A bigger man than myself would extend some sympathy to the current plight of River Plate. Fresh off the heels of their latest championship, their inability to mesh their egos has led them to their worst season ever. Poor guys. Oh, wait, they can suck it. No sympathy to be found here. I did mention that they just won the title, right? Yeah, poor guys. By the way, the only name I have heard to replace Simeone as permanent coach is…Pipo Gorosito. Huh. Interesting. Take him. In my opinion, the team has done well in spite of his tinkering, not because of it. Take him, compensate us, and we’ll take Gallego. Please let that happen. But perhaps he could leave his pretty hair.

Regarding the title of the post, Argentinos walked into the Monumental and took away 3 points for the first time since 1993, which means that if you have fond memories of playing Doom, then they all happened since that infamous date. I don’t know what the circumstances were behind that victory, i.e. if River was bad, if there was a fake penalty called, etc., but it’s history. Milestones, people…milestones. The best thing about the whole affair was that the first half was even (Radamel Falcao headed the home side to the lead in the 15th minute, after Escudero and Hauche had both blown pretty clear chances to start Argentinos off in the lead) and then the second half was pretty much dominated by Argentinos. After a few hapless attempts at goal, Juan Sabia sidled up from his central defensive position to head a free kick home in a crafty move (That’s his first goal in the first division, so…hat’s off, big guy).

Then the boys in red pushed forward and went for the kill. The young and fresh legs of Andrés “Paco” Romero, Rafael Viotti, and Franco Quiroga linked together in a grand attempt to slip the ball past Daniel Vega to sneak away with three points. And just when it looked like they would fall just short, Paco did the silliest little play I have seen in a while by kicking the ball forward in an attempt to outrun everyone and receive it with no angle to shoot. Instead of fulfilling that fantasy, he instead saw the opportunity to leap over a sliding Daniel Vega in a desperate appeal for a last-minute penalty. Oh wait…here’s the best part, dashy little Rafael Viotti was making a pointless run to nowhere and happened to be in the basically the same place and ALSO dived. Penalty awarded, I believe due to the disbelief on the part of the ref that synchronized diving could be pulled off so effortlessly. Quite the thing of beauty.

Our beloved hunchback Nestor Ortigoza strode up the spot and deftly deposited the ball in the top right corner to move the score to the 2-1 final. And the feat had been accomplished, improbable though it had seemed. Hot dammit, I will take it.

A few additional thoughts:

River is playing scared. Salcedo and, more interestingly, Buonanotte were both taken out when River was clinging to a 1-0 lead. Go for the jugular! Now, don’t get me wrong, the talent scales were still greatly tilted in their favor, but there were twenty minutes left when Buonanotte stepped off. A lot can happen, and a lot did. CARP has not won at home since Week 2 and were desperately hoping to field a side that could hold Argentinos out of the net, instead of focusing on keeping their own flow of the game.

Nestor Ortigoza was the best player on the field. I am again struck speechless by his evolution as a player. My pride swells as if he were my own son. I now believe, as he is no older than 24, that he will soon be moving on to bigger pastures. And he will try to eat the grass in that pasture, too. He looks like a donkey…that’s the joke. But he will manage a game and move between offense and defense like nobody’s business.

Gabriel Hauche needs some time to himself. He disappeared last Thursday against Estudiantes and blew 3 (3!!!!!!!!!!!!!) one-on-one or one-on-NONE chances yesterday. Sit this one out, kid…you’ve scored two goals in the tournament (in addition to two wonderful and very important goals in the Sudamericana), but your impact and influence on the flow of the offense (i.e. breaking down a defender on the side to create a good centering chance, making the good center after the initial move, or poaching a goal from a weird bounce in the area) have not been existent…and it has limited this team greatly. I still love ya, kid, but…figure this out.

Just for fun, South Americans have decided they don’t know how to organize something. The Copa Libertadores is evidently going to have three additional spots open because Peru’s teams will not be able to participate. You will be missed. Now, no one knows who will replace them. Talk includes: Independiente and Santos, due to their history; the champion of the Sudamericana (dammit); or one additional spot in certain countries, including Argentina. Guess who occupies that spot currently? You guessed it…Tigre. BUT, guess who is only 4 points behind Tigre with 3 matches to play…Argentinos. A lot would need to happen in order for the boys to be distracted by a mid-week fixture again next year, including winning at least 2 (most likely 3) of their remaining matches and rooting for teams to beat Tigre, which this week means rooting for…River Plate. Life, have I told you lately that I love you?

