Yesterday, 12 Men Grew One Sack (AAAJ 2 – CASLA 1)

By: Scott | April 21st, 2008

No, Alejandro Delorte and Sergio Escudero will never have sack. Nestor Ortigoza definitely has sack, it just happens to make bad decisions, trip often, and be really really bad at soccer, just like him. Everybody else, though…gold star day!

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.