Showing posts with label Godoy Cruz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Godoy Cruz. Show all posts
Mariano Donda golazo vs Tigre, Clausura 2011
On 27 March 2011 Tigre hosted Godoy Cruz in the seventh round of the Clausure 2011 tournement in Argentina. Mariano Donda had a brilliant first half, scoring this piledriver of a free kick and providing the cross for Álvaro Navarro to head home a second goal for the visitors. Tigre fought back in the second half with a couple of goals from Denis Stracqualursi to salvage a 2-2 draw.
Mauro Camoranesi goal ruled offside vs Godoy Cruz, Clausura 2011
The sixth round of the Clausura 2011 tournament in Argentina featured a number of highly controversial moments from referees and linesmen. The first big mistake was the cancellation of this goal which would have been Mauro Camoranesi's first goal since his return to Argentine football after thirteen years playing abroad in Mexico, Italy and Germany. As the replay shows he was clearly well onside when the free kick was struck.
More controversies from fecha 6
Esteban Fuertes vs Godoy Cruz, Clausura 2011 - Golazo
On 6 March 2011 Godoy Cruz played Colón in the fourth round of the Clausura 2011 tournament. The home team were attempting to recover from a 1-3 mauling by Uruguayan side Peñarol in their midweek 2011 Copa Libertadores game but went down to another home defeat.
Colón's key player in this 2-3 win was veteran striker and club legend Esteban Fuertes who scored this long range scorcher to give them the half time lead and also scored the 87th minute winner.
Rise of the interior?
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| The Godoy Cruz players celebrating their first ever appearance in the Copa Libertadores. |
The most joyful thing about their achievement is that they managed to qualify for the Libertadores without sacrificing their style of play. Throughout the 2010 Apertura Godoy Cruz were one of the most entertaining and unpredictable teams to watch. They only managed to win three of their ten home games but had the third best away record behind the runaway top two of Estudiantes and Vélez Sarsfield. Their nineteen games featured fifty seven goals, an average of three per game, so if you judge entertainment by the number of goals per game they were by far the most entertaining team to watch in the Apertura.
The most impressive thing about their achievement is that they managed to finish as the fourth most consistent Argentine team in 2010 in only their fourth season in the top flight. They made their Primera División debut in 2006-07 but were relegated at the end of the season thanks to the notorious promedios (points averaging) system. They bounced straight back and in 2008-09 they secured their top flight status. At the end of the 2009-10 season Atlético Tucumán were relegated meaning that Godoy Cruz were the only remaining team in the Argentine top flight from the non-traditional provinces.
No team from outside the three traditional heartlands of Argentine football has ever won the Argentine league, the closest that any of the indirectly affiliated teams have ever come were the two Córdoba based sides Talleres and Racing that finished as runners up more than thirty years ago. Talleres appeared in the final of the 1977 Nacional but were beaten by Independiente, and three years later Racing lost the final of the Nacional to Rosario Central.
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| In 1999 Talleres de Córdoba became the first side from outside of the three traditional heartlands of Argentine football to win a major honour. |
Clubs that face relegation out of the top two tiers of Argentine football face very different challenges, indirectly affiliated teams from the interior face the notoriously difficult challenge of adjusting to life in the regional leagues. Argentino A currently has 25 teams with only one automatic promotion spot available, Argentino B has 48 teams and relegation to Argentino C means a battle against more than 250 other teams to secure one of the few promotion places. Directly affiliated teams from Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province & Santa Fe Province drop down into the Metropolitana structure which is a further three tiers of standard leagues with only one relegation spot at the bottom. In recent years Tigre and All Boys have achieved the double promotion necessary to find their way back from the Metropolitana to the Primera División.
Several indirectly affiliated teams from the interior that once played at the highest level of Argentine football have disappeared almost without trace into the labyrinthine structure of Argentino C, a couple of the most notable examples being Altos Hornos Zapla who played with the best in the 1970s and Huracán de Corrientes who featured at the highest level as recently as the 1990s.