Here go the highlights, to reward those that have made it this far:

Now, I will make another post to fill you in on what has transpired in the league thus far (bad), but right now let’s focus on Thursday. Yes, Thursday. A midweek match. Mauro has been doing a great job previewing and summarizing the goings on in the Copa Sudamericana, but I know deep down you have been aching to know my take on the affairs, which include the meteoric and impossible to predict rise of the beloved bicho from “luckily and reluctantly invited because we couldn’t find a loophole to get Vélez to qualify” to “semifinalist that all lame American journalists now discover is the first club for Maradona and subsequently write an article on it” (Note: I have not found any article matching the second description because I don’t read American soccer journalism, but I just get the feeling that there is some genius finally putting it all together). Continue below and discover the magic.

Bullet point warning! Here are the most important aspect of this mini-run.

1. The Copa Sudamericana is NOT the same thing as the UEFA Cup. If someone says it, tell them to stop reducing everything to overly generalized analogies. If you think it…please stop. The Sudamericana is not concurrent with the Libertadores, meaning that the same team could win both in the same year (Boca barely missed out on this distinction by losing to Once Caldas on penalties in the final of the Libertadores in 2004 before winning the Sudamericana later in the year, though, interestingly enough, they would have won had South America utilized the away goals rule at that time).

2. Sergio Escudero is nuts. Dangerous, even. Sure “hot-headed Latin” is an overused cliché, but there are times in this world when it applies, and Escudero has converted himself into the stereotypical “see ankle, kick ankle” defender. He has 5 yellow cards thus far in the tournament…the team has played 7 matches. Oh, by the way, he is currently suspended for three matches in the league due to his 4 red cards over the past 2 years. Whatever it takes, I guess.

3. The team has played the best when it mattered most, and that means that they have won or done enough on the road to get this far. I cannot stress how important or stupefying this is. The round-by-round breakdown is like this:

vs. San Lorenzo: 0-0 first leg at home, 2-0 victory on the road. The first real WTF moment this year. Pavlovich, aka the Vulture, aka Everything We Were Looking For, aka This Is Why I Complained So Much About Delorte, set the tone and the defense held firm. Amazing.

vs. San Luis: 1-2 first leg on the road, 2-0 victory at home. Pavlovich again. He just got bored, burned 3 defenders, and scored on his own in Mexico to give the team the kick in the ass that they needed and some hope for the return leg. Then he helped finish the deal.

vs. Palmeiras: 1-0 on the road, 2-0 at home. This one isn’t even worth writing about. Escudero brought his reputation to an international level when Denilson (the old one) claimed that Sergio said he would “end his career”. Yeah, we’re basically a bad biker club who kicks a ball around…

As you can see, the troubles away from home that I documented ad nauseum last year (and continue this year…) were magically solved in this tournament. What the hell is that about? I have no answers, so I will just stop writing about it.

So, where do you stand now? Argentinos needs to score at least one goal. That much we know. I, as always, know very little more. AAAJ hasn’t beaten Estudiantes in La Plata since the Clausura 2005, before Verón returned from Italy, so that means little. The hill is steep, the odds are against them…and right now that doesn’t seem to mean anything to them.

More to come…

The match on Thursday night against San Lorenzo was my greatest moment as an Argentinos fan. I will post the summary below, but the first goal shows how much promise was wasted last year, in spite of the fifth place finish and the qualification into the Copa Sudamericana: Nicolás Pavlovich, as the striker whose job is to take the ball and score with it, simply made the right run and a subtle touch that made its way past Orion to the back of the net. Alejandro Delorte, though he produced goals when they counted and was a key piece of the equation in certain matches, could not fill the role of the player who could add that particular spark at any moment…and he wasted numerous opportunities in the process. Let it go, Scott, seriously…

