River Plate Beat Santa Fe to go Top of Libertadores Group Without Subs or ‘GK’
River Plate may have pulled off football’s greatest miracle in recent years by edging out 2-1 winners in their Copa Libertadores game against Independiente Santa Fe.
River Plate managed the victory without a ‘goalkeeper’ and any substitutes on the bench, and that is the miracle.
The win on Tuesday, sends them top of their group on 9 points, one more than Brazil’s Fluminense.
Injury-returning midfielder, Enzo Perez, kept the goal for the Argentinians, who are without all the natural goal keepers due to COVID-19.
COVID-19 positive cases means 20 players of River Plate’s Libertadores squad including all of their eligible goalkeepers, were going to be unavailable for the Santa Fe game.
Match Report
Two early goals in quick succession and in the space of 3 minutes from wing back, Angileri and striker Alvarez, were enough to record the win for Coach Marcelo Gallardo’s men.
With just 10 fit members of his squad for the Group D game, the manager and his fans would see the win for what it is, a miracle.
Santa Fe, who couldn’t complete the comeback after pulling back one goal in the 82nd minute, were also without five players from their squad.
The win for 2018’s Libertadores winners is even more impressive when one considers that, of their available players, just six had started a top-flight game for the club.
Before The Game
CONMEBOL ensured River will have to put an outfield player in goal after the governing body rejected a request from the club to add academy goalkeepers Alan Leonardo Diaz and Agustin Gomez to the squad.
“We would never have thought that they could make a decision of this type,” angered D’Onofrio, Club President of River Plate told ESPN about the decision.
“We made a presentation where we perfectly clarified why we consider that the goalkeeper can be substituted at any time during the competition.
“There is an article [in the competition’s regulations] that talks about serious injury. We consider COVID as a serious injury and we have 18 outfield players and three goalkeepers.
We put the 32 players with four professional goalkeepers, who were infected. What we ask is to replace them.
“We put the 32 players with four professional goalkeepers, who were infected. What we ask is to replace them.”
What Comes Next?
River Plate will hope their luck will run long enough for their top-of-the-group clash with second placed Fluminense in five days time, when they will still be without their absentees.
Argentina has the seventh most active cases of coronavirus in the world with over 307,000. Colombia is 19th with over 114,000 as the virus continues to ravage South America.
