You never know... Real Madrid lost to Real Betis at home this past weekend. They also couldn't beat newly promoted Levante. In this sport, some times the ball just won't go in.
As much as I lol'd at this image, its unfair to compare River's brilliant victory to Barcelona who won the match thanks to an outrageous dive from Suarez, a less outrageous but a dive none the less from Neymar, and a clear penalty by Mascherano on Di Maria- Mascherano even admitting after the game it was a foul (and it would have been a red card)
I usually don't like it when the Libertadores is dominated by Brazil/Argentina but its been an excellent tournament this year. Although, still not quite as entertaining as 2016.
I don't know man. That defender for Wilstermann looked very sketchy: Enrique Diaz. It was his first time as a starter in Libertadores 2017, and had very suspicious actions that favored his rival. Diaz was subbed off at halftime, losing with score 4-0. Putting aside the 2 goals he allowed (nutmeg at 1-0), there were times where he just did not care for possession of the ball. (minute 5.10 in video, shirt #27) Very worrying to see those things. Reminds me of the fixed matches by Zamora FC in Libertadores 2017.
I don't buy it. River scored the same number of goals in the same amount of time after Diaz was gone. Wilstermann came out looking like "una oveja entrando al matadero." You could see they were going to get punked.
Right. Similar reaction of denial with the Zamora FC blowouts in Libertadores 2017. Now that club is being investigated for match fixing, between March-May 2017. Some of its staff has been let go already. I doubt we will hear of any immediate investigation. Not good for the Libertadores brand. Very sketchy defense to put the rival up 4-0 by half-time.
I admit I wondered if Jorge Wilstermann sold the game. But it's hard to take it seriously from someone who just joined today. In any case, I hope it was a clean result. If not...
I find it unlikely a club would sell their soul when they have a 3-0 lead and the chance to make the semis more likely they crapped their pants - it happens
yeah south american teams now have to first focus on making final and then try for a miracle at least the past 7 editions (since 2010) show this is the case 2010 - Internacional lost the semi to TP Mazembe 2011 - Barcelona destroyed Santos - 4-0 2012 - Corinthians beat Chelsea - 1-0 2013 - Atletico Mineiro lost to Raja Casablanca in semis 2014 - San Lorenzo lost final to Real Madrid - 2-0 2015 - River Plate was trashed by Barcelona - 3-0 2016 - Atletico Nacional lost to Kashima antles in semis South American champs have failed to make the final in 3 out of the last 7 editions South America has won 1 Club World Club Championship out of last 7 editions Europe has won 6 out of last 7 South American clubs have failed to score a single goal in the 3 losing finals they played...Europe scored 9 goals in those finals
Bolivian clubs receive the same thrashings every year but now you wonder if it's "fixed"? lol how much anti-argentine can you guys be? if any team wins by a large margin it's amazing, champagne football, etc. if an argentine club does. it's ofc fixed BTW in any case worse than defender Diaz was the performance of Goalie Olivares, he basically gifted River 3 goals himself and he had been taunting River and Argentinians before the match. But yeah, maybe he "sold" the game despite it would make him look like an idiot after all he said
FYI: The speculation/accusation (whatever the f you wanna call it) was not made from "guys" from Bolivia, whether you meant fans, the club, and/or the Bolivian Soccer Federation. It was made outside of Bolivia aiming at Bolivia. Now, if you meant someone else by "guys", my mistake.
Yeah, I haven't heard any Bolivians give that excuse.. Even Diablo Etcheverry came out to say the rumors are bs, giving his take on why the result ended the way it did: "Es una tonteria dudar de los jugadores de Wilstermann, lo que ha pasado y fue notorio es el miedo escenico al enfrentar a River y mas en un estadio colmado como el Monumental, ellos nunca han vivido una experiencia similar y eso ovbiamente ha repercutido". Our good friend century's best just likes to troll anything Argentina-related, you guys should know by now....
I never said it was fixed or not. I did say I did wonder at a point whether it was legitimate or not, but I would not believe it from a poster who joined the forum that same day. If you had read the rest of the thread properly, you would have seen I told RiverGaucho "your team did well tonight." Not really. I do enjoy calling your team Rio da Prata , but that's something I've been doing for nearly a decade now. If/when your country's teams win fairly, there's nothing else to it. Good luck against Lanús. Same-country elimination confrontations in the Libertadores always have that extra factor - the trash talk, knowing each other well from league play, etc. I don't know whether there's any specific rivalry between your team and Lanús (as there isn't one between Santos & Atl.-PR or Botafogo & Grêmio), but it should be interesting, all the more because in this matchup, your team will not have home field.
I think you are confused. I criticized very sketchy defensive actions made by an Uruguayan player on a Bolivian club roster; bordering in foul play already detected in Libertadores 2017, thanks to our friends at Zamora FC, a Venezuelan club. How is that anti-Argentine? The world does not revolve around a nationality or club. You should know by now that match-fixing does not require involvement of the winning team. All you need is a couple of rented players in the losing team (or a referee) to run up the score in favor of a betting party. To be clear, I am not saying that River Plate bought the game. But I am saying that we have suspicious activity in that blowout. Fraud is likely because the 2017 tournament has already been tainted, during previous stages with Zamora FC games. Such pattern of routs at Libertadores is not new. However, FIFA has told Conmebol to start cracking down on games controlled by betting syndicates. Do you think that Zamora FC is investigating match-fixing on their own initiative or because Conmebol's auditor has started asking questions? In the long run, it is the image of South American football which suffers with fraudulent games. It is not bad to question the validity of such blowouts, if done in a fair manner.
Is Beto elegible to play Libertadores? Gremio is pretty much in the final. Would be great if he gets on the field.
@locoxriver, I read in a Brazilian sports site that Lanus is a "co-brother" team of Boca Juniors and as such, tonight's match may be more bitter than it would have been if your team's opponent were Rosario Central or Estudiantes or even San Lorenzo. And I also read something about tickets sold to fans of your team and how authorities are warning it might be dangerous outside the arena after the game. Is this hype or did that article speak the truth - would the rivalry with Boca be a factor tonight given Lanus' supposed fraternal relationship with your team's biggest rival?
There is absolutely no rivalry with Lanus. All Libertadores disqualifications are pretty painful regardless of opponent, but I'd say River fans would suffer (a little) more losing to San Lorenzo than to today's rival. With that being said, a loss to the hands of Boca is the only notable exit... all other teams are just rivals, but without any more or less significance than the other. I can guarantee you no River fan is affiliating today's match-up with Boca under any terms. The only correlation is Boca's fans heavily cheering for our rival (which in this case happens to be Lanus) in hope of our demise, as well as Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Boca's coach) possessing a connection to the club after having coached them for three years. If anything, the only extra spice in this match is the want to eliminate the ungrateful Jose Sand, a River product and Lanus legend.
Long shot here, but I'm going to be in BA on Nov 29 and would love to score tickets to the 2nd leg at Lanus. I know most tickets go to members but maybe someone here can help me out with any info. Thanks