Several indirectly affiliated teams from the interior that once played at the highest level of Argentine football have disappeared almost without trace into the labyrinthine structure of Argentino C, a couple of the most notable examples being Altos Hornos Zapla who played with the best in the 1970s and Huracán de Corrientes who featured at the highest level as recently as the 1990s.
It is no surprise that the top clubs come from the most heavily populated areas, the same can be said for most countries. In Uruguay eleven out of the twelve top flight teams come from the capital Montevideo, it is nowhere near as extreme in Argentina but fourteen of the twenty Primera División sides come from greater Buenos Aires and of the remaining six, four come from the large conurbation of La Plata and the heavily populated Santa Fe Province. The remaining two teams are Olimpo from the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province and Godoy Cruz from Mendoza.
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| Huracán de Corrientes have disappeared into obscurity after playing at the highest level of Argentine football as recently as the 1990's |
As it stands, four of the six non-Buenos Aires based teams are pretty much immune from relegation, the other two, Olimpo and Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata are embroiled in the relegation fight but still capable of escaping the drop zone, meaning that as many as four Buenos Aires based sides could find themselves relegated at the end of the season. The relegated teams are almost certain to be replaced by teams from the interior given that eleven of the top twelve sides in the second division come from the interior and the other team is Aldosivi from the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province.
Of the eleven "interior" teams chasing promotion the most famous are four time Argentine champions Rosario Central who suffered relegation from the Primera División last season after losing a playoff against All Boys. Other notable teams in the promotion chase are Unión de Santa Fe who were runners up in the Nacional championship in 1979, Gimnasia de Jujuy who are historically the most successful team from the far north of Argentina and Atlético Rafaela who have missed out on promotion in the last two seasons after failing to beat Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata in playoff games.
The recent success of Godoy Cruz and the host of teams from the interior vying for promotion shows that football is alive and kicking in the Argentine interior, however there remain some real concerns about football in the indirectly affiliated provinces of Argentina. The main problem is that even though they are doing brilliantly by themselves Godoy Cruz are the only representatives of the 21 non-traditional provinces currently playing in the top flight. Another concern is that C.A.I. from Comodoro Rivadavia, the only team from the southern provinces playing at the national level look certain to be relegated to the regional leagues at the end of the season.
In their second Copa Libertadores fixture Godoy Cruz suffered a 1-3 home defeat against Uruguayan Libertadores veterans Peñarol. It was a poor result in front of their own fans but they can take comfort in the fact that they have had an incredibly good away record over the last year and if they can find some points away from home in the Libertadores they will still have a good chance of making it out of the toughest of the eight groups to reach the knock-out stages. Fans from all over Argentina will be behind them because at best they represent hope that success can be decentralised in Argentine football and at worst people will cheer them on because nobody knows how long it will be before another team from the backwaters of Argentine football will break the dominance of the Buenos Aires/La Plata/Santa Fe Province triopoly in order to have a tilt at the most prestigious trophy in South American club football.
