being solid. Danilo Gerlo left a few doubts here and there, but luckily enough for him the other three defenders covered his poor performance. Besides that, there isn't much more to comment on this goal-less match.

The second leg of this final will be played next Wednesday in the Monumental Stadium. Both teams are expected to improve in that game. One can expect a very offensive 90 minutes: no tie will get River through directly (0-0 goes to penalties; any tie with goal gives Arsenal the qualification), causing us to go out looking for the goal from the first minute. Arsenal will probably be more cautious and will be anxiously awaiting a counterattack. I am not a psychic, but this should be a very entertaining match with goals from both sides, contrary to what we saw yesteday.

Arsenal - River: The Preview

2007-11-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

River Plate and Arsenal will be facing each other tomorrow in what will be the first leg of one of the two Semi-Final matches of the Copa Sudamericana 2007. Regardless of who qualifies, there is guaranteed to be one Argentine team in the final of the International tournament (though we obviously will be rooting just for River!).

The big question flowing around this whole week was whether Diego Buonanotte or Mauro Rosales would start. Everything seemed to indicate that Buonanotte would, but the tables eventually turned to the point that Rosales looked like the probable starter. Despite the two having equal 50/50 opportunities, Daniel Passarella surprised everyone today by including Marco Ruben in the starting eleven and leaving Buonanotte and Rosales on the bench. There has not been an explanation from the "Kaiser", but I believe it is because River have been lacking goals and shots in the last few games. Sure, both Diego and Mauro have tremendous skill and great passes, but who is going to put the ball past the net? Our rivals are starting to realize that Falcao is our goalscoring machine and have been marking him a lot more lately. If Falcao doesn't header/shoot those centers in, then who will? That's when Marco Ruben comes in. It may sound like a bad decision by Passarella, due to Ruben having a generally bad season so far, but it's an understandable risk nonetheless.

The following players will be starting tomorrow:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Eduardo Tuzzio-Cristian Nasuti-Danilo Gerlo-Leonardo Ponzio;
Nicolas Domingo-Oscar Ahumada-Fernando Belluschi;
Ariel Ortega;
Radamel Falcao Garcia-Marco Ruben

As seen above, the "regular" players will be present, with a few exceptions: Eduardo Tuzzio will be moving to the right side to cover Paulo Ferrari (suspended; Danilo Gerlo will be a center-back) and Nicolas Domingo will be taking Augusto Fernandez's place (injured).

Arsenal will be missing defensive midfielder Andres San Martin, but will still have dangerous players on the team: Jose Luis Calderon has been scoring goals ever since he came out of his baby crib, and is the key player on their squad. Besides him, there could be other surprises: defenders Matellan and Gandolfi scored both of Arsenal's goals vs. River in their 2-1 win over us in the Apertura, proving that any player can have a glorious day.

The match will be shown live on Fox Sports en Espanol at 3:30 PM Pacific / 6:30 PM Eastern Time. A tape delay will be shown on the same day at 8:00 PM Pacific / 11:00 PM Eastern Time.

Apologies.

2007-11-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

I want to apologize to the regular blog readers for my lack of updates lately. I've had an extremely busy week with barely any time (if any at all) to type up game previews/reviews. I'll try to keep myself up-to-date from now on, though.

A few updates:
- River tied 1-1 with Independiente, almost officially eliminating any possibilities of winning the Torneo Apertura: we are now 7 points from league leaders Lanus, with just four matches left to catch up. Passarella seems to realize the difficulty of being crowned Argentine champions, so all the bets will now be moved to the Copa Sudamericana. Mathimatically speaking, though, River still has and opportunity of winning both competitions (Lanus can always pull a "Boca-Lavolpe Tricagon" campaign).
- Our match dates for the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals have been decided. The first match (away) will be on Thursday, October 8th, while the second leg will be played at home on Wednesday, October 14th.
- In order to change the first leg's match date, River's directives chose to sacrifice the next round of the Torneo Apertura by moving our game vs. Huracan to Saturday. This will be less than 48 hours after the Arsenal-River match, almost surely confirming that our starting eleven will be mainly substitutes.
- Radamel Falcao Garcia is now linked with both Italian and English clubs. His departure in December wouldn't be much of a surprise, especially with River interested in bringing in Carlos Villanueva of Audax Italiano (Chile). Could the Chilean be Falcao's replacement?

