The scene at the Monumental was one of the sorriest sights I’ve seen all year. As expected, the game was played in front of a near-empty stadium, and the upper bowl of seats weren’t even made available to the public. And with crews preparing a stage for an upcoming Oasis concert behind one of the goals, the whole night felt like a junior varsity high school game at the community rec center.

Did I mention River were eliminated from the Copa?

2009 Copa Libertadores, Group 3 – Game 6
River Plate 3 – 0 Universidad de San Martín de Porres

Scoring Summary:
Gustavo Bou (RP), 17th
Rubens Sambueza (RP), 42nd
Diego Barrado (RP), 60th

River Plate:
Juan Marcelo Ojeda
Cristian Villagra, Danilo Gerlo, Nicolás Sánchez, Rodrigo Archubi
Robert Flores, Diego Barrado, Nicolás Domingo, Rubens Sambueza
Gustavo Bou, Gustavo Fernández

Substitutions:
Cristian Fabbiani for Fernández, 78th

Highlights
Unavailable

And there’s more. Consider the ways River have been booted from the Copa in recent years. 2004: Lost on penalties to Boca in the semifinals. 2005: Lost again in the semis to São Paulo, game ending in crowd violence. 2006: Lost to Libertad in quarterfinals, again marred by crowd violence. 2007: Failed to make it out of the group stage, and included a loss to the “mighty” Caracas. 2008: Lost to a 9-man San Lorenzo after giving up a 2-goal lead at home. And now 2009. You can take your pick which was worse.

I could go on about how River, who were playing for everything, who needed a win but still would have had a chance with a draw, lost to a team with nothing to play for, but this is not about Nacional. I could complain about the referee, who awarded a non-existent penalty to Nacional five minutes after awarding River their own non-existent penalty that briefly game them the lead, and who harshly sent Diego Buonanotte off in the second half which effectively ended River’s night, but this is not about referees.

This is about the imposters who wear the River shirt but who have not earned it, who disgrace River’s storied history and disrespect their loyal fans. It’s about a meek coach, who is in way over his head, who does not have the stomach or huevo to compete in a prestigious tournament like the Copa Libertadores. This is about the mafioso club President who sits high above on his throne, counting the cash he steals from the institution, pulling the strings on all those below him too cowardly to stand up to his Godfather-type grip over the club.

So to the players who broke our hearts last night, not a one of you is worthy to wear la gloriosa. I don’t care about your name, be it Fabbiani, Falcao, or Gallardo. As the saying goes, the name on the front of the shirt is more important then the name on the back. To our coach Pipo Gorosito, win the league or finish dead last, you don’t belong here at River. Go see if Quilmes or Belgrano are hiring, because you aren’t the man to bring us our third Copa Libertadores.

And to you, Aguilar. To you, I give right back what you have dumped on us as the result of your thievery. One last place finish. Consecutive exits from the Copa, each more embarrassing then the last. Our inability to defeat Boca on their ground. Crap reinforcements like Santiago Salcedo or Sebastian Abreu. Oh, and I hear you’re bringing in Edgar Davids? Go ahead and keep him.

How long must we suffer through this? How long will we allow the gutless and the corrupt to drag the name of River Plate through the mud?

I say, no more. This era of this injustice done. We will always love River Plate, and we will never abandon it, win or lose. They can get relegated to La B and I’ll still be there with them, it doesn’t matter. My support for the shirt will never waiver. What I will not support, what I outright refuse to accept, is the charade that is taking place and that has no end in sight.

The club belongs to the fans. The time is now for us to reclaim it.

2009 Copa Libertadores, Group 3 – Game 5
Nacional de Paraguay 4 – 2 River Plate

Scoring Summary:
Radamel Falcao (RP), 43rd
Fabio Escobar (NdP), 48th
Jorge Núñez (NdP), 65th
Jorge Núñez (NdP), 78th
Marcelo Gallardo (RP), 81st

River Plate:
Mario Daniel Vega
Danilo Gerlo, Gustavo Cabral, Nicolás Sánchez
Paulo Ferrari, Oscar Ahumada, Nicolás Domingo, Rubens Sambueza
Diego Buonanotte
Radamel Falcao, Cristian Fabbiani

Substitutions:
Matías Abelairas for Domingo, 46th
Mauro Rosales for Sambueza, 68th
Marcelo Gallardo for Cabral, 69th

Highlights
Coming Soon

Though the current circumstance is not the ideal one for River, they do remain in charge of their own destiny, and in theory at least, should have an easy run in their final two matches. The Paraguayans have already been eliminated from the competition, only managing one point through 4 games, and River already defeated Nacional in their first encounter at the Monumental.

