River Defeats Boca Twice!

With a great winning streak already in the beginning of the year, River looks like a different team in 2010. With back-to-back wins against arch-rivals Boca Juniors, River demonstrated a great combination of teamwork and diligency to get things done right. Not even the drizzle on a hot, Mendoza night could take away the looks of Boca fans as they saw their team get handle once again in one week. River obtained both victories with a tremendous amount of courage on the field, and the Millonarios were rightful champions of both one-game championships in the preseason.

River dominated Boca on the first game played in Mar del Plata last Thursday, the 21^st. With goals by River’s promising youths, Rogelio Funes Mori and Daniel Villalva, River showcased the extensive youth training that many young starts endure year-after-year. Although the youth divisions don’t receive as much attention on the world stage, River has the most championships through out the range of age groups. The attention given to future stars provided great results in the future. On Thursday, River showcased just that. River’s midfield, led by Oscar Ahumada and Matias Almeyda, paved the way for Funes Mori and Villalva to destroy Boca’s defense. Villalva’s last goal of the match, third for River, made national headlines through out Argentina as he basically passed through half of Boca’s defense. Regardless if Martin Palermo or Juan Roman Riquelme were playing, River won the match with authority. Thanks to the victory, Boca’s head coach Alfio ‘Coco’ Basile resigned.

On Sunday, River defeated Boca once again but in a different stage. The city of Mendoza, long regarded as one of River’s most loyal fan ‘hot-spots’, hosted the last preseason match for River. This time, Ariel Ortega would be given the reigns to lead the team to victory. Ariel struggled through out the match, losing his grip on some individual plays, but he provided enough support to hold on. Boca got on the board first with a goal by Lucas Viatri. River bounced back in the beginning of the second half by Gustavo Bou’s equaliser in the 51^st minute. For the remainder of regulation time, both teams had chanes to take the lead but the ‘last touch’ was absent on both ends. This result forced the match to go to penalties shots, where River’s goalkeeper, Daniel Vega, became the man of the match. Blocking two shots, he gave River the victory over Boca and secured another ‘Superclasico’ win against Boca Juniors.