Aguante River!

River Plate: 0 - Defensor Sporting: 0 - Copa Sudamericana 2007

2007-10-31T01:32:00.000-07:00

In what was a generally bad and boring game, River Plate were able to tie 0-0 with Defensor Sporting and find their way to officially becoming one of the four best teams in the Copa Sudamericana.

As mentioned previously, the match wasn't too pretty, but we got the job done. No worries, though: I've seen River play some great matches and still lose... I prefer the first option.

The Player Review -
Juan Pablo Carrizo: Carrizo was great last night. Despite giving away the ball and almost costing us the qualification (Tuzzio saved the ball on the line), JP had some amazing saves and was the closest thing to the "old" Carrizo we've seen yet.
Leonardo Ponzio: The Argentine International played yet another good match and continues improving in the left-back position. He didn't hesitate to clear the ball when he had a chance to, something that players like Villagra and Lussenhoff often forget to do.
Eduardo Tuzzio: Our best defender last night. He stopped a shot on the line and recuperated ball after ball. Very solid.
Nicolas Sanchez: The youngster had a fantastic season (notice the word "had"). Unfortunately, the ex-Nueva Chicago central defender was injured in the second half and won't be appearing until 2008. His spot will be taken by Cristian Nasuti and/or Danilo Gerlo from now on. :(
Paulo Ferrari: Our captain did well... until he was expelled! With just one minute left (93rd minute of the match), Ferrari "spoke too much", causing the referee to show him the red card. We will now be missing two key defenders vs. Arsenal (N. Sanchez being the other one).
Matias Abelairas: "Pitu" attacked efficiently in the first few minutes of the game, but later disappeared. He didn't show much more after that.
Oscar Ahumada: The defensive midfielder didn't prove the authority he had been showing in the last few games.
Fernando Belluschi: Despite not being praised by neither the media nor the fans last night, I thought Belluschi played a good game. Nothing espectacular (.. he did miss an easy goal), but he played with heart and fought for every ball. He's been doing that this whole season, reason for which I would love to see him stay past December.
Ariel Ortega: "El Burrito" was almost completely blocked by the Uruguayan defenders in the first half. In the last 45 minutes, though, he started appearing more (mostly towards the end of the match). When he was on he was one of the best, but he still underperformed overall.
Mauro Rosales: The ex-Ajax foward had some of River's clearest opportunities, including a shot on the post. Unfortunately for Mauro, everything seems to indicate that he will be a substitute in the Semi-Finals since Buonanotte has been inscribed in the squad list.
Radamel Falcao Garcia: The Fox commentators constantly bashed him by calling him a ball hog, but I believe they were being a little too harsh. Has Falcao spoiled us all with his goal-scoring spree? I guess so! His performance was neither bad nor good, though.

In the next round we will be facing Arsenal de Sarandi, another Argentine side. Although we are the bigger side in terms of history, Arsenal are a very tough team and have even beaten us in this year's Apertura. It will be even harder to defeat them missing both Paulo Ferrari and Nicolas Sanchez, but I still have faith on the team. Vamos River!!

River - Defensor Sporting: The Preview

2007-10-29T15:38:00.000-07:00

After Thursday's 2-2 tie with Defensor Sporting on Thursday, River will be looking to find a positive result that will officially make them one of the four semi-finalists. This match will be played in the Monumental (our stadium), giving the "millonarios" a slight advantage over the Uruguayans. The following eleven will be starting tomorrow:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;

Paulo Ferrari-Nicolas Sánchez-Eduardo Tuzzio-Leonardo Ponzio;

Fernando Belluschi-Oscar Ahumada-Matias Abelairas;

Ariel Ortega;

Mauro Rosales-Radamel Falcao Garcia

Two of our normal starters will be missing: youngers Diego Buonanotte is still not inscribed in the Copa Sudamericana squad list, while right-wing Augusto Fernandez is currently injured and will be out for weeks. Buonanotte will once again be replaced by Mauro Rosales, who had played well in the first leg of the series. Meanwhile, Belluschi will be moving to Fernandez's spot, leaving Matias Abelairas in charge of the left side.

