A clash of football legends between Colo-Colo and River Plate was experienced this Saturday at the Monumental stadium in Santiago, where more than 20,000 attendees attended the 2-1 victory of the Argentine team The Argentines Ariel Ortega and Javier Saviola and the Chilean Marcelo Salas They lead the list of numbers. ‘El Matador’ Salas, idol of the Rive Plate and the Italians Lazio and Juventus, was the star of the day when he scored, at the age of 49, a great goal that opened the scoring in the match played at the stadium of El Cacique.
The first half ended without goals, despite the efforts of the Argentina team led by Salas in attack and with Javier Saviola who, at the age of 42, still emits flashes of football like of the figures he made in River Plate, Barcelona and Real Madrid. In that first half, the 47-year-old Paraguayan goalkeeper Justo Villar was also outstanding, having captained the Albirroja team for many years and spent time in Colo Colo between 2013 and 2017, if where he received a standing ovation from those in attendance. .
The goalkeeper, who also played for Real Valladolid, maintains good reflexes that allow him to neutralize goal-scoring games. Salas’ goal came in the 55th minute. He took advantage of a rebound and took the pressure off a defender before scoring with a shot.
“I was able to enjoy it with my teammates and friends beyond the goal and the result. I felt better than I thought, I haven’t played in a while, but I’ve been concerned about training a little,” Salas told the TNT Sports channel. Colo Colo equalized twelve minutes later through former Chilean striker Manuel Neira, who had a career with Sao Paulo, Las Palmas, Argentine Racing and América de Cali.
River’s victory finally came through an own goal in the 79th minute by former defender David Henríquez, who played for Mexican Monarcas de Morelia and Dorados de Sinaloa. The teams’ squads made up of former soccer players have an average age of between 44 and 45 years, with the oldest of all being former Argentine goalkeeper José María Buljubasich, who at 53 years old is currently sports manager of the Chilean Universidad Católica.
There were also moments of nostalgia seeing Argentine Ariel Ortega, now 50 years old and with platinum hair, dominating the ball and passing to his teammates like when he dazzled River, the Copa Libertadores champions in 1996.
The Colo Colo squad, led by Argentine Claudio Borghi who also coached Chile between 2011 and 2012, is made up of: Justo Villar, Eduardo Lobos, Luis Mena, Pablo Contreras, David Henríquez, Álvaro Ormeño, Miguel Aceval, Braulio Leal, Miguel Riffo, Rodolfo Madrid. In addition to Rodrigo Meléndez, Jaime Valdés, Matías Fernández, Arturo Sanhueza, Rodrigo Millar, Gonzalo Fierro, Esteban Paredes, Lucas Barrios, Manuel Neira and Mario Cáceres.
On the bench of the River Plate squad is Omar Labruna, who coached Marcelo Barovero, José María Buljubasich, Ariel Franco, Jonatan Maidana, Walter Acevedo, Mario Yepes, Juan Pablo Sorín and Matías Abelairas. With Marcelo Salas, Leonardo Ponzio, Guillermo Pereyra, Ariel Ortega. Federico Almerares, Javier Saviola, Rubén Sambueza, Juan Pablo Ángel and Alejandro Domínguez also played.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