There is so much that could be said about the proceedings in Bajo Flores; the defense, especially Juan Mercier and Nestor Ortigoza as the central defensive midfielders, was fantastic. Much can be written and said about the three defensemen Andrés Scotti, Matías Caruzzo, and Juan Sabia, as well as the essential contributions from Gonzalo Prósperi and Sergio Escudero as the wingbacks/fifth defenders. The seven players mentioned above suffocated any semblance of attack from a formidable side and, as the first leg finished 0 to 0, keeping the opponent from scoring assured decision by penalty kicks, at the very least. Alas, penalties were not needed, as Pavlovich and Hauche put the ball in the net in two of the few chances that the team generated, but that’s all they needed. With all of the struggles these men have had on the road, the result was both surprising and wonderful. They now face a tough challenge in either San Luis from Mexico or Quito from Ecuador. Qualifying was an accomplishment itself and it is nothing short of wonderful to watch them progress.

Tomorrow (Sunday) night, they sqaure off after a short turnaround in Tucuman against San Martin de Tucuman…a team that four years ago was fighting three divisions lower and has slowly made its way up the rankings to now be squaring up against the big boys (and Argentinos). I am sure the Disney movie is in production now. They have won one match (at home) this far and they will be a tough matchup, especially when you consider the fact that the team had such an emotional match only three days before. A draw will be seen as an accomplishment.

AAAJ 2 - San Lorenzo 0
Goals by Gabriel Hauche and Nicolas Pavlovich
Round of 16 in late September of the Copa Sudamericana against Liga Quito of Ecuador or San Luís Potosí of Mexico.

Copa Sudamericana -

The new squad debuted at home against San Lorenzo in the quest to top this conglomeration of South and Central American clubs. As Arsenal proved last year, any team can get hot and come out champions. However, no team can accomplish it by looking the way Argentinos did on August 6th. They had 1 (one) shot on goal, which was saved brilliantly by Agustín Orion as he auditions for a payday in Europe. Jonathan Botinelli was spectacular in saving two one-on-one situations before moving on to Sampdoria after the match. I am trying to think of “cute” or “funny” or “interesting” things to say about the match. I can’t. It was cold and boring and depressing, since all San Lorenzo has to do is win at home tonight (tune in live on Fox Sports en Español at 8pm Eastern!!!) to advance. I am happy, however, that they did not go out and embarrass themselves and I am hopeful that they will do the same tonight: play well enough so that I can come to the office tomorrow without being verbally abused to the point of tears. Unfortunately, I cry easily so…possible sick day alert!

If you recall, last year’s 61 points were a big deal for two reasons: 1) the most successful campaign since they were champions of the Libertadores in 1985 and 2) qualification for the Sudamericana, which works to lend legitimacy to the team and assets to the club’s coffers. However, with another uninspired and impotent outing tonight, all of that will turn into an unspectacular wash. The analogy here would be the kid who gets invited to his first high school dance by the girl he likes, but only as part of her “group”, not an actual date setup, and then watch her make out with the guy she really likes, who just also happens to be the kid that verbally mocks him every day in trigonometry class with verbals assaults on his senses of fashion and hygiene and has turned his nights from peaceful slumber to turbulent sessions of teeth gnashing and tears…in other words, it would suck.

Torneo Apertura 2008 -

There have been two matches thus far, and they are night and day. If you’ve never been to Sarandí, then a description of the smell in the town is impossible. I thought I had seen everything, but the location of the stadium is right at the meeting point of what seems like 10,000 dumpsters and sewers, all of which has been slowly roasted and then pissed on by 10,000 horses. Truly stomach-wrenching. Unfortunately enough, that wasn’t the only disgusting aspect of the Argentinos-Arsenal match played three days after the match against San Lorenzo. Arsenal is riding high on the signing of Facundo Sava, who left Racing recently but will never lose his ability to score that goal that beats your team. Sure enough, 3 minutes into his debut for his new club, he headed one over Matías Caruzzo and past Torrico for the first goal of the season. It only got worse from there. I will spare you (read:myself) the details, but the final was 3-0 and it wasn’t that close.