The following results will grant River the qualification:
- Any win in our favor.
- A 0-0 tie.
- A 1-1 tie.

The following results will grant Defensor Sporting the qualification:
- Any win in their favor.
- A 3-3 tie or above (i.e. - 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, etc.)

If the final match result is 2-2, the game will then proceed to penalty kicks to determine a winner.

You can catch the game live on Fox Sports en Espanol at 5:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM Eastern Time. A replay of the match will be shown at 11:00 PM Pacific / 2:00 AM Eastern Time on the same day (same channel as well).

Defensor Sporting: 2 - River Plate: 2 - Copa Sudamericana 2007

2007-10-26T23:54:00.000-07:00

River Plate could not manage to take advantage of their two leads in the match (1-0 and 2-1) and ended up tieing with Defensor Sporting. Our goals were scored by Ariel Ortega (penalty) and Radamel Falcao Garcia.

A 2-2 tie isn't a bad result, especially considering that this was an away match, but I still have a sour taste in my mouth since both goals could have been avoided. Juan Pablo Carrizo committed errors in both shots, which could end up being very costly for River.

Here are the highlights of the match:

Defensor Sporting - River: The Preview

2007-10-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

River will be facing Defensor Sporting today in what will be the first leg of the Quarter-Final match up between the two. River will be fielding most of their normal starters, excluding Oscar Ahumada (suspended) and Diego Buonanotte (not inscribed in the squad list for this tournament). The following eleven will be looking for the win from the first minutes:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Nicolas Sanchez-Eduardo Tuzzio-Leonardo Ponzio;
Augusto Fernandez-Nicolas Domingo-Fernando Belluschi;
Ariel Ortega;
Mauro Rosales-Radamel Falcao Garcia

Mauro Rosales will be a bit more back, playing as a midfielder/foward. His role will be similar to Buonanotte's, the only difference being that he would play on the right side rather than the left.

Defensor Sporting's most dangerous player will be Carlos Maria Morales. Despite being 37 years old, the foward is full of skill and has already scored 4 goals (...golazos) in this year's edition of the Copa Sudamericana. There are several other fantastic players on this team, so River must be extremely careful when attacking (the Uruguayans could liquidate the match in a few counter attacks).

The match will be shown live on Fox Sports en Espanol at 4:00 PM Pacific / 7:00 PM Eastern Time. A replay/tape delay will be shown tomorrow (Friday) as well, at 11:00 AM Pacific / 2:00 PM Eastern Time.

A Harsh Reality: River's Economy

2007-10-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Last night, Deportivo La Coruña added themselves to the long list of Augusto Fernandez-wanting teams (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Villarreal, Juventus, Lazio, etc.). Add that to the possible departures of Radamel Falcao Garcia (rumoured to possibly go to the EPL), Fernando Belluschi (always wanted during each transfer window), and Juan Pablo Carrizo (scheduled to return to Lazio).

This is sad because River finally started playing well after a loooong time. If we maintain this team we could actually fight for championships and start winning things. Unfortunately, it seems as if Aguilar & Co. are at it again. I am not a fortune teller, but everything seems to indicate that the following things have a good possibility of happening in December:

- River will lose their "goleador". It had been since the Cavenaghi days that we needed one of these. Someone finally stepped up, and his name is Radamel Falcao Garcia. It would actually be more surprising to see him stay than leave. Our search for a top-scorer will have to begin once again.
- River will lose two right-wings. Augusto Fernandez is currently playing on the right, and Fernando Belluschi on the left side. When Fernandez doesn't start, Belluschi moves back to his original position. With both of them possibly leaving, who will play on the right side (let's see if anyone can actually come up with a decent answer)?
- River will lose their starting goalkeeper. Juan Pablo Carrizo's loan will end and he will return to Lazio. Juan Marcelo Ojeda proved to be a good goalkeeper, but after being inactive for months, will he be able to recuperate his form?

