Clausura 2008: Boca Juniors 1 - 0 River Plate

OK, so I finally crawled out of the rock I've been hiding under. I cleaned up all the broken dishes I smashed on the floor (true story). I took a walk around the block, counted to ten, slept on it. But though I'm slightly calmer than I was yesterday, the result still hurts.
Yes, Boca Juniors defeated a poor, pathetic River Plate yesterday 1-0 in the Superclásico, ending a 5 match unbeaten run for los millonarios, but even worse, preventing Diego Simeone's squad from taking sole possession of the Clausura table, while in front of a raucous Bombonera, propelling Boca back into the title race.
I'll say it now so that it's on the record: Boca were the better team on the day and deserved the victory. With that out of the way, let me get to what I really think:

Superclasico!!

The most important fixture in all of South America is only hours away, when our beloved River Plate will attempt to defeat hated Boca Juniors at the Bombonera, in a match you can watch live on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports Español at 2PM ET.

Not only is ...

In Rosario, the beautiful game had an ugly side.

Salcedo had another good game. Struck the post. Fierce on defense. German Re was his usual stalwart self. Quiroga had a terrible outing doing anything but defending around the box. And Steinert, what can we say about Steinert. Absolutely stunk. Super fast at times, but had nothing. ...

Clausura 2008: River Plate 4 - 2 Argentinos Juniors

Another exciting match this afternoon in the Clausura for River, but this time los millonarios came out with the victory, defeating a determined Argentinos Juniors side 4-2 at home, and starting off this massively important week with a resounding performance. After facing a resurgent San ...

Copa Libertadores 2008: River to Face San Lorenzo in Round of 16

River Plate will face a familiar foe in their quest to reach the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals, as they are set to meet local Primera rivals San Lorenzo de Almagro. Today's draw set up the ties for the round of 16, with River and San Lorenzo the only fixture in which teams from the same country ...

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

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!

Clausura 2008: Rosario Central 2 - 1 River Plate

I warned this past week that River could be due for a big surprise in the league, and sure enough, los millonarios suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 2-1 at the hands of Rosario Central in a pulsating match.
Much like last season's fixture in the Apertura, this meeting against Central was one of the most exciting games of the year, and once again River came up short. Despite a decent performance from Diego Simeone's squad, Central, despite having another season near the bottom of the table, left it all out on the pitch.
River would strike the first blow on an excellent strike from Diego Buonanotte in the 19th minute, which silenced, at least temporarily, the ecstatic home crowd. But ten minutes later, Central were even after a shot from Emilio Zelaya went just past Juan Pablo Carrizo. The goal, only the third conceded by River all season, ended a shutout streak of nearly 600 minutes. And when Martín Arzuaga put the home team up in the 43rd, River found themselves behind for the first time in the entire Clausura.
The second half was one of the most tense seen yet, with River struggling to push forward against a Central team who were clearly gassed, but doing everything to deny la banda. But the tide changed when Rosario's Leonardo Borzani received a red card in the 74th minute, and River began to throw everything towards the goal in search of the equalizer. In the end, Central were just good enough to deny River the draw, and were the unlikely squad to hand us our first defeat in the league.

CRAP!!

Salcedo was brilliant again. The other Paraguayans, not so much. Da Silva was a ball losing ineffective forward. His worst game by far as a lepra. And Villar, what can we say about Villar. He has played some great games this season, so I guess he was due a stink bomb. Too bad it was against #@$!&@ Boca.

Bocaditas before the game

El Crotto del Parque and El Grito Sagrado. One of my favorite Newell's songs. Definitely like this band. I'd link you to them, but their site is down.

Also, thought I would throw out this link to Jose M's site. Lots of great Newell's clips and photos, although it is in Spanish.