If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that Argentinos had played two full matches without scoring a goal…those are rough waters. Velez Sarsfield was next on the schedule and the first 45 minutes still showed no signs of hope. We had depended so strongly on homefield advantage, yet they were pathetic. The 3-5-2 formation had holes in the defense and no punch in the offense. Juan Fernandez, substitute wingback on the left and right, was abused in both matches and was absolutely shown to be someone with next to 0 footballing talent. The starters, Gonzalo Prosperi and Sergio Escudero, can NOT take a week off….ever. Anyway, the second half whistle blew, and we “dealt with a miracle”. An unexpected cast of characters delivered on the goals: Andrés Scotti towered over the defense on a deflected free kick and knocked it home to open the floodgates; Ortigoza pounded a penalty after Tobio kicked the crap out of Hauche in the area with the ball 50 yards away; Mercier played a beautiful 1-2 with Pavlovich and finished with the left foot; and Prosperi centered one that Aban nailed home for the 4-1 victory.

I have talked before about how Hauche is a player who has some talents, but whose principal attributes stand in the fact that he will take every advantage he can out there to find position, win the ball, draw a foul, etc. He has a reputation of a questionable player, it is obvious now, as he doesn’t draw many fouls and is called for a lot. However, in the Velez match, it all played to our favor and played a big part in the result. With a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute, he was tugging and pushing in a fight to get the ball against two defenders. He lost and the ball was cleared. One of the defenders, Tobio, a real young-looking guy, had been fighting with Gabriel the entire afternoon. He had obviously had had enough, as he kicked the crap out of Hauche in the area…dumb, dumb dumb. Red card and penalty and the entire match changed.

What do we know

Nothing, as always. Rodrigo “Rengo” Diaz, the big signing, has played well, but nothing to make you think that he’s truly going to lead this team to a finish better than the 5th place from last year. The loss of our hero Alvaro Pereira has led Gorosito to opt for a much more defensive posture, with a 3-5-2, and at times Diaz, Peñalba, and Hauche are stranded up top. They haven’t learned how to make goals out of nothing and the support from the wings, which was so vital last year, is non-existent. They STILL looked horrible away from home and weak on set pieces–the SAME problems that haunted them last year. Their defense looks really solid (ignore the Arsenal match) and that is good enough for me. Onward to San Lorenzo tonight…

First, and least importantly, Diadora has replaces Signia as the maker of the kits. Here is what the current line looks like:

That’s Matías Caruzzo in the black sports jacket and some player from Tigre with a blue ball. The new Argentinos jerseys are the three on the left. I trust that the actual players will get to wear shoes and that Amnesty International is looking into the fact that these poor models are asked to work without them.

The miracle referred to in the title is actually two-fold: the current version of the squad debuts tonight (TONIGHT!) against San Lorenzo in a match for the Copa Sudamericana, the nerd sitting alone at lunch while everyone fawns over the Copa Libertadores. It’s the first international tournament for Argentinos in 12 years. Much simpler times, those. Also, the match will be televised throughout the world! If you are in the US, coverrage begins at 7pm Eastern on Fox Sports en Español; for the UK, I believe it’s Setanta Sports 1 at midnight (like you have somewhere to be or something to wake up for tomorrow…come on…watch the match).

What you can expect to see from Argentinos is a decisively risky 3-4-1-2 formation. Risky in the sense of the ability to score goals. The only new incorporation is Rodrigo “Rengo” Díaz as the attacking mid, while lanky Gabriel Peñalba moves up a bit to accompany Gabriel Hauche as a second striker. Essentially he will be replacing Alejandro Delorte as the principal recipient of passes from the back whose responsibility is to hold it and distribute to Rengo and Hauche to start the attack. However, I can’t find anyone else on the list of players who is much of a threat at this key point of the strategy. Juan Mercier is definitely capable of moving the ball forward a bit but can’t be relied on to slot one home or lay off a cheeky pass, Gonzalo Prósperi and Sergio Escudero are far from Roberto Carlos or Cafu, and Nestor Ortigoza will probably be more concerned with the critique of his latest cave painting than finding the back of the net. Defensively, they are actually quite solid. Torrico returns to adequately guard the net and the backline of Caruzzo, Scotti, and Juan Sabia, when combining with the ball-winning efforts of Ortigoza and Mercier, is a formidable obstacle for any team.

Long story short: it should be a very low-scoring affair, depending on how well Rengo has learned his new teammates’ tendencies and how well Peñalba can shift from being the main cog in the machine in the middle to focusing his efforts closer to the opponents’ goal. Over the past year, Argentinos has not lost at home in 16 matches (only 2 draws in that time) and that was the key to their success. Tonight’s match needs to be a continuation of that trend if they have any hope of progressing in this tournament.

