River had an eventful preseason in the United States
.
Injuries haunted
Martín Demichelis
' team , which after the first victory of the year over Pachuca, returned this Sunday to Buenos Aires, where this week it will do its last week of work, prior to the official debut against
Argentinos Juniors
, next Sunday at 7 p.m. :00 at the Monumental, for the Professional League Cup.
Aside from the favorable balance in terms of results, after having tied a match (against Rayados de Monterrey, 1-1) and a victory (1-0 against Pachuca), the tour of the United States, which included training in Bradenton and friendlies in Dallas, left some bad news for River.
The injury to
Gonzalo Martínez
, who tore the cruciate ligaments in his left knee, caused a great impact on the River Plate team.
Not only because of what Pity represents on the court, but also outside, in the group, given his personality, which permanently transmits positive energy.
The man from Mendoza immediately left the camp on Sunday the 14th, after being injured in the training match against an MLS team.
He went to Miami to reunite with his family and this Tuesday he will travel to Barcelona, where he will be operated on by Ramón Cugat, the prestigious Spanish doctor who already operated on him for the same injury in February of last year.
Recovery will take the left-hander between seven and nine months.
But the injury problem didn't stop there.
Santiago Simón suffered a dislocation of the first metacarpal in his right hand in Wednesday's friendly against Rayados de Monterrey, in which he played as a starter at right back.
He will be out for two months.
Simón, in the preseason.
In that match,
Franco Armani
felt discomfort and left at halftime as a precaution.
In any case, it was nothing and he was proven against Pachuca, a match in which
the goalkeeper was the figure of River
.
The friendly against the Mexican team in which
Salomón Rondón
, former River, now plays, also brought bad news.
Manu Lanzini
suffered discomfort in his right hamstring, for which he had to leave at halftime and the kid
Tobías Leiva
left the field crying due to a strong blow to one of his knees, the result of a strike from a Pachuca player.
To all this, we must add that
Ramiro Funes Mori
missed the match against Rayados because he had inflammation in one of his knees.
But he recovered and was able to add minutes against Pachuca, entering in the second half for
Paulo Díaz
.
Martínez, Aliendro, Funes Mori and Lanzini.
The injuries, apart from losing key pieces, forced River to have to go on the market in positions in which it was already covered.
The leaders confirmed that to replace Simón and Pity Martínez, this week
they will go for a right back and a left winger
.
In addition, they are looking for a center forward after the refusals of Lucas Alario and Rafael Santos Borré to return.
In addition to the injuries, River also received other bad news at the beginning of the preseason, when Javier Mascherano called up
Claudio Echeverri
to join the squad of the Under 23 National Team for the Venezuela Pre-Olympic.
In the 'millionaire' delegation they thought of having 'Diablito' in the United States to work on him well for the start of the Professional League Cup and to give him more experience to start enjoying him in the last year of the youth in the club since later He will go to Manchester City, an institution to which he has already been transferred.
"I spoke with Javier (Mascherano) privately, we told each other what we had to say and we have talked and reached consensus in some way. That's it, the reality is that Claudio had to be in the National Team. Did I dislike it? And... But not only Martín Demichelis has had to give up a player, the other clubs also lent players for the Pre-Olympic. In this case they called us a player who has experienced very strong emotions in these months
," the coach commented to the regard.
In any case, there was also good news in River, in the United States.
Demichelis begins to consolidate a formation, the 4-3-1-2, in which the team, apart from the lack of shooting, seemed to feel comfortable.
Those who stood out the most were:
Franco Armani
in goal;
Matías Kranevitter
, who is slowly becoming the "5" they repatriated;
Esequiel Barco
as a hook and
Miguel Borja
, always in force with the goal.
Mastantuono, the new jewel that promises in River.
Photo: Twitter
And the great news was given by the kid
Franco Mastantuono
.
At 16 years old, the hitchhiker entered the two formal friendlies and showed what he had been exhibiting in the Lower League and Reserve.
Elegance, neatness, self-confidence, luxuries, character and personality.
He has a very interesting left foot and is destined to be another jewel of the club
.