River defeats Defensores de Belgrano 1-0 in their first match of the Copa Argentina. Chori Dominguez scored the game’s only goal.
The Copa Argentina is under way and River had a victorious, if unspectactular, debut. The tournament, which includes all the clubs in the seven tiers of Argentine football, is the equivalent of the English FA Cup or Spanish Copa del Rey. A single game elimination tournament that will culminate on the 25th of May, the birthday of the Argentine Republic.
The 25th of May also happens to be the anniversary of the founding of River Plate, potentially setting up a story book ending to a season in the second division that many could never have imagined. To get there though, River will have to win 6 games. Step one would pit them against a familiar foe in Defensores de Belgrano. Not only familiar because of their star player, the legendary Ariel Ortega, but also because they are a neighbor club located just blocks from River Plate’s Estadio Monumental.
The Copa Argentina match would be played 550 miles west in San Juan, but as usual when River travels out of Buenos Aires, they were greeted by a multitude of local River fans who instantly turned the fixture into another home away from home game for the Millonarios.
Matias Almeyda decided to send out what could be called a B team, including Fernando Cavenaghi, Alejandro Dominguez and Ezequiel Cirigliano as the only regular starters. German Pezzella, the Argentine U-21 player, finally got to see some playing time in defense and Venezuelan international Cesar Gonzalez got the first start of his River career. In goal, Almeyda went with the player he considered to be the starting keeper at the beginning of the season, Daniel Vega.
As for the game, it was River’s from start to finish as Defe never posed a real threat to Vega’s goal. The defense and midfield were solid and Defensores simply didn’t have the horses to compete. River opened the score on a play conjured up between Cavenaghi and Dominguez. A well timed back heel pass from Cavenaghi put the ball in behind the defenders and onto Dominguez’s run. The light touch over the charging keeper saw the ball find the empty net for a goal that surely will make the season highlight reel.
After that, River generated several more scoring chances but again failed to convert. An unfortunate recurring theme this season where River control the game but are incapable of creating the final knockout punch. The second half would see even less chances with both teams resigned to the 1-0 final score.
Passing the first hurdle, Defensores de Belgrano, River have now drawn another third tier team, Sportivo Belgrano. As has been mentioned on La Pagina Millonaria, it is like a bad reminder having to play two teams called Belgrano with the nightmare of relegation at the hands of another Belgrano still fresh in our minds. Fans and players alike know that we can begin to exorcise the demons of that fateful June day by lifting a cup, the Copa Argentina, on the 111th anniversary of River Plate.