Ah, the sweet beginnings of winter have finally passed and the last match is nothing but a memory…and a very happy one at that. The scrappy bunch came back from a one goal deficit by virtue of two goals from now-hero Alejandro Delorte to vanquish Rosario Central 2-1, thereby guaranteeing entry in this year’s version of Copa Sudamericana. Let me take this space to officially offer some form of apology to Sr. Delorte for my harsh words. After the team had given up an early goal and needed two goals to make that step forward by qualifying for the international tournament, Big Al did what was necessary to guarantee victory. Congrats, big man…and thanks for the moment. Though some could argue that if he had performed at a higher level throughout the campaign, those heroics wouldn’t have been necessary…

DEPARTURES

On the subject of the monstrosity of mediocrity, he will not make any further appearances for the club (unless they sign him back in the future…oh God, did I just jinx that?) as he and Roberto Battión will be suiting up for Aris Salonika in Greece. Yep, one team signed those two mediocre players…methinks that the agents put the highlights from the Boca match on loop and convinced them that these two are mad crazy goal scorers.

Oh yeah, Nicolas Gianni and his beautiful soccer hair that topped the head of a guy who is just too slow now is on loan at the Universidad de Chile. No one else of importance has left. That is a good thing.

Alvaro Pereira’s departure to CFR Cluj in Romania is the biggest news. He is one of the players who has busted his ass to get better over the past year and who has a pretty high ceiling in his development. Cluj won the Romanian title and thus qualified for the Champion’s League, so our export will jump straight into the fire. One important note is that they have decided to play him as a defender instead of his customary left midfield position. I will do my part in periodically updating his progress.

RETURNS (NO REFUND)

Franco Niell and Matías Córdoba have been returned to sender earlier than planned by the clubs, DC United and Real Salt Lake, respectively, who had taken them on loan in the MLS. Neither one had a real place on the team before, aside from “rarely used substitute” or “guy who really pushes the first team hard”, so it’s no real disappointment that they are back. They still don’t have a place, however. I suppose Córdoba can spell one of the guys in the middle should the need arise.

NEWCOMERS

Rodrigo “Rengo” Díaz, Juan Fernández (midfielders), Mariano Martínez, Nicolas Pavlovich (strikers), and Pablo Hernández (defender) are the newest members of the club. I don’t know much about them other than what I read, which includes the fact that Diaz and Pavlovich will most likely be slotted into starting positions as soon as the season opens. I will surely be in here with opinions when there are actually matches to be played. The offseason is such a pain to survive.

Speaking of which, August 6 will see the boys return to the field in the first round of the Sudamericana at home against San Lorenzo.

2. Congratulations to River Plate, the latest champions of Argentina. Don’t kid yourself, they couldn’t have done it without the three points they took from Argentinos in, sadly, perhaps the best match Argentinos played on the road all season.

3. There’s only one week left! Positions are tight and there is still something to play for! The idea right now is the classic “win and they’re in”…as of the moment they have a two point lead over Vélez Sarsfield for the last qualification spot in this year’s Copa Sudamericana. Finally some intrigue that doesn’t involve relegation fears! They could have clinched qualification this past weekend, but, much like Boca Juniors, they managed to choke at the end of the season. Again, the match at home against Rosario Central will have the importance of a grand final…and I know Jeremy will be rooting for us.

4. Two of our finest players have already confirmed their departure to the richer and less-prone-to-potholes pastures of Europe.

a) Our local Cafu, Pablo Bárzola, will be plying his trade for Caen (and let me say it is fantastic to know that there is a blog in this world that is updated less than mine). For those who are curious, his most remarkable trait, besides being a tremendous dancer
is how well he can move the ball with his feet, aka dribble. His ability to get in and out of tight spaces and elude defenders never ceases to amaze. He is fast, but there are plenty of players who will still be able to get the advantage on him. He is a decent defender, but a smart coach could easily turn him exclusively into a right winger, since his skills are best displayed moving up the flanks and not in the box. A bright future awaits him and Caen is picking a ripe fruit off the tree; he can step in and play right away.

