Boca champion: the strange attitude of Enzo Copetti during the Racing penalty that Jonathan Galván missed

Enzo Copetti He was a fundamental protagonist in the last stages of the definition of the Professional League, finally in the hands of Boca. For better and for worse. The Racing striker arrived at this electrifying Sunday with 11 goals scored throughout the championship for the Academy. But above all, with a seasoning that fed the general morbidity: after that victory in the Cilindro by 2 to 0 against Atlético Tucumán, which left his team as an escort for the xeneizes, he was encouraged to say the forbidden phrase: “We are going to be champions. We have three more games left to fight and stay up there and wait for what happens with other teams”.

In this Sunday’s match against River he also found a way to establish himself as a key actor: 8 minutes into the second half in Avellaneda, the attacker got ahead of Javier Pinola, who from behind put his hand on his back in an attempt to neutralize it. Racing’s scorer dropped and the referee, Pablo Echevarría, who was quite far away, charged a penalty without hesitation. Nevertheless, The execution was in charge of the Paraguayan Matías Rojas, who converted for 1 to 0 over Marcelo Gallardo’s team.

After the partial draw of the Colombian Miguel Borja at 35 minutes of the second stage, Racing had the great chance to seize the title with a second penalty in his favor: With three minutes remaining, Herrera took on Sigali to prevent him from heading a past cross, and Echevarría collected the second penalty since twelve steps for Gago’s team.

Since Rojas was no longer on the court, andhe manager was Jonathan Galván, who had entered minutes earlier to form a five-man defense. But the former Huracán soccer player hit him well announced and the right hand found a good response from Armani. The River goalkeeper rebounded, although Nicolás Oroz, who arrived with his left foot, sent it over the crossbar. And there, during that double mistake by Avellaneda’s team, a detail that went unnoticed: Copetti didn’t even manage to find the rebound, knowing that Racing needed the victory yes or yes while Boca tied in the Bombonera with Independiente and with a game that almost entered into injury time. At least, his attitude of standing still while the decisive action of the match unfolded drew attention. No one understood why the man from Chaco stood with his arms akimbo, motionless and on the edge of the area.

It was learned that the decision to kick that penalty was not previously agreed upon, but was based on a matter of trust. Thus, was that galvan -who was facing his first chance finishing off from 12 steps and that there were specialists to do it, such as Hauche or Copetti himself-, showed convinced to grab the ball and stand in front of the opposing goalkeeper ready to make it easier for Racing to win.

Later, all Copetti’s unease would come and even Darío Benedetto’s joke, who in a video from the Boca champion locker room and with the Professional League trophy in hand, said: “You want her, don’t you? You stayed with the desire, right? How great…”, in an indirect message, but clearly directed towards the Racing striker.

THE NATION