2024-07-10 12:39:23
While waiting for the return of the Professional League and the Copa Libertadores, River tied 1-1 against Millonarios of Colombia in a friendly played yesterday afternoon at the Mas Monumental. Facundo Colidio put the home team ahead while Santiago Giordana equalized near the end for the Bogota team.
One of the stories of the friendly was the reunion of Radamel Falcao García, Millonarios’ new signing, with his former club: “It’s special to play against River Plate, for me it means everything, it has given me everything.”
Another one happened when the stadium’s voice announced the formation of the Núñez team, as a good part of the fans present booed Martín Demichelis in what was his first appearance after the defeat against Deportivo Riestra, in Bajo Flores, on the fifth date of the League.
With the Copa América in full swing – the match was even noticed at the wrong time, almost right next to Argentina’s game against Canada – River had several absences: Franco Armani and Miguel Borja, competing with their respective national teams, and Paulo Díaz, who will return to training on Wednesday after being eliminated by Chile. Diablito Echeverri, who will compete in the Olympic Games with the U23 team, was also absent.
Thus, the team was formed by Jeremias Ledesma; Sant’Anna, Boselli, Federico Gattoni, Enzo Diaz; Kranevitter, Fonseca; Simon, Lanzini, Solari; and Colidio.
In tune with the tremendous cold in Buenos Aires, the first half was not without excitement. To make matters worse, at 25, Demichelis had to make the first change of the match after the injury of Agustín Sant’Anna, who had a problem in his right knee and brought concern thinking about the next matches of the team from Núñez. In his place came Milton Casco.
The clearest chance of the half was for Millonarios: at 45, Leonardo Castro hit the goal after a free kick and debutant Jeremías Ledesma – who arrived from relegated Cádiz of Spain during this break – made a great save.
In the second half, the team from Núñez came into the game with a different attitude. From the first minute on, they had a great approach, playing with Colidio from the left side, who gave a pass to Enzo Díaz and the defender hit it wide. And after a while, Pablo Solari recovered, beat the defenders and gave a great pass to Colidio, who pushed the ball and scored the 1-0 goal.
Ten minutes later, the usual flood of changes came in this type of match. One notable feature was the entry of full-back Franco Carboni, another of River’s new signings during this break.
But at 75 minutes, one of the substitutes, Daniel Zabala, lost the ball and Giordana made it 1-1. River had another, a very clear one by the way, with a connection between the kids Mastantuono and Ruberto, but the number nine’s shot hit the crossbar.
River Plate will play another friendly on Saturday at 17:30 against Olimpia of Paraguay. As for the return of the League, they will have to face Lanús on Sunday 21 at 15:00 at the Monumental.