Yeah, they got rid of that rule last year. It was implemented after the two consecutive all-Brazilian finals (2005/2006), but I guess in the end they realized how ridiculous it was. The way the bracket is laid out this year, we can technically have an all-Brazilian semifinal. Would be crazy, but it's possible... Gremio vs. Santos on one side, Flamengo/Cruzeiro vs. Palmeiras/Corinthians on the other That would be an absolute headache for CONMEBOL if they still had the "no two teams from the same country" rule
I think when the Mexican teams were in the tournament it was a good rule though. The possibility of two Mexican teams playing in the final would have screwed things up for determining the Club World Cup slot
To be honest, I kind of miss those Mexican teams in the copa... they added some spice and were always difficult opponents. It was a little weird mixing confederations, but they increased the competitiveness of the tournament. Plus, they gave me two of my biggest Libertadores joys: River's 3-0 final win vs. Tigres, and Chivas' 4-0 annihilation that made the bosteros completely lose their minds I wonder if they'll ever return, although with the growing importance of the CONCACAF Champions League probably not.
was that the game where Bofo Bautista got smacked on his bald head by a fan and had to be escorted out of the stadium by guards? I'll never forget those games. ============================ on a side note, are there seriously no more argentine posters on here?
Grande JuanFer!!!! Amazing free kick below the wall that jumped right over it! This is the second straight World Cup a River player has scored in Colombia's opening game, Teo four years ago and Juanfer today. The only sad thing is that this performance pretty much guarantees that he will be moving back to Europe after his loan with River, but hopefully we can take full advantage of him in the Libertadores campaign, because so far I feel he has been badly under utilized
It'll be more expensive for him to move back, since River is going to use the buyout clause in the loan. https://lapaginamillonaria.com/rive...de-juan-fernando-quintero-river-mercado-pases
I wouldn't think Quintero will head back yet, it would have to be a wealthy team. River have first choice and its a really cheap one. I imagine it'd be kind of a complicated situation if someone else were to try to sign him
Quintero is a crack, a true crack. Obviously, he lost his way, but the only reason he is with us is because he did... That is why having such short seasons with only 27 or 25 games makes me sooooo upset... 4 years ago, we would have had 38 games + copas to enjoy a player of his ability, but now only 25... And it really does pain me because watching him is a joy! He is such a remarkable player with a special left foot GRONDONA LA CONCHA DE TU MADRE
Just to put the stupidity of the AFA into perspective, when an English club from first division goes after a player, they know they have a minimum of 40 games... 38 from the league, 1 for FA Cup, 1 for League Cup... We have a guarantee next season on 29... 25 league, 1 League Cup, 1 Argentina Cup, and 2 sudamericana... Its ********ING ABSURD
The ********ing irony that this is what we got out of a reform that wanted to make our football "more like Europe's".
River beat Central Norte 7-0 in the Copa Argentina last night. I have to admit I didn't see the game, and the goals, while a couple were good, were mainly thanks to the complete incompetence of what was for all intents and purposes, an amateur team. We play Villa Dalmine on Saturday in the Copa Argentina, which is our best chance to qualify for next year's Libertadores. (The only other option is to win this year's edition)
I watched all 90 minutes. The difference between the two teams was shocking. Even in past editions of the Copa Argentina when we faced minnows you couldn’t notice such a gap in quality. With that said, River showed no mercy until the last 20 or so minutes. Constant pressure, even when up by 5, 6 goals. The poor Central Norte guys weren’t given a second to breathe. They’d get the ball, pass it two meters forward, and we’d instantly surround them with players and recover the ball every time. Good stuff. So yeah, Central was trash, but River played some really good football. Oso looked a lot better with a full preseason, and Pity and Scocco were absolute fire as usual. For my money, there aren’t many better attacks out there, and this is still without Quintero in the equation. Anyway, not much of an analysis can be made of such games, but at least River put on a fantastic showing. It isn’t rare for these games to end 1-0/2-0, especially after a heavy preseason. So far, so good. Now the real objective: Racing for the Libertadores
I completely agree with you loco, in the Libertadores River has the best attacking line up, and we're honestly very good in all positions except for the obvious one at left back. The other fear would be if Armani gets injured having to turn back Lux. But the other 10 starters I think are all quality. I like Palacios. His first goal barely counts as his own considering the deflection, but I love his natural instincts to get in the box like on the second. Since Sanchez left, we have needed goals to come from midfield, and for the most part the don't come. It takes just natural instinct to arrive late in the box and score like Sanchez or Lucho Gonzalez...