None of these players are guaranteed to leave, but can we really expect them to stay? Besides them, other unmentioned players could be on their way out: Nicolas Sanchez and Oscar Ahumada were wanted in Italy, Cristian Nasuti could leave in exchange for minutes at another club, etc. How can River expect to win championships this way? It hurts to say it, but our arch-rivals Boca Juniors have been more than successful this decade. Their secret? A good and stable economy, which does not depend on selling their key players every six months. A clear example of this is their starting foward Rodrigo Palacio, who has been at the club for almost three years now. If he were to have arrived at River, there is no doubt that he would have left a long time ago. Instead of relying on transfers, can't we be more like Boca in the sense of maintaining the same team for more than one season and actually win important things? Besides, this would eventually bring in more money due to tournament prizes, player values going up, an increase merchandise sales, etc.

I didn't want to break the ice in the middle of our good moment, but nightmares are beginning to creep into my mind once again. With Jose Maria Aguilar in charge of our finances, even the unimaginable is inevitable.

Gimnasia (LP): 0 - River Plate: 2 - Torneo Apertura 2007

2007-10-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

During their match for the 14th Round of the Argentine Torneo Apertura 2007, River Plate were able to notch up their first away win of the season.

In the first half Diego Buonanotte put the ball past the net. Falcao then followed his footsteps, but the referee incorrectly called a foul on Gimnasia goalkeeper Cejas. Fortunately for the Colombian, he was able to gain his revenge by scoring River's final goal towards the last minutes of the match.

The game was important for many reasons:
- River has been having tremendous difficulties winning away from home. In fact, they were unable to win any of the eight played "outside" this season (till now of course).
- With Independiente losing to San Lorenzo, the difference in points between us and the leaders have now been minimized. Unfortunately, Lanus defeated San Martin (SJ) by a margin of 2-0 and our now the top team of the tournament. We are still five points away from them, with Independiente, Tigre, Argentinos Juniors, and Boca in between.

Ariel Ortega was once again the man of the match with his amazing passes and impressive ability. Diego Buonanotte also did great, scoring his second official goal in Primera. "The Dwarf" is not inscribed in River's Copa Sudamericana squad list, meaning that Daniel Passarella will not be able to repeat the same 11 that defeated Boca Juniors and Gimnasia (LP) on Thursday. Mauro Rosales, who came in in the second half yesterday, is expected to take his place.

Overall the team has made some major improvements as compared to early on in the season, with Ortega and Buonanotte's magic looking like the key to success. Radamel Falcao Garcia alo has to be thanked (the foward scored 6 goals in the last 4 games). The Copa Sudamericana and the Torneo Apertura, which both looked to be nothing else but an illusion before, are now becoming actually possibilites. Will Passarella and his boys find their long awaited oasis anytime soon?

Gimnasia (LP) - River: The Preview

2007-10-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

After a fantastic display two weeks ago vs. Boca Juniors, River Plate will finally be returning to the pitch. This time our rivals will be Gimnasia de La Plata, who aren't standing very firmly on the standings, but have been improving a lot since the arrival of new head coach Julio Cesar Falcioni.

Daniel Passarella will be starting the same eleven that defeated "Los Xeneizes":

Juan Pablo Carrizo;

Paulo Ferrari-Nicolas Sanchez-Eduardo Tuzzio-Leonardo Ponzio;

Augusto Fernandez-Oscar Ahumada-Fernando Belluschi;

Ariel Ortega-Diego Buonanotte;

Radamel Falcao Garcia

Although it may seem like it, the team will not be playing with two playmakers. Ortega will be a bit more up front, while Buonanotte will probably be a few steps behind him. Either way, this great duo will cause severe damage to it's rivals if they continue playing like they did in the Superclasico.

Two players that River must be careful with are Luciano Leguizamon and Ignacio Piatti. Leguizamon is an ex-River player, though he didn't receive many minutes (if any at all). He is a foward who can't stop scoring, and is used to putting the ball past the net for "el Lobo". Piatti, meanwhile, is a very young midfielder who is full of skill and good football. If our defenders are not able to contain them, both players will be very dangerous.

