Viene La Copa

By: Christian | February 12th, 2008

Copa Libertadores

After our first victory in the league last Sunday, River Plate will now focus on the Copa Libertadores, when la banda travel to Lima, Peru Wednesday night to face fellow Group 5 club, Universidad San Martín.

River will have much to prove this year after suffering an embarrassing exit in the Copa last year after finishing dead last in their group, and losing, twice, to minnows Caracas FC (In an interesting bit of irony, Caracas defeated River rejects San Lorenzo 2-0 Tuesday night in Group 1). History has shown River always managing to underachieve in the tournament; despite winning in 86 and 96, most other campaigns have ended in embarrassing defeats in the knockout stages. This years draw certainly won’t give los millonarios any advantages, as they will later have to travel to Mexico and Chile, always difficult and unpredictable places to travel to.

Simeone is again tinkering with his lineup, as the press is reporting that el Cholo could now field a 4-2-3-1, with Augusto Fernández, Alexis Sánchez, and Ariel Ortega playing behind Sebastián Abreu.

River’s opponent, San Martín, have a strong footballing tradition that dates all the way back to 2004. No, that’s not a misprint. If I understand this correctly, the team was formed by a business partnership which bought their way in the country’s top flight when the club purchased the promotion spot of 2004 Second Division winners, Sport Coopsol. San Martín then qualified for this years Copa by winning the 2007 Apertura, and were even named champions of Peru, even though no playoff game was held between San Martin and Clausura winners Coronel Bolognesi due to irregularities in the season. It’s South America, folks.

The match will be shown live on Fox Sports Español at 4:30PM ET. Check back for more after the game.

Updated Lineup:
Juan Carrizo
Paulo Ferrari, Gustavo Cabral, Eduardo Tuzzio, Cristian Villagra
Leonardo Ponzio, Nicolás Domingo
Augusto Fernández, Alexis Sánchez, Ariel Ortega
Sebastián Abreu

GROUP 5
River Plate
Universidad Católica (Chile)
San Martín (Perú)
América (Mexico)