River fans can still sense the danger leading up to tonight’s match. River have yet to win away from home in the Copa, only scoring one away goal in their 2-1 loss to San Martin. And River haven’t won any game, in either the Copa or the league, since March 21.

Technically, should River only manage a draw tonight, they would still have a chance of advancing, though it would require them to defeat San Martin by a 3-goal margin, as the Peruvians hold a better goal differential. Anything else would mean lights out.

Predictions? Nestor Gorosito is well aware of the what is needed, so look for a more offensive, 3-5-2 formation. Unless Nacional are hoping to play the role of spoilers, on paper this should be a win for River. Games are won on the pitch however, and la banda must, must, must come through tonight. Nothing else is acceptable.

NOTES: As if we needed any extra motivation to win tonight, a story in today’s Diario Olé suggests the possibilty exists of a River-Boca draw in the round of 16. Two very complicated scenarios would produce this “Copa Superclásico.” First, they would meet if River draw tonight and defeat San Martin 3-0, and if Boca win their final two games. They would also be drawn together if Boca lose tonight and win in two weeks, and if River win both their final games. Of course, results and goal differences from other matches would also affect the outcome, and I won’t even try to figure out those calculations now.

For now, the only objective is to win. But admit it, a chance to face Boca in the Copa does sound enticing.

Analyzing River’s performance won’t take long to dissect. Once again, los millonarios were embarrassing to watch, as they stumbled up and down the pitch with no clue on how to respond to Nacional. Lacking any true leader on the field, River were a team without ideas, and worse, without the sense of urgency needed for a must win game of this calibar.

Nacional on the other hand were cool and composed. After thrashing River 3-0 in Uruguay a few weeks back, los tricolores knew that while a win would assure them classification, they could also sit back and limit the damage by holding River at bay.

They certainly didn’t have to work too hard. Marcelo Gallardo, a former team captain, was anonymous. Cristian Fabbiani, once considered a game changer early in the season, easily had his worst outing since joining River, posing little threat up top. Not all the blame can be rested on him or his other striking partner Radamel Falcao though, as both were denied any decent service all night.

Naturally, our clearest chance on goal failed in the most spectacular way. River literally had 4 back to back opportunities in front of goal within a space of seconds, and were unable to find the back of the net. Unbelievable.

All this after two weeks of trash talk from one Cristian Fabbiani, who even after the 3-0 loss in Uruguay, loudly boasted to the media that Nacional were a bad team that did not deserve to be in the Copa. El Ogro should have choosen a better time to speak his mind, making those remarks during a recent, two week “mini pre-season” where he left the team to work on his fitness and lose some weight. (Nacional’s coach seemed to catch the irony right away, saying Fabbiani was too fat and would never make his starting lineup.)

A word to Fabbani – Making desparaging remarks about your opponents supposed lack of ability AFTER they handily beat you 3-0 while you yourself are too fat to run 90 minutes strains credibility and defies common sense. Secondly, and perhaps more obvious, when trash-talking, it’s usually a good idea to back up your words with results on the pitch. River have faced this team twice and both times failed to even score a single goal. No one is in a position to call out anyone.

If any team deserves to not be in this competition, it’s River. They have done nothing in this group stage to suggest that they either deserve to be here or that have what it takes to compete against South America’s best. They are a weak and pathetic shamble of a squad who are both unprepared and overwhelemed against teams that any halfway decent side would easily put away. For River to qualify now, they must win thier last two group stage matches against Nacional de Paraguay and San Martin. Based on what I’ve seen so far, they have no chance.

Our third Copa victory may have to wait yet another year.

