America kills River's Hope

It took me a day to realize that River lost to America. I decided to wait at least one day before posting anything because I was furious at the result. River Plate lost to Club America from Mexico en the Mexican capital with a score of 4-3. The Millonarios could have won this game and it could have locked in the passage to the second round. It was an interesting game, with lots of goals, but it was one of the worst performances of River in the past few months.

The first half was an exciting half because at the 5th minute of the match, Archubi gave River the lead and his celebration “Cuauhtémoc” style made the local supports furious. Maybe this was a bad luck move by Archubi? Could be but I’m still angry at the fact that through the whole first half, River very little to keep on scoring. The Mexican team kept getting closer and closer to Carrizo’s goal but nothing was done to help him out. River’s defense, primarily Nasuti and Cabral, had lousy performances and it showed in the following half.

The second half was every River supporter’s nightmare. A few minutes after the second half whistle was blown, America tied the match. “Okay”, I thought, “We are playing in their turf, at least 2500ft. above sea level, and it’s practically midnight for the players.” I guess this mental excuse was trying to justify what River couldn’t do: Play a good defense. In twenty minutes, America scored three goals, all by headers and this left Carrizo in shock. I haven’t said many bad words to him but yesterday was an exceptional night. Yes, River was able to tie the games thanks to goals by Falcao and Abreu but it was a result that was not expected. A little before America scored the final goal (which struck me like a dagger in the heart), Abreu had a perfect chance to score but it has been a habit with him to not score easy goals.

The final whistle came in and the majority of the Azteca Stadium went crazy. America is the worst team in the Mexican league and it had lost by 4 or 5 goals the other day. River was expected to beat them but, reality sinks in and this is what happens. Although this loss hurts everybody, River still does have good chances to secure a spot in the next round. The next Copa Santander Libertadores match is against San Martin of Peru in a week or so. Let’s see what happens, but being played in Buenos Aires, this could be a HUGE motivational push for the team.