b) Our Uruguayan import Álvaro Pereira (who has been my favorite on the team for a while) will be casting his net in…Romania? CFR Cluj, located in the hamlet of…Cluj-Napoca…has contracted the services of our crafty and talented left winger (some would argue the most difficult position to replace on the whole goddamn field…) starting in August. In addition to getting himself used to various Romanian habits and weather patterns, Alvaro will also be playing Champions League football! This is the second year in a row that Argentinos has sent players straight from the squad to a Champions League team (Leonel Núñez last year, though Pereira should play more often than Lucky Leo). He’s quick, hard-working, a smart tackler, and gives great crosses. However, his free kicks lack any sort of punch and his tendency to kick the ball really far ahead and then run after it instead of dribbling will not last long in the big leagues. All the same, I can truly say it was a pleasure to watch him grow as a player since his arrival in August (has it really been less than a year?).

5. In the match against Lanús ten days ago, Gabriel Hauche scored the finest goal of his career and it is worth sharing here with you. It is, of course, the second goal…enjoy and look forward to a couple more posts this week as I try to catch up and get EVERYONE excited for this do-or-die match.

Summary of what has happened recently:

River Plate 4 - Argentinos Juniors 2.  Both teams came to play on this day, which is a pleasant surprise for us at AAAJ central.  Diego Buonanotte owned the afternoon, scoring two goals and moving in and around defenders at will, something which he should be doing around the world for the next ten or so years. The big deal here is that our boy Hauche had a one-on-one with Carrizo when the match was still 3-2…and choked–kicked it right at the keeper’s hands. His body language told you he was scared from the moment he touched the ball; he didn’t want it. All in all, considering the fact that River has conceded only 6 goals in 8 matches at home, scoring 2 is a good thing for this offense that is normally toothless when away from its home. Hauche’s miss was the most disappointing thing about the afternoon. Well, that and the fact that I am now 0-2 in blog matches.

Argentinos Juniors 2 - Estudiantes de La Plata 1.    And this, folks, is what kills me about supporting this club. Though Juan Verón did not play and it was obvious that they were focusing on their match for the Copa Libertadores later in the week, this powerhouse and probable champion this year was overmatched for 90 minutes and failed to threaten until late in the match when they were already down 2-0. The goals for Argentinos came on two ugly plays that were happy accidents from the misadventures of Alejandro Delorte. They aren’t even worth summarizing here. The good news is that the club brought plenty of passion and and endless supply of energy, which Estudiantes could not match.

Racing 1 - Argentinos 1. Nooooooooooo! We gave up a point to Racing Club de Avellaneda. This storied team has exactly one victory this season and finds amazing ways to lose any lead they have. It is well on its way to having to play a series against a second division club just for the right to play first division football. Add to that a fifth-minute strike from the unlikeliest source, one Nestor Ortigoza, and all signs seemed to point to only the second victory on foreign turf for Argentinos. Then Racing squeaked one past Torrico and Argentinos activated the “all defense” mode, waiting for the tie and the solitary point that it brings. Oh well, at least we’re not playing for our first division lives.

Argentinos 2 - Velez Sarsfield 0.  In what is the biggest rivalry for Argentinos until Platense manages to brush themselves off and return to real football, the bicho went out and played some of its finest football of the year.  Quick, assertive, and dominant in midfiel…all changes of dynamic for this bunch of low-hanging fruit. Sergio Escudero notched his first professional goal on a set piece (!!!!!!), when the other team managed to leave him alone two feet in front of the net. I still thought he would find a way to fuck it up. Alas, a second half opening goal was procured and the boys held their ground for the final half hour, w¡th my former man-crush Alvaro Pereira notching his second goal later on a fine little play with Pablo Barzola.

And down the stretch we come:

Four matches remain: visiting Arsenal de Sarandí, receiving Lanús, visiting Tigre, receiving Rosario Central. It’s difficult to ask for an easier scenario. The only team that is “fighting” for a position at this point of the season is Rosario (Tigre’s cup chances are slimmer and I just don’t want to consider them gaining that spot from behind; besides they lost 4-1 at home last night…I can’t help but think of them as a bottom-of-the-table team), who has distanced themselves significantly from relegation recently and should be safe by the last match. What is at stake for Argentinos? A place in an international tournament…at press time, Argentinos has 52 points in the 34 matches it has played thus far, meaning that they WOULD BE playing in the coming edition of the Copa Sudamericana, which is cool, but not THAT cool. Ideally, they could leapfrog Velez, River, and Independiente (who have 54, 54, and 55, respectively) to land what I think is the final Libertadores spot. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is HUGE. They have twelve possible points, all of them within reason of being achieved, and River is the only one who has an easy schedule, so ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. We do NOT want to be the lame horse being put down at the end, which is what will certainly happen to Boca, given recent history…more developments as they transpire.