2009 Copa Libertadores, Group 3 – Game 4
River Plate 0 – 0 Nacional de Uruguay

Scoring Summary:

River Plate:
Mariano Barbosa
Paulo Ferrari, Gustavo Cabral, Nicolás Sánchez, Cristian Villagra
Diego Barrado, Oscar Ahumada, Rubens Sambueza
Marcelo Gallardo
Radamel Falcao García, Cristian Fabbiani

Substitutions:
Mauro Rosales for Villagra, 63rd
Gustavo Fernández for Barrado, 75th

Highlights

In a truly impotent performance (and really, is there any other way to describe it?), River were largely a non-factor for most of the night, allowing an average Nacional side to easily take control of the game. Not merely content to just be mediocre, several River players had disastrous starts, including Marcelo Gallardo, who despite making his first start did not make any sort of case of replacing Diego Buonanotte as enganche, and Cristian Fabbiani, rapidly fading after his phenomenal start to the season. But none perhaps worse than poor Mariano Barbosa, who inexplicably managed an own goal to put Nacional ahead 2-0 in the second half, after what should have been an easy save. You can watch the horror below.

Nestor Gorosito again said that the score did not reflect the performance on the field. OK, Pipo, let’s follow that logic for a minute. Are you suggesting that River somehow didn’t deserve to have 3 goals scored against them? That they somehow deserved to actually win the game, although from what I saw from your forwards their wasn’t any shot that looked remotely dangerous all night?

The “we wuz robbed” argument is starting to get a little stale. River can pout about the shoddy refereeing and the unfair results all they want, but at the end of the day, the only thing that counts is the table standings, and if the group were to end today, River would be done and dusted. At this point, River are in a position where they must win their final three games, and based on their play so far in this tournament, that seems very unlikely.

The Copa Libertadores is long overdue at River since our last win in 1996. It remains the most prestigious trophy for any South American club, and to hoist it once more in the Monumental remains the dream of every River fan. It is therefore so extraordinarily mind-boggling to see such wasted performances from River year in, year out. Do the players, the managers, and the board not see how painfully we want this? How we would give anything to see our club win the highest honor in the Americas? Since 1996, the answer seems to be sadly, no.

2009 Copa Libertadores, Group 3 – Game 3
Nacional de Uruguay 3 – 0 River Plate

Scoring Summary:
Alvaro Fernández (N), 41st
Mariano Barbosa, o.g. (RP), 73rd
Mauricio Victorino (N), 95th

River Plate:
Mariano Barbosa
Paulo Ferrari, Nicolás Sánchez, Facundo Quiroga, Cristian Villagra
Augusto Fernández, Oscar Ahumada, Rubens Sambueza
Marcelo Gallardo
Cristian Fabbiani, Radamel Falcao

Substitutions:
Diego Buonanotte for Gallardo, 66th
Matías Abelairas for Sambueza, 83rd
Mauro Rosales for Fernández, 83rd

Highlights

I was out of town and missed the match entirely, but highlights I’ve seen showed a River ream that is slowly coming together, even if the results aren’t there yet. River are still tied for third with Colón on 11 points, and only 4 points behind leaders Lanús. Better results than I think even the most optimistic hincha could have hoped for.

Next, a date this week against Nacional de Uruguay in the Copa Libertadores.

2009 Clausura Fixture 6
Vélez Sarsfield 1 – 1 River Plate

Scoring Summary:
Cristian Villagra (RP), 66th
Hernán Rodrigo López (VS), 70th

River Plate:
Mariano Barbosa
Paulo Ferrari, Gustavo Cabral, Facundo Quiroga, Cristian Villagra
Augusto Fernández, Oscar Ahumada, Matías Abelairas
Diego Buonanotte
Cristian Fabbiani, Radamel Falcao García

Substitutions:
Marcelo Gallardo for Abelairas, 65th
Mauro Rosales for Buonanotte, 79th

Highlights

Despite six changes to the starting lineup following last Sunday’s 5-1 to San Lorenzo, and without coach Nestor Gorosito, who was away dealing with a family emergency, this revised squad performed very well, particularly in the second half, but despite strong performances from the returning Rubens Sambueza, and a solid debut from keeper from Mariano Barbosa, los millonarios were unable to grab their second straight Copa victory.

They certainly did themselves no favors in the first half, allowing San Martín far too many chances and once again showing weakness in defense. River could do nothing however when San Martín were gifted a non-existent penalty in the 37th minute after the ref confused a dive for an actual foul. Barbosa had no chance of stopping José Luis Díaz’s shot, which would effectively end River’s chances.

The second half saw River finally showing some consistency, and the offense seemed to grow in confidence as the attacks on San Martín came with more frequency. But the Peruvian’s one shot on goal the entire half came at the worst possible moment, with River’s defense caught ball watching as Gonzalo Ludueña’s strike slip past Barbosa.

