Boca Juniors Eliminated in La Liga Cup Semifinals After Loss to Estudiantes de La Plata

Boca Juniors was eliminated in the semifinals of the La Liga Cup after losing on penalties to Estudiantes de La Plata at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in Córdoba. After playing a great first half, in which they took the lead due to Miguel Merentiel’s goal, disqualifying kick. For this action, the central defender was sent off for a double warning. Already in the instance of the definition from the twelve steps, the goalkeeper Matías Mansilla was the hero by containing the shots of Cavani and Figal (Merentiel sent it over the crossbar) and despite the fact that Chiquito Romero drowned out Cetré himself and Zeno noted; Eros Mancuso, Guido Carrillo and Mauro Méndez converted their shots so that the La Plata team qualified for the final, which will be played this Sunday against Vélez Sarsfield in Santiago del Estero.

“It’s a game. You win and you lose. Students must be congratulated for being in the final, they deserve it. We think we had a good first half and in the second it was even. In the end, it is accommodated in a play, the penalty, the expulsion and football has that, it changes in three seconds and you win by scoring goals,” reflected Juan Román Riquelme. The president of Boca Juniors spoke with total sincerity and although he acknowledged that his team played a great game, he regretted the lack of effectiveness on the offensive end. “The team did well in the first half and made a lot of mistakes, we must congratulate them for being in the final. We had the illusion of being there, but nothing happens. I have nothing to say to the boys. He who wins always does better. “They took penalties better.”

Visibly upset, Román did not give details of his talk with the players in the locker room after the elimination and did not want to focus on Cristian Lema’s action that completely changed the game. “Football is a game, it is beautiful. You win and you lose, it is the most beautiful game there is. The ball didn’t go in, so if it did go in we would be happy, what are we going to do. In Medina’s kick, he ends up hitting the line. It’s a game and luck plays too. We have to keep going”. Regarding the action that all of Boca claimed a penalty for a foul by Enzo Pérez almost on the line of the area, Riquelme responded bluntly: “I didn’t see her, if she is very small nothing happens. Let’s not look for it either… because we are always looking for excuses. We congratulate Estudiantes and Vélez who are in the final. Those who are there do the merits.”

“This is a game, there are moments when the game changes. Boca made a lot of mistakes in the first half, which they did very well, and what can they do on a rebound. They throw a cross, Marcos rejects it, he gets the penalty, and a second yellow card. Football has that, in one play it changes and that happened. We are happy because the team had a good first half and has been playing quite well, we have to continue. We will try again,” added the president and idol of Boca Juniors.

Regarding the growth that the team has been experiencing since the arrival of Diego Martínez and the excitement that this generated in the fans, he expressed: “We are grateful to the Boca fans and it is beautiful that they support us. The team has good moments, like the first half and the day in the classic (against River) also had good moments. That makes people excited. You always have to improve, when you win and when you don’t. It’s a game and the strange thing about Argentine football is that if you play badly and win, they don’t value it much and if you play well and don’t win, neither does it. Sometimes we are going to miss more penalties than the other. “It’s going to happen sometime, nothing happens.”

When asked about Lema’s specific action, Riquelme said: “We lost just one game, one play changed the game and I think that before the penalty we also had a clear idea that they threw the pass to Merentiel and Medina passed… They are the days that it is difficult for us to do the second. Sometimes it is preferable to be tied and be eleven against eleven and not be sent off. Everything happened, penalty and expulsion. “It is football, the most beautiful sport there is and it has those things.”

“Now another soccer match is coming up (visit to Sportivo Trinidense for the Copa Sudamericana) and yesterday they also said that this one was key. They don’t ask the others if I’m left out of the Libertadores, the others don’t ask the same question,” Román questioned. And he closed: “The coach was with the same enthusiasm as us, I don’t know what he said, but the game lasts 95 minutes. We are proud to be bosteros.”

2024-05-01 03:52:00
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