At the weekend River Plate and Lanus fielded reserve sides in their Argentine league games. Both lost 4-0, but they were happy to keep their stars fresh for this crunch meeting in the Copa Libertadores, South America's version of the Champions League. And what a night it turned out to be. In last Tuesday's first semifinal leg, River Plate won by the only goal. Their victory was twofold. First, the obvious -- they were ahead at the halfway stage. Second, they had denied Lanus an away goal. Coach Marcelo Gallardo had thought long and hard about dealing with his opponent's flowing 4-3-3 formation. He concentrated on forcing Lanus wingers Alejandro Silva and Lautaro Acosta back into their own half, isolating veteran centre-forward Jose Sand. The second leg, in Lanus' stadium, would be different. In front of their own fans and behind on the scoreboard, Lanus came out to play, pushing high up the field. They soon hit their rhythm, and could have leveled the aggregate score ...
Their matches might be slightly more competitive than games involving Harlem’s most famous basketball team, but Brazil are becoming Globetrotters in their own right.
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