Argentine club side River Plate won 1-0 over rivals Boca Juniors in a match that can be called anything but ‘friendly’ though it was termed as such. Five players in all were shown the red card and Carlos Teves who now plays for Boca Juniors gave away a penalty.
At around the 17th minute Tevez blocked a free-kick with his arm and thus gave away the penalty. It was taken by River Plate’s attacking midfielder Leonardo Pisculichi who converted the penalty to give his club the only goal of the match. The off-season clash between the Argentine rivals was played out in the Atlantic resort of Mar De Plata.
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Tevez regretted the event and told reporters, “In four days, five sent off, in two matches, we must grow [up].”
Two of Boca Juniors’ players were sent off during their mid-week clash against Racing Club in Mar Del Plata. Boca Juniors were defeated 4-2 by Racing Club in that match. Three more players were dismissed from the Boca Juniors squad on Saturday thus leaving the club in a bit of jeopardy. Boca Juniors are the champions from last season in the Primera Division of Argentina.
Boca’s full-back Jonathan Silva lunged on River’s defender Gabriel Mercado which injured the latter’s ankle and had to be stretchered off. Silva who was signed by Boca from Portugal’s Sporting CP was sent off as a result in the 10th minute. It was his debut match.
Two more Boca players were shown the red card, namely Gino Peruzzi and Daniel Diaz, the former for a foul and the latter after he insulted referee Patricio Loustau.
River’s centre-back Jonathan Maidana got into a row with Tevez which resulted in Maidana head-butting Tevez and getting dismissed. The argument between Maidana and veteran Tevez sparked off a scuffle among the players of the two teams. Pisculichi was also shown the red card for his involvement in the scuffle.
After the match when Tevez was asked about the incident concerning him and Maidana, Tevez said, “You regret it afterwards because it generates violence outside [the pitch].”
Nine other players were booked by referee Loustau. And 40 fouls were recorded during the so-called friendly between the two rival clubs from Argentina. Termed as Superclasico, matches between River Plate and Boca Juniors have the reputation of being the fiercest.
The Observer once said about the Superclasico, “Derby day in Buenos Aires makes the Old Firm game look like a primary school kick-out.”