First off, I need to acknowledge the fact that I ran away like a little girl after the past few defeats. Here’s what took place:

Banfield 3 - Argentinos 2. The post was called “Divergence Point” and that’s exactly what it was; win there and confidence grows with more relegation fodder on tap OR lose there and realize that you don’t have what it takes, falling further behind teams who have just as much talent as you…well, they lost. They were dominated by a far superior midfield, led by the Colombian Magician (not an official nickname, but feel free to use it) Jairo Patiño and a claptrap defense (is that dirty?). Later, Gorosito inserted both Alejandro Delorte and Nico Gianni to provide some sort of spark, which is about the same as putting Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O’Donnell together hoping for box office magic (tell me…when was the last time you read a reference to East of Eden Exit to Eden (sticklers)?); magically, the only goal they were able to muster was Andres Scotti’s header from a corner. The loss was painful and embarrassing, affecting morale instantly…watch the hit they took:

Argentinos 1 - Gimnasia de Jujuy 1. What the f@#k? Truth be told, I don’t remember much from this match. I was there, but there was something a bit off from the start. There was no teamwork, no drive, no fun to be had on the field. Gonzalo Abán started in place of Delorte, which made a child happy somewhere in the world, but he couldn’t put the biscuit in the basket, as the kids say. Delorte was brought on, promptly hurled himself in a direction favorable to the team and assisted Hauche on a goal. All seemed to be right in the world until little Jorge Luna netted a perfect free kick and the lobos from the west took home a deserved point..mostly because the boys in red spent a lot of time dicking around (sorry ladies). Disappointing, aggravating, et al.

Newell’s Old Boys 2 - Argentinos 0. Congrats to Jeremy and co. They won the battle of the blogs and the battle of the Scottis. Domination in midfield (sense a trend?) and taking advantage of Argentinos’ weak-ass set piece defending make the 3 points a piece of cake for Caruso Lombardi. (I am not even going to get into the controversy Andrés Scotti started with him…not worth anyone’s time…just move along).

And then…Argentinos 2 - San Lorenzo 1. Even with all of the above being true, the absolute low point of the season took place two minutes into injury time of the first half yesterday afternoon; Mirosevic took a free kick on the far left side of the field with Ortigoza (already given a yellow for diving) and Barzola defending against the counter attack against Menseguez…well, he got the ball and bad things happened, namely Hauche, in a desperate attempt to get back and save the 9 other guys who messed up, dragged him down and gave San Lorenzo a free chance at goal, of which they took advantage. 1-0 into the locker rooms.

That was the low point. 1 point from the past three matches, very few signs of life in the first half, and a gifted goal for the visitors. Dreams of international tournaments or at the very least PRIDE IN THE WAY YOUR TEAM PLAYS were out the window…despair and anticipating the winter signings to regroup for next tournament were our only concerns. Then, something happened. Some kid came in…I still don’t know who he is, really. He wears #15 and his last name is Romero, but the official website links to Andres Romero (#23 and bad)’s information…so, anyway, he came in and he is GOOD. He runs quick, he made cheeky passes, he almost scored twice. AND HE BROUGHT LIFE BACK TO THE TEAM AND THE CROWD. Alvaro Pereira woke up from his 10 match nap, Gorosito put Peñalba in, and passes were crisp, runs were made, shots were taken until finally…penalty and conversion. Then, three minutes from time, Gabriel Perez knocked in Orion’s inexplicable rebound in the middle of the area to assure victory and renewed hope and spirit. It was the most celebrated victory since River walked out with their tails between their legs last September. A good amount of justified rejoicing was had and now we only have to wait for….a trip to La Monumental to play the same River Plate, who should kick our ass like we kicked theirs. It’s only fair, really.