Radamel Falcao finally found the net in the 68th minute, and every intent after was made to find the equalizer, with forward Gustavo Bou replacing denfender Danilo Gerlo to add to the Rosales/Falcao attack. River were controversially denied what looked like a penalty on Falcao that the referee did not award. It was not the most flagrant foul, but there was contact, and it was certainly more obvious than the invisible penalty called in San Martín’s favor. Despite further opportunities, there just wasn’t enough time left, and River were left to rue their slow performance to start the game. They now sit in third in their group with 3 points.

Many players, especially Gustavo Cabral, were furious after the game ended, arguing with the ref about the no-call on the penalty, and many saying that they deserved more. Bullshit. Calls go for and against a team all the time. You can either take advantage of the calls in your favor, or you can brush aside those that aren’t. Yes, River should have gotten a penalty which would have led to at least a draw, but they didn’t, and since they wasted the first half, they have no one to blame but themselves for not earning what should have been an easy 3 points. The game is 90 minutes, and I’m tired of seeing River looking piss poor in one half, the stepping it up in the second, only to come up short.

Will this loss come back to haunt la banda? Assuming they can rebound from this defeat when they face Nacional de Uruguay, there is no reason why they shouldn’t advance out of their group. But if the team continues on this pace, it’ll be another year of heartbreak in the Copa.

This Sunday, it’s away to Arsenal in the league.

2009 Copa Libertadores, Group 3 – Game 2
Universidad San Martín 2 – 1 River Plate

Scoring Summary:
José Luis Díaz (SM), 37th
Gonzalo Ludueña (SM), 54th
Radamel Falcao (RP), 68th

River Plate:
Mariano Barbosa
Danilo Gerlo, Gustavo Cabral, Nicolás Sánchez, Rodrigo Archubi
Martín Galmarini, Oscar Ahumada, Nicolás Domingo, Rubens Sambueza
Mauro Rosales, Radamel Falcao García

Substitutions:
Marcelo Gallardo for Domingo, 60th
Gustavo Bou for Gerlo, 68th
Diego Barrado for Sambueza, 90th

Highlights

Photo courtesy LPM

Diego Buonanotte may have scored the goal, and new signing Cristian Fabbiani may have provided the assist, but luck and a near-sighted linesmen were the real heroes last night at the Monumental, as River barely squeezed out a 1-0 victory against Paraguay’s Nacional in Game 1 of the 2009 Copa Libertadores.

It’s difficult to be feel good after last night’s win with River not leaving much of an impression. For much of the first half River were well out of sorts, with absent performances from many of the starters, most notably Matías Abelairas, Mauro Rosales, whose value to the team I’m really beginning to question, and newcomer Gustavo Fernández. The few shots on goal that River were able to produce were expertly saved by Nacional keeper Ignacio Don who had a superb night.

It wasn’t until the second half, and the inclusion of new reinforcement Cristian Fabbiani that River began to show some sign of life. After a prolonged effort to bring the Newell’s striker during the summer break, el Ogro was River’s most dynamic player on the night, and he immediately lifted the team and the spirit of the crowd, many of whom chanted his name even before he began to warm up. Despite his girth (he is one chunky brother), Fabbiani displayed a great touch and skill with the ball. Replays on the eventual goal in the 90th minute showed Fabbiani first handling the ball to bring it down, and Buonanotte clearly offside as he struck the net, but neither the referee nor the linesman called it back, and River stole a victory from the certain jaws of a 0-0 result.

It may too early in the campaign to be critical of River for their performance. It was their first game in the group, and clearly Pipo Gorosito is still getting used to his squad. But two games into the new season, I’m still a little uninspired by what I’ve seen. Can you blame me though for being impatient?

But for now, I’ll take whatever luck I can get, because certainly it has not been on our side the past few months. I will move on, and so will River, who face Rosario Central this Sunday.

2009 Copa Libertadores, Group 3 – Game 1

Scoring Summary:
Diego Buonanotte (RP), 56th

River Plate:
Juan Marcelo Ojeda
Paulo Ferrari, Gustavo Cabral, Nicolás Sánchez, Cristian Villagra
Augusto Fernández, Oscar Ahumada, Matías Abelairas
Diego Buonanotte
Mauro Rosales, Gustavo Fernández

Substitutions:
Robert Flores for Rosales, 46th
Cristian Fabbiani for Fernández, 59th
Nicolás Domingo for Buonanotte, 92nd

Highlights