Copa Sudamericana: River Plate 2 - 4 Arsenal (pen)

By: Christian | November 14th, 2007

River Plate’s run in South America’s second most important cup competition ended tonight in heartbreaking fashion with a 4-2 loss on penalties to Arsenal de Sarandí at home. The result leaves River without any title to show for this year, and a wave of questions surrounding the future of the squad and of its coach Daniel Passarella. But worse, it was yet another bitter disappointment to suffer through from a team which in recent years has shown little to nothing of the brilliance that has made River one of the top names in world football.

There were plenty of questions going into tonight’s match; if both teams would come out stronger offensively then they did in the first leg, if River’s attack would be able to cope with the absence of Radamel Falcao, and if los millonarios could produce another miraculous win at home to make it to the final. It turned out that none of those questions would factor in at all, in what was a scrappy, disorganized, and lethargic effort from both sides.

Whereas Arsenal made it clear from the start that they had no interest in playing, putting 10 men behind the ball (their lone chance at a goal went off the crossbar in the 2nd minute), River at least suggested at times that they came looking for the win. They should have gone ahead 1-0 in the 10th minute as Fernando Belluschi had a clear chance in front of goal, but his poorly hit shot went just wide of the post. It looked as if disaster would strike when in the 23rd minute Ariel Ortega had to be substituted due to an injury and replaced by Mauro Rosales. Little changed however for either side until Roly Zárate came on in the 69th minute, looking solid and breathing some much needed life into the game, nailing a few crosses into the area and going after every ball in the air. But after 90 minutes and down to 10 men after an awful challenge by Oscar Ahumada, the score was still 0-0, and things were looking bleak going into a penalty shootout. Juan Pablo Carrizo, who was hardly tested all night, was able to clear one penalty, but weak shots by Belluschi and René Lima were easy for opposing keeper Mario Cuenca, who led Arsenal in celebrating their victory on the Monumental pitch in front of a stunned crowd.

Perhaps most shocking of all was River’s inability to fix the problems it has struggled with all season long. Again and again those same mistakes were repeated, and never was there a sense that River were going to make a run for it, throwing everything they had into the dying minutes of the game. There were instead sloppy give aways, poor tackling, crosses that were off target, and simply no organization or leadership to be found. About the only player I thought showed some spark was Diego Buonanotte, who showed plenty of skill, but tried to do too much by himself, holding on to the ball longer than he should have, and as a result simply being pushed off.

So River enter the end of the year eliminated from the Copa and the league. I’m saddened, upset, and unsure of what lies ahead for my team. New faces will come in, old ones will be transfered out, and a change in the manager’s seat is all but guaranteed. But this is River Plate where it is always “en las buenas y en las malas.” Come next year, after the disappointment of tonight has faded and the heartache of this season has passed, I’ll look forward to a new start, full of hope that just maybe, my River will come out Campeón once again. And I will still be there with them.