Copa Libertadores: Club América 4 – 3 River Plate

By: Christian | April 2nd, 2008

america 4 3 river plate

River came into Mexico tonight needing only a draw to automatically qualify for the knockout round of the Copa Libertadores, but los millonarios instead went down 4-3 in a thriller to Club América.

Diego Simeone had to deal with several key players missing due to injury, so it was a huge sigh of relief when in the 6th minute Rodrigo Archubi, much like his first half substitution this past Sunday, found himself in front of the net to slide in the first goal of the evening. América looked very disorganized as a team, as their current standing in the league reflects, and provided little opposition. As the minutes ticked on you could sense that América were starting to gain some confidence, and that the tying goal could be on the way, but thankfully River went into the half with their lead intact, and on their way.

Then the bottom fell out. Within the first 10 minutes of the second half, América went up 2-1, catching River asleep in defense, and energizing the Azteca stadium. A 10th minute own goal from Diego Cervantes put it all even at 2. América then went ahead 3-2 five minutes later, but Abreu was able to find the equalizer again a minute after that. The Mexicans continued to attack and River looked to be in trouble, and when Salvador Cabañas‘ 70th minute goal slid past Carrizo, it was essentially over. The final 10 minutes of the match were agony for River, who were desperate to grab the tying goal that would send them through, but in the end it was too late.

I know I’ve been hard on the team lately, and certainly, this result is terribly disappointing. It was hard to find any player on the pitch that stood out. Nasuti is not ready to be a starter. Sánchez got gassed quickly and was not very effective out wide on the right. The team gave up way to many set-pieces. And with a depleted squad, it was hard to find that go-to player who might have turned the game around in our favor. But I have to give all credit to América, who unlike River, were able to bounce back from a poor start and completely turn things around. Given some of our injuries, la banda were far from terrible, and did about as much as they could. They were simply outplayed.

So River are now sitting in second, level with América on 9 points but with a lower goal differential. While a win against San Martín in two weeks time will be enough to see us through without having to worry about the Católica – América result, I have to admit I’m just a bit nervous.

Video to follow.

River Plate
Juan Pablo Carrizo
Paulo Ferrari, Alexis Sánchez, Cristian Nasuti, Cristian Villagra
Leonardo Ponzio, Matias Abelairas
Alexis Sánchez, Radamel Falcao, Rodrigo Archubi (Nicolás Domingo, 75th)
Sebastián Abreu