Looking to avoid Eight Belles’ fate

By: Scott | May 19th, 2008

What? it’s too soon? Fine, I got two-year-old Barbaro jokes that I’ve never been able to use. Anyway, the idea is “down the stretch we come”, etc. The season is finishing up and Argentinos Juniors is (for once–and probably last) in the thick of something, though it’s not the title.

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.