Boca, with an alternative team, tied this Wednesday against Nacional Potosí of Bolivia, in its debut in Group D of the Copa Sudamericana. The match, which was played at 4,090 meters above sea level, with refereeing by Chilean Piero Maza, was entertaining and had many scoring situations, which allowed Xeneize goalkeeper Leandro Brey to shine. Next Wednesday, Xeneize will host Trinidense, from Paraguay, at La Bombonera, which lost at home 2-0 against Fortaleza, from Brazil.
Boca did not seem to feel the height of Potosí at the beginning. In fact, especially in the first minutes of the match, the Xeneize team not only handled the ball and took the initiative in the process but also began to add clear goal situations, with good interventions by Benítez, Janson, Briasco and Benedetto.
Nacional Potosí – white shirt with red stripe – took about ten minutes to show its cards. Coach Claudio “Pampa” Biaggio’s bet was clear with two severe counterattacks that put Brey’s fence in danger. But Boca, despite the defensive distractions, continued to maintain its idea: join the lines and open the field to try to reach from the outside with spicy crosses.
Another defensive distraction left Argentine striker Martín Prost in front of Brey, who responded well to deflect a tremendous header into the corner. Boca, for its part, quickly recovered the ball in the midfielder’s area and worried goalkeeper Mustafá more out of insistence than because of the clarity of his definitions.
Even so, Boca had an excellent chance to go into the locker room with an advantage, when Chilean referee Piero Maza awarded a penalty in the 43rd minute after a foul on Janson inside the area. Benedetto executed it and his shot, with soul and life, crashed into the middle of the crossbar.
Boca paid for the effort made in the first half to have the ball in the second half. The Bolivian team took control of the ball and highlighted the more conservative approach of the Xeneize team for this stage. Boca dedicated itself to withstanding the pressure and gave up the spotlight. To try to compensate for the physical decline, Martínez reached into the bench to give his team a little more defensive solidity.
Nacional Potosí had two very clear chances to win in the final minutes, Brey – the figure of Xeneize on the Bolivian night – blocked again and again to save the zero in his goal. The Xeneizes were also close to victory in the final minutes, but they still couldn’t get the last touch right and had to settle for a valuable visitor’s point, at the height of Potosí.
2024-04-04 03:01:00
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