The match will be shown live on TyC Sports USA at 10:00 AM Pacific / 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

Post-Superclasico 2007: Videos & Pictures

2007-10-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I couldn't find the exact highlights I was hoping for, but I did find the following video (which I think is fantastic). It was made by "La Pagina Millonaria", and it shows the goals, some of the jukes (Ariel Ortega and Diego Buonanotte), but most importantly our amazing fans. Watch them set up a huge party in the Monumental, which included 180 red and white ribbons, thousands of balloons, and 2 tons of confetti paper.

Enjoy!

About a month ago I also created a thread, based on our amazing fans, on the BigSoccer forums. It includes several pictures and videos from past games. I just posted some of Sunday's match vs. Boca, so feel free to check those out. If you want to see them or contribute to the subject, visit this link.

- Gonzalo

Superclasico 2007: The Goals

2007-10-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

Here are the goals of River Plate's 2-0 Superclasico win over Boca Juniors.

1st Goal: Radamel Falcao Garcia

2nd Goal: Ariel Ortega

The rest of the highlights are scheduled to be posted tomorrow. Enjoy!

River Plate: 2 - Boca Juniors: 0 - Torneo Apertura 2007

2007-10-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

"Oooole, ooooole, oooooole, ooooole!!". The night finished off with River fans chanting and celebrating of joy. The ball, which went from River player to River player, could not be acquired by Boca Juniors, who were struggling in a day filled with fantastic football and passion displayed by the red-and-white side.

From the beginning, River Plate were clearly the better side. The "Millonaires" were able to open up the match with a powerful left-footed shot by Radamel Falcao Garcia. The difference was extended 10 minutes later, when Diego Buoanotte was fouled in Boca's area, leaving Ariel Ortega with a penalty which he later exchanged for a goal. During injury time of the first half, Ever Banega of Boca Juniors was given a second yellow card due to a very hard foul on Paulo Ferrari. After this, the match seemed like a free training ground for River players.

In the second half, River continued having opportunities but failed to conquer them. Either way, with a partial 2-0 score in our favor, the team didn't seem to be looking for a goal as much as before. They were more dedicated to the constant passing, the jukes (mainly coming from Ortega), and the embarrassment they made of the bosteros. The match eventually ended, leaving all River fans happy, though the score could have been maximized with a little more effort.

The Player Review -
Juan Pablo Carrizo: Not much for Carrizo to do but just sit back, relax, and enjoy the spectacle. Boca probably had one or two shots in the whole game, but even those weren't dangerous. Either way, we give two thumbs up to our starting keeper.
Paulo Ferrari: Although he wasn't too noticeable, he did a good job containing Rodrigo Palacio. He also had an important play which favored River throughout the match: with his speed, he managed to start a fast counterattack which resulted in a foul by Banega. The defensive midfielder was then expelled, leaving "la Banda" with an easy game thereafter.
Eduardo Tuzzio: Very firm in the back, like usual. With his never ending clearing and recuperations, he was one of the best defenders of the day.
Nicolas Sanchez: The ex-Nueva Chicago player had a good game and formed part of our solid defense, something that had been missing for quite a while lately.
Leonardo Ponzio: I was surprised to see him be a starter today, but I was even more surprised to see him play a great match. He may have not been accurate with his shots, but he defended very well and never stopped recuperating the ball. He ended up playing on the left side, and was much more solid than Cristian Villagra.
Augusto Fernandez: The youngster was one of the worst on the field, but this doesn't matter much: even then, it means that he wasn't as great as the other players but still did well. He gave some very good passes, though, such as the play in which he switched the ball to Fernando Belluschi (this led to our first goal).
Oscar Ahumada: Decent job by the #5. Not bad, not great: just fine.
Fernando Belluschi: Nice assist to Falcao on the first goal, and a very good game after that.
Diego Buonanotte: "El Enano" (the dwarf) continued bringing his magic to the pitch and received a standing ovation upon being replaced towards the end of the match. Besides, creating the second goal (he was the player who was fouled on the penalty), he participated a lot in the match and threw a few jukes here and there. He was fouled very often by Boca's players, who could not contain his fire. Having already proved himself in the few opportunities he has received lately, will he continue playing in the near future?
Ariel Ortega: "El Burrito" was simply the man of the match. One goal (the penalty shot), several great passes, humiliation of the "Bosteros": Ortega did it all. In his first Superclasico since his return to River, the ex-Argentine International proved that he is one of the best players in the league. He never stopped juking and was more than successful at it. 5/5 stars. Oooooorteeeeega, Oooooorteeeeega!!
Radamel Falcao Garcia: The Colombian seems to have opened up the goal to himself after scoring vs. Botafogo: in the last 3 games he played, he scored 5 goals. Falcao does not stop impressing and will be a vital part of this team if he continues to keep his form up. Let's just hope he doesn't get injured while playing for the Colombian National Team, though.
The Substitutes -
Matias Abelairas: Besides a few things every now and then, Abelairas was unable to leave his mark in one of the most important matches of the year. No negative points, especially since he came in during a moment of relaxtion and complete control for River, but not too many positives either.
Andres Rios and Mauro Rosales: Both fowards came in during the final minutes of the match and did not have time to show off their potential.

