"Obviously, I'm not going to be hypocritical. Unfortunately, (Franco) Armani is not having a good time in these last matches, he had mistakes that ended in goals. But he's world champion, he's the vice-captain of the team... Now we have to leave him alone and then we will talk to him again. We all make mistakes, it's part of the game. And he knows that the sorrows of football are killed with football."
With that statement, expressed in the press conference after River's 2-2 against Vélez in the Amalfitani, Martín Demichelis exposed a situation that is already undisguised: Franco Armani's mistakes are costing his team points.
And it attracts attention, of course. Because the goalkeeper earned his reputation as unbeatable, after being one of the figures in the Copa Libertadores 2018 and continuing on the same path these years, beyond some temporary downturn.
So much so that just six months of a superlative performance in River led him to the national team, in which he made his debut in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. And then he continued in the process of Lionel Scaloni until he became world champion. First, as a starter and then on the bench of substitutes as the first replacement option, after the appearance of Emiliano Dibu Martínez in the previous of the Copa América in Brazil 2021, to which the goalkeeper arrived after having suffered coronavirus.
But let's go back to the present. Armani is the first to know that he is not having a good time. And he doesn't dodge the situation. Quite the opposite. In fact, after the failure in Lima against Sporting Cristal – as Clarín could know – he took the floor in the locker room andapologized to his teammates. He showed commitment and humility. And on Monday night, he quickly left the Amalfitani field chewing anger because he knew he could have taken Ortega's shot that became Velez's 2-2.
"Franco is the first to acknowledge his mistakes. And it's very obsessive. He is angry even when he can not get an impossible goal, imagine now, he is angry with these goals and wants to reverse the situation quickly, "they told Clarín from the goalkeeper's environment. The same person ruled out that there is any personal issue in reference to Demichelis' phrase. "It's just football," he said.
Armani had returned to River revitalized after the conquest in Qatar. With his chest inflated with pride, at the beginning of years the tributes were reiterated not only from the institution of Núñez but from the others for being the only world champion footballer in the Argentine League. And it will continue to be. No mistake will take away the medal.
However, in recent months the superhero cape remained in the locker room. And adverse situations occurred that are not typical of the original version of Armani. In Liniers, with the match 2-1 in favor of River, the experienced goalkeeper of 36 years, was again exposed in the draw of Vélez. He wanted to put his chest to a strong cross shot by Francisco Ortega when perhaps the play asked to take out his arms and the ball passed by and met the net.
The former Atlético Nacional de Medellín came from other mistakes marked in the triumph against Platense and the equality against Sporting Cristal for the Copa Libertadores. In the 2-1 to Calamar, the goal of the team of Vicente López, in charge of Ronaldo Martínez, came after a false exit of Armani: he was halfway and the header exceeded him. And that corner came from a bad delivery of his with his feet.
Precisely, the issue of exits from below is also an issue. But in which not only Armani is involved. River's centre-backs haven't delivered the ball well. Even in some cases they give it to the left, the less skilled leg of the goalkeeper of the Millionaire. They are game situations that, although they seem small, can influence subsequent mistakes.
In Lima, although the error in the goal of Sporting Cristal is exclusive to Armani, Paulo Díaz hurriedly delivered back a ball that was jumping, product of also the poor state of the playing field, and the rejection of the goalkeeper bounced in the chest to Yoshimar Yotún, who was served the ball to finish and score the goal of the 1-0 partial. Then, Rodrigo Aliendro stamped the equalizer.
Although Armani came from vindicating himself with a couple of interventions in the first half in Liniers, especially when taking a bomb from Prestianni to the first post and had nothing to do with the goal of Lucas Pratto that represented the 1-1 partial, his poor reaction in the decisive conquest tarnished his task. And Armani himself was unhappy with his performance.
To top it off, it comes from not being summoned to the National Team, although beyond the decline in its performance, both from its environment and from the Argentine coaching staff ensure that this situation was already spoken and that as when the friendlies of the new FIFA date are played (against Australia in Beijing and Indonesia in Jakarta to be played in mid-June) will enter the final stretch of the championship and the Being long trips did not want to cause complications, apart from the rotation and replacement that Lionel Scaloni will seek to make.
Anyway, both Armani and his entourage and the coaching staff headed by Demichelis are confident that the situation will be reversed soon. Moreover, even in a moment of fragility, the archer remains key for the Millionaire. For example, in Lima he avoided defeat by hitting a cross shot from Sporting Cristal striker Joao Grimaldo, which then hit the post. If River ends up qualifying for the knockout stages, that move will become decisive.
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