The hype between River and Boca had been accumulating for many weeks now. For River, this was a must-win game to put some stress and disappointing results behind. From early in the morning, many River fans started arriving at La Boca, coloring the famous neighborhood red and white. A previous day before, River fans had to endure some trouble acquiring tickets as Argentina’s Ticketec system collapsed with 4,500 tickets not available. With the commotion and demand for a resolution, Ticketec fixed the problem and all of the tickets were sold within the hour. As each fan made its way to the Bombonera Stadium, cheering and support for River was met with insults and jeers from the local fans but that did not stop the party. River is famous for its faithful supporters, especially against Boca supporters who leave black flags for its players and who abandon their team in the first half.
River’s starting line up was one of the biggest topics of discussion in the media. Radamel Falcao, who was in doubt to play, made his surprise debut against Boca as well as Cristian Fabbiani and Marcel Gallardo who awaited their long, debut. A surprised Gustavo Bou started for the Millonarios, which helped the midfield gain some strength. The first half was quite blank for both teams although Boca did manage to come closer to scoring a goal. River had weak strength up field, as Cristian Fabbiani played a very slow match and Radamel Falcao took every defender upon himself. This has to be on the greatest weaknesses currently for River. There seems to be a lack of companionship for Radamel, and his lack of goals is proof enough. River’s defense was another story of its own. One Boca player that River could not cover was Claudio Morel. Attacking from the left side of the field, he managed to easily make his way up to Mario Vega’s goal area. Many wasted chances by Boca spelled relief for River but Mario Vega reassured that no surprise was going to happen. Despite the tie score, both sides fought hard on the field and desired to score first on the pitch. As halftime approached, River had half the battle completed with no regrets.
As both teams made their way to the pitch for the second half, I noticed that Coach Nestor Gorosito made no changes. This surprised me because River could have definitely made substitution from the start but Coach Gorosito made the right substitutions later on. Once again, River came out playing strong in the initial minutes but managed to slowly lose possession. After Boca scored the first goal of the match at the hands of Martin Palermo, River needed to quickly react. With Fabbiani’s lack of performance on the pitch, he was substituted by Mauro Rosales at the 20th minute. Additionally, Diego Buonanotte made his appearance as he substituted Gustavo Bou a minute later. These substitutions resulted in some luck for River as a few minutes later, Marcelo Gallardo tied the match of an excellent free kick past Boca’s goalkeeper, Roberto Abbodanzieri. With the match all tied, all efforts were focused now on winning the match. Diego Buonanotte created many passes and eluded various players in his quest to score but he was abruptly halted. In one play towards the end of the match, he managed to evade a few Boca players and make his way up the pitch. All he needed was to pass the ball and River could have scored but he decided to go at it alone and the play died. Radamel Falcao also had a clear opportunity to win the match but his one-on-one with Boca’s Abbondanzieri was too much. The match ended with a favorable tie for both teams, but left a sour taste for the fans. A victory would have been great, but River gave all it had on the pitch.