Highlights: 2011 Copa Libertadores, Group 8
Results
| 17-02-11 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Godoy Cruz (Arg) | 2-1 | LDU Quito (Ecu) |
| 24-02-11 | ||
| Independiente (Arg) | 3-0 | Peñarol (Uru) |
| 01-03-11 | ||
| Godoy Cruz (Arg) | 1-3 | Peñarol (Uru) |
| 03-03-11 | ||
| LDU Quito (Ecu) | 3-0 | Independiente (Arg) |
| 09-03-11 | ||
| Peñarol (Uru) | 1-0 | LDU Quito (Ecu) |
| 10-03-11 | ||
| Independiente (Arg) | 1-3 | Godoy Cruz (Arg) |
| 17-03-11 | ||
| LDU Quito (Ecu) | 5-0 | Peñarol (Uru) |
| 23-03-11 | ||
| Godoy Cruz (Arg) | 1-1 | Independiente (Arg) |
| 31-03-11 | ||
| Peñarol (Uru) | 2-1 | Godoy Cruz (Arg) |
| 05-04-11 | ||
| Independiente (Arg) | 1-1 | LDU Quito (Ecu) |
| 12-04-11 | ||
| Peñarol (Uru) | 0-1 | Independiente (Arg) |
| LDU Quito (Ecu) | 2-0 | Godoy Cruz (Arg) |
Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 LDU Quito | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 10 |
 Peñarol | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | -5 | 9 |
 Independiente | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 8 |
| Godoy Cruz | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 7 |
Match reports
Round 1
Argentine side Godoy Cruz recoreded an impressive 2-1 win against the 2008 champions and Recopa Sudamericana holders LDU Quito on their Copa Libertadores debut. Their goals came from Carlos & Nicolás Sánchez either side of a Neicer Reasco strike for the visitors.
The last two teams to see action in the group stages were two of the most famous names in the history of South American football. Seven time champions Independiente cruized to a 3-0 against Peñarol. The home team is known as the king of cups, a nickname reinforced by their Copa Sudamericana triumph in December. Before this game they had been stuck in a rut of poor form without a win in four games. Peñarol were the perfect opponents in the second half, another team stuck in a bad run of form (one win in six by the final whistle). The Uruguayans were wasteful in posession, easily contained and defensively disorganised. The pick of the action was Cristian Pellerano's long range scorcher that he hammered through a crowded box like a nail.
Round 2
Peñarol recovered in time for their second game in which they took a 1-3 away win against Godoy Cruz. The Uruguayans took the lead within a minute but Rúben Ramírez equalised with an unmarked header before the half hour. The visitors then soaked up a lot of pressure and scored twice on the counter attack. They dealt effectively with dozens of balls played into their box and could have had more goals on the counter. The key player in the Peñarol counter attacking play was Argentine number ten Alejandro Martinuccio.
As expected Liga de Quito continued their devastating home form with a comfortable 3-0 win against Independiente, a result that levels all four teams up on three points after two games, giving some justification for those of us that picked this group out as one of the toughest to call.
Round 3
having started out with two away games Uruguayan side Peñarol put in a strong performance in their first home game of the group stages with a 1-0 win against Liga de Quito. 20 year old Urretaviscaya had a cracking game for the hosts showing an electric turn of pace and some good skills too. Luis Aguilar bagged the only goal of the game lashing in a back post volley dirct from a corner.Peñarol climbed to the top of the table however both sides can remain hopeful of progression having two home games remaining each.
Godoy Cruz recovered from their recent run of poor home results to show that they can still do it on the road inflicting a 1-3 defeat on fellow Argentines Independiente who have now gone sixteen games without a win against Argentine opposition. The home side took the lead through Facundo Parra but Godoy Cruz fought back to claim their first ever away win at the continental level. This result leaves Independiente in all kinds of trouble, they are bottom of the group and two of their three remaining games are away from home.
Round 4
Liga de Quito kept up their remarkable run of home form with a 5-0 demolition of Peñarol, Walter Calderón in great form, terrorising the Uruguayan defence and bagging himself two goals. It was LDU's fifteenth game without defeat at their Casa Blanca fortress in all competitions a run extending back to October 2010. The last time they lost a competitive home game against foreign opposition was a 2-3 defeat by Brazilian side Sport Recife back in April 2009, since then they have won twelve consecutive home games in international tournaments (Sudamericana -8, Recopa -2, Libertadores -2). Both sides are still in with a decent chance of qualification, Liga have bolstered their goal difference and Peñarol have the advantage of playing their last two games at home.
One week later the two Argentine sides lined up for their rematch. Independiente struck an early blow with Matías Defederico scoring a cracking goal in the first minute. Godoy Cruz took around half an hour to recover their composure which is understandable given their unreliable home form.
