how Demichelis did to get Borja back and why the Colombian didn’t celebrate his goal with the “hummingbird”

Once upon a time, Miguel Borja was bitter to River and began to ruin a championship that seemed to have been won. It was in the 2014 Transition tournament, Marcelo Gallardo’s first local championship as a Millionaire coach. The Colombian, wearing the Olimpo de Bahía Blanca jersey, scored a goal against Núñez’s team at the Monumental for a 1-1 draw that began to complicate it and then lost the title, which remained in the hands of Racing.

Almost eight years after that goal that frustrated River, Borjarequested by the Doll, disembarked in River and with the red band on the chest he began to make the fans scream with his goals. Since he arrived at Núñez, he has scored 13 goals. And the one he did to Independiente on Sunday at the Monumental served him to cut a month and a half drought without converting.

Not so much time had passed between one goal and another by Borja -except for the World Cup stoppage and vacations, of course- since his arrival at River. So, that’s why he changed his usual celebration of the “hummingbird” for a cry of relief, after winning the melee against Barreto and taking out a strong right hand to defeat Rodrigo Rey.

And there was an energetic cry although without choreography. “It was a decision I made at the bank and I communicated it to my colleagues. I told them that I was going to score the goal and that I was not going to do the “hummingbird”“, he detailed after the game in dialogue with TNT Sports.

And he added: “The game was complicated. They tried to do a leisurely process and that affected our game. It helped us to have converted before 20 minutes. Then we take advantage of the spaces. We knew that their coach (by Ricardo Zielinski) was going to propose this kind of clash, or delay the game” For Borja, this goal also meant a kind of revenge in his duel with Barreto. On August 7, 2022, the same protagonists of that one-on-one had been involved in a controversial action: in Avellaneda, a slap from Barreto to Borja should have been punished with a penalty kick. But unusually, the referee of that match, Fernando Rapallini, after having reviewed it in the VAR after being called, considered it a natural shock typical of an attack action.

Borja looked recovered. AND took advantage of the chance that Demichelis gave him to settle the match against Independiente. After his last presentation as a starter against Racing de Córdoba, for the Argentine Cup, on March 9, the Colombian had lowered his performance, to such an extent that there were games in which he did not even enter.

Outside of football, there was a physical issue. His numbers, measured in the GPS, did not mark what was intended by the coaching staff. So, work was done specifically to improve that topic. It is that Demichelis wants his attackers not to be static, but also to put pressure on the rival defenders and go back to pass the line of the ball when the opponent leaves his defensive zone.

“I hope that the confidence that Beltrán has can be recovered by Miguel and raised by Rondón,” Demichelis had stated at the press conference after the match with Sporting Cristal. And Borja made that wish come true with a goal with pure power and faith. After a pass from Esequiel Barco, the Colombian fought Barreto hand-to-hand until he scored the goal.

“If we are candidates? No! Not even half of the tournament is going… We have to have our feet on the ground. Argentine soccer is one of the most difficult in the world and there are always teams fighting”, Borja expressed in relation to the expectations of the fans with the Demichelis team, which is the leader with 33 points, six more than San Lorenzo. Thus, he joined the speech of his coach, who assured that there is no champion with 33 points.

The message is to go slow. And with firm steps. They know it in River, who once suffered from Borja, who complicated a championship for him. The Colombian also knows it, who now contributes his goals to try to bring joy to the Millionaire fans.