“We eliminated them three times in a row”

Juan Román Riquelme is happy. This is how you see him when he comes down from the box at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium to hug people, to wave his Boca while he sings like just another fan and also when you hear him chirping at River for the comeback victory in Córdoba. The idol president remembered the three consecutive eliminations of Xeneize over Millonariowhich changed what had suffered during Marcelo Gallardo’s management.

“We are happy to eliminate River three times in a row. I always have confidence that the players will do well. We are lucky that the boys competed well. I think they played a great game. Our forwards have done their job, Miguel (Merentiel) y Edinson (Cavani) They scored a goal again. The boys enjoyed the game. The boys were very confident and they deserve to celebrate,” he remarked.

And, regarding that statistic, he completed: “All week I was hearing that (Martin) Demichelis He was going for his third victory. I never heard that Boca was going for the third consecutive tie. We are happy that the last three times we faced each other, we always passed. He wants to say we’re doing things right.”

His voice was beaten, Riquelme. Of course, a while before sitting down to speak for television on the playing field of the Kempes stadium, he had come down from the box he occupied with the rest of the members of the Football Council to hug the bosteros and sing that anthem of many fans: “Because the players are going to show me that they go out to win, they want to be champions, that they have it inside them, like I do…”.

But he also took the time to talk about Diego Martínez, the Xeneize coach, and give an opinion on the Professional League Cup in general. “If you win, the fan will start to like it. I see Argentine football as very even. I think that short tournaments bring a lot of joy to many teams. Teams have been left out by one point, if it were a long tournament we would say how even Everything is there. We are happy with the coach, with the players, very grateful to the older players who accompany the kids and the only thing we think about is competing,” said Román.

He was also encouraged to choose the figure. “I think it was MerentielHe scored two goals, right? Pol Fernández is the most intelligent player in Argentine soccer. I don’t change my opinion if he won the Superclásico or not. He is one of the most important players we have, I hope we have him for many more years.”

And finally, he returned to Martín Demichelis the phrase that he had thrown at Martínez after the last Superclásico, the 1-1 at the Monumental stadium for the seventh date of this tournament. “The way I see football, Boca did well in the last two games. I left the River field happy, They played on the counterattack in their stadium and today they did the same. Echeverri, plus the two forwards behind midfield to defend. Why did you repeat this? Because they hit us from all sides for four years, we won and they hit us. For me it is a game, the most beautiful of all, but you have to be a little more neutral and you have to try to do your job equally for all sides.”