With the South American World Cup Qualifiers coming up, River will be able to rest for the next two weeks. We will return to the pitch vs. Gimnasia de La Plata, who will be arriving from a 1-1 tie with defending champions San Lorenzo.

Aguante River.. Thanks for this joy! Highlights and videos of the goals to be posted soon.

River - Boca: The Preview

2007-10-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

River Plate and Boca Juniors will be playing the 181st edition of the Superclasico (in the local league) tomorrow. The match, like always, is expected to be full of great football and excitement, clearly seperating it from the rest of the games in the league. Who will be playing for River? The following eleven are the ones expected to start:

Juan Pablo Carrizo;
Paulo Ferrari-Nicolas Sanchez-Danilo Gerlo-Eduardo Tuzzio;
Augusto Fernandez-Oscar Ahumada-Fernando Belluschi;
Diego Buonanotte;
Radamel Falcao Garcia-Ariel Ortega;

Almost all of the players listed above are very likely to play, but there is still one big doubt: will Andres Rios start? Despite scoring in the last 3 games in which he started, the Argentine press is now reporting that Daniel Passarella is analyzing the possibility of giving Diego Buonanotte a shot over him. "The dwarf", as he is nicknamed, has impressed fans with his jukes and ability in the last two matches, and the "Kaiser" wants to play him vs. Boca to add a bit of spice to the game. In the case that he does play, Ariel Ortega would be moving more up front alongside Falcao and would be more of a foward than a playmaker.

Besides the possible inclusion of Buonanotte, there will only be one change to the normal starting line-up River have displayed this season. Danilo Gerlo, who was substitued because of an injury vs. Argentinos Juniors, will be replacing Cristian Villagra, of poor form lately. Eduardo Tuzzio, though, will be the one covering the left back position, while Gerlo will be one of the two central defenders.

Edit: Daniel Passarella surprised everyone, and Leonardo Ponzio will actually be the one replacing Cristian Villagra. Ferrari will move to the left and Ponzio to the right, leaving Tuzzio and N. Sanchez in the middle. It has also been confirmed that Buonanotte will replace Rios, as speculated previously. The line-up has been updated above.

Boca Juniors, meanwhile, will almost surely display the following players from the first minute:

Mauricio Caranta;
Hugo Ibarra-Gabriel Paletta-Jonathan Maidana-Morel Rodriguez;
Pablo Ledesma-Ever Banega-Jesus Datolo;
Leandro Gracian;
Martin Palermo-Rodrigo Palacio;

This is a very dangerous side, with a strong defense and some good offense. Martin Palermo is a goal scoring machine, even at 33 years of age. Rodrigo Palacio, on the other hand, adds speed, while Gracian brings the passes and assists to Boca. If River defends like we have been lately (15 goals conceded in the last 4 games), then we could see a very horrific result. Hopefully the team goes out and plays like they did vs. Velez or vs. Botafogo in the second half, but you never know what might happen.

The match will be shown live on Fox Sports en Espanol and Fox Soccer Channel at 10:00 AM Pacific / 1:00 PM Eastern Time.