Botafogo - River Plate
By: Christian | September 19th, 2007
At 6:30PM ET, on Fox Sports Español.
River are set to start their Copa Sudamericana campaign tonight in Río de Janeiro, and will face Botafogo in just a few hours. Coach Passarella will start his most offensive minded starting XI yet; a 4-3-3 formation, with Sánchez, Ruben, and Falcao playing in front of the red-hot Fernando Belluschi. (Although according to Olé Clarín, it’s really more of a 4-3-1-2, with Sánchez playing slightly withdrawn.) This may be for naught if River’s shaky defense can’t keep their heads together for 90 minutes, but old hero Juan Pablo Carrizo is set to start in goal.
I mentioned in a previous post that I wasn’t that up for the Copa, at least not yet. Don’t get me wrong, I want River to WIN every competition they enter, even the Copa de Verano, but River’s total indifference to the Copa in recent years had led me to believe that they just didn’t care to win it. The competition certainly lacks the allure of the Libertadores, and the Sudamericana holds the distinction for presenting the single worst match I have ever seen in person, a stunninlgy awful 90 minutes between Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile back in 2005. Even the sight of River legend Marcelo Salas wasn’t enough; the most memorable part of the game was the full-on riot that broke out afterwards in the parking lot.
But I like what El Kaiser is doing this year, and it shows that River are taking this game seriously and looking to win, and honestly I’m starting to like their chances. Hopefully later tonight I can report back with news of some beautiful, attacking football from Los Millonarios, and, of course, a victory.
River Plate
Carrizo
Martínez Nicolás Sánchez Gerlo Villagra
Ponzio Lima Belluschi
Sánchez Rubén García
Category: Team News
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Comments
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It finished 1-0 to Botafogo.
River’s current poor form in South America continues.
Posted from
United Kingdom
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Did you see Carrizo? He looked like he hasn’t skipped a beat, but I’m not sure how much more playing time he’ll see, especially if River don’t advance.
Posted from
United States -
Christian: Saw Carrizo. He slotted in well. Anyone who watches River will tell you he is an excellent goalkeeper. My opinion he better then Abbondanzieri and Ustari. As long as he plays some games I am happy. Oh well it does not matter to River that much since he is on loan from us to River for free. Hopefully by January he can sort out this passport crap and we can finally move on.
Posted from
United Kingdom
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