Like seemingly everything wrong with our football these days, blame Tapia and Angelici in AFA: in past editions, those lower-league teams had some regular play time under their belt, but nowadays they're playing every few months at best. And they told us Tapia was the candidate meant to protect the interests of the lower leagues against the predatory designs of the bigger clubs
Tapia and Angelici have killed Argentine football. Not only do they not have the interests of the lower leagues, but they don't give a shit about any club but Bosta Juniors. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but playing a 25 game season is beyond absurd. Knowing River won't host Bosta again until October 2019 is BEYOND angering. Then think about the small clubs, even in the Apertura/Clausura format, the small teams like Aldosivi knew they'd host River and Bosta Juniors each season, which means two guaranteed sell outs when they other wise wouldn't even get 20,000 butts in the seats. Not to mention 13 fewer matches than we used to get, 5 fewer than we got under the absurd Grondona format of 30 teams. The lack of games for top division clubs is going to be quite damaging in terms of rhythm, but also in terms of revenue. So while everyone keeps talking about the TV money being better- i have asked and never gotten an answer- is the money better so that the fact that we have 13 fewer games doesn't matter? Thats either 6 or 7 fewer home games, which for, say river, is a minimum of 300,000 fewer fans going to el monumental in a given year... Its mind boggling how stupid and corrupt these people are. Imagine doing business in any other walk of life- say a restaurant, an amusement park, ANYTHING, and designing something on purpose so that 300,000 fewer people go to you business in a given year. Only the AFA And at least when the 30 team monstrosity began in 2014, Argentina was the runner up in the World Cup, and there was still a bright future for the national team. This time, we have had the worst world cup since 1958 (2002 was a disaster, but the team was unlucky, this team just plain sucked)... I still love River, but as for the "Superliga" as a whole, I just don't care what happens, I don't see myself sitting around on a Saturday to watch Patronato-Defensa y Justicia... and then we get onto the topic f Bosta Juniors themselves... Offering a player like Zarate at 31 a chance to join the national team in exchange for going to boca is sickening.
Angelici, Tapia and Moyano are so blatantly corrupt and are so garish in their abuse of power that it just boggles the mind. Or can anyone come up with a reason for Meza getting more playing time than Dybala or Lo Celso?
I made the point in the national team forum where most people there don't follow the argentine league at all- i wouldn't even say meza is top 5 in his position in argentina- probably not 10. Pity or Nacho Fernandez would have been far better.
Pity would have been huge in Russia. It really is a shame that Meza and Pavon were so pathetic, fueling the common misconception that domestic players are not up to par as European ones
Agreed 100%. Both were just so poor, but the bottom line was, so were the big name "european stars".... Rojo and Di Maria scored two important and very good goals, but they were horrible. Rojo IMO was Argentina's worst player, other than Caballero, but calling him a player is being too nice. Biglia was a joke. Otamendi was horrendous. Fazio makes Cata Diaz look like Usain Bolt. Higuain will never score for Arg again. The only players on Argentina who leave the world cup unscathed IMO are Armani, Tagliafico, and Mercado. Aguero was actually half way decent, and should have played more, but his attitude and many previous failures with the NT mean he deserves no sympathy. Ummm... Pavon couldn't pass a single player via his dribbling skills and he couldn't hit a cross to save his life or find a shooting opportunity. That being said, he was clearly hurt by the incompetence of the coach to not play a number 9... If you play a guy like Pavon, you need a penalty area player for him to try and assist. But this is a River forum, so enough about the Bosteros. Last thing on the NT, the AFA, etc. was that when we brought on Meza late in the match against France, I laughed out loud and thought I'd never seen more of an admission of defeat than bringing on that muerto. It actually reminded me quite a bit of when England was losing to Germany in 2010 and they brought on Emile Heskey... Both examples of waving the white flag