"El Tomba" found their equaliser in the 34th minute after man of the match Carlos Sánchez put in a decent cross and Rúben Ramírez was allowed a free header. Independiente goalkeeper Hilario Navarro did not cover himself in glory doing a rubbish superman impression and allowing Ramírez an open goal to aim at. Navarro made up for his error in the second half with a couple of good saves and a much more commanding performance. The 1-1 draw meant that Godoy Cruz climbed to the top of the group but they only have two away games remaining while Independiente have now gone 23 away games without a win and are rooted to the bottom of the group and will be out of the tournament if they don't beat Liga de Quito in their next game.
Round 5
Godoy Cruz faced their first two away games on foreign soil in official competition in their last two group games. After a 2-1 defeat against Peñarol in Uruguay they are in serious danger of missing out on qualification. Unless Independiente beat Liga de Quito next week Godoy Cruz will need a win at the Casa Blanca where Liga have not lost in international competition for twelve games since April 2009.
Independiente were eliminated after they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home against Liga de Quito.Leonel Núñez put the Argentine side ahead from the penalty spot but former Racing Club player Hernán Barcos ensured their elimination with a second half equaliser.
Round 6
Independiente were already as good as out before they even kicked off but they can be fairly pleased with a decent 0-1 win against Peñarol in Montevideo. Facundo Parra scored the only goal of the game to give Independiente their first away win in international tournaments since a 0-1 win at Rosario Central in Copa Sudamericana 2003. The game in Montevideo was marred by two sendings off late in the game, Peñarol's Juan Manuel Olivera was sent off for a headbut and Independiente goalkeeper Fabián Assman also saw red for his reaction.
Godoy Cruz knew that they needed a win at Liga's Casa Blanca fortress but they couldn't muster their first ever competitive away win on foreign soil. Luis Bolaños put the hosts ahead in the 48th minute, Hernán Barcos bagged a second on 59 minutes and within three minutes of that the game was up after Carlos Sánchez got himself sent off. This result ensured that Liga joined Peñarol in the knockout round at the expense of both of the groups Argentine sides.
For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine and Brazilian leagues, the pick of the rest and other international tournaments:
En contra: Leandro Sigali, Godoy Cruz vs River Plate, Apertura 2010
On 17 October 2010 Godoy Cruz hosted River Plate in the Apertura 2010 tournament. The first goal of the game was this unbelievable own goal from Leonardo Sigali. Godoy Cruz recovered to earn a 2-2 draw.
For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.
Partidazo: Godoy Cruz 4-1 Boca Juniors, Apertura 2008 - The rise of el Tomba.
On September 28 2008 newly promoted provincial minnows Godoy Cruz hosted Boca Juniors in the 8th round of the Apertura 2008 tournament. The home team were struggling to adapt to life in the Primera, they had lost 4 of their opening 7 games and looked in danger of reliving the relegation that came at the end of their only previous season in the Primera División in 2006-07.
Nearly everyone expected a routine win for Boca Juniors, who at that time were still the strongest and most consistent team in the league. When Leandro Gracián scored for the visitors shortly before half time nobody was surprised.
What happened next can be seen as a turning point for the Mendoza outfit, veteran Colombian Jairo Castillo got one back before half time and after the break Leonardo Sigali scored to give the home side the lead, then Castillo netted twice more for the most famous hat-trick of his career.
This 4-1 result against one of the giants of Argentine football seemed to give the team the confidence to beat the bigger teams. In the remainder of the Apertura El Tomba also recorded a dramatic last minute win against Estudiantes de La Plata and an impressive away win against River Plate.
By the end of the Clausura they had accumulated sufficient points to avoid relegation. The following season they consolidated their position and managed to finish 3rd in the Clausura. In the 2 years since this game Godoy Cruz have firmly established themselves as one of the strongest sides in the Argentine top flight.
For more great games involving South American teams, check out the rest of the Partidazo series.
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