Godoy Cruz has been firmly established in the first division of Argentine football for fifteen years. Independiente Rivadavia won promotion to the Professional League a month ago. And another team from Mendoza, which almost no one bet on too much at the beginning of the Primera Nacional season, is one win away from joining the elite: Deportivo Maipú, which on Saturday at 17 p.m. will face Deportivo Riestra in the final of the reduced tournament that will be played at the Juan Domingo Perón stadium in Córdoba.
It is often talked about, often lightly, as the "most important game in the history" of a club. This weekend's event will undoubtedly be for the Cruzado, founded on December 16, 1927 from the merger of Sportivo Maipú and Pedal Club Maipú (an institution dedicated mainly to cycling). His team, which less than three years ago played in the Federal A Tournament, was, among the 37 participants in the super competitive and demanding competition of the Primera Nacional, the one that displayed a more colorful game, but it was also hard-headed: it knew how to assimilate a great frustration, it recomposed itself and now it is one game away from crowning a brilliant season.
After their promotion to the Primera Nacional on January 31, 2021 (they beat Deportivo Madryn in the final of the reclassification of the Federal A Tournament), which had put an end to almost 29 years of absence in the category, the Mendoza team starred in two acceptable campaigns that allowed them to retain their place in the second division without major shocks. but that kept him away from the fight to jump to the Professional League. That changed after the signing of Luis García in November 2022, after the end of the last tournament and the departure of Juan Manuel Sara to Ferro.
The coach, who is just 35 years old - he is younger than some of the players in his squad - arrived after an experience of less than two months at the Bolivian Royal Pari. Before that, he had worked in the youth divisions of Boca and River, had briefly coached Nueva Chicago and Colegiales, and had been assistant to Cesar Farías when the Venezuelan led the Bolivian national team. "I see a great team, with its own identity, with a lot of youth and a desire to grow," said this admirer of the work of Carlos Bianchi and Carlos Bilardo on the day it was presented.
Luis García has been in charge of Deportivo Maipú since November 2022. Photo: Prensa Deportivo Maipú.
García and the management headed by president Hernán Sperdutti opted to keep the base of the team from last tournament (something not so frequent in this category) and added some players without much badge, but who ended up performing very well, such as defenders Imanol González and Santiago Moyano. Along with them arrived one of the most important reinforcements in the category and a man who ended up being a key piece in this team: Rubens Sambueza.
The Neuquén, who will turn 40 on January 1, had been out of the country for more than 13 years since he had closed his second cycle at River in mid-2009. While he had a short stint with Flamengo, he spent most of his career in Mexico, where he played for América, Toluca, Pachuca, Pumas, Estudiantes Tecos, León and Atlético San Luis. With the aim that his children could develop as soccer players in the country, he turned around and chose Mendoza. "When I made the decision, I did it because I like challenges. I was seduced by the sports project and the people who work, who want to continue growing. And I wasn't wrong," he said two weeks ago.
With Rubens Sambueza as its flagship, Deportivo Maipú dreams of promotion to the Professional League. Photo: Prensa Deportivo Maipú.
Sambueza is the captain and the driver, but not the only high value of a team that has a very confident goalkeeper (Juan Pablo Cozzani) and a solid defense, which in the middle is also sustained by the balance provided by Agustín Manzur and the talent of Santiago González, and that up top takes advantage of the overflow and the scoring ability of Luciano Herrera from Jujuy.
With these tools, the Botellero fought inch by inch for more than 25 dates with Independiente Rivadavia and Chacarita for the first place in zone B. They even reached the last day with a chance of reaching the finalissima, but lost in their stadium with Leprosy. He had to recover quickly, as the reduced one offered him a second chance. In the first round they beat San Martín de San Juan 1-0 and in the quarterfinals they left Temperley on the road (they lost 2-1 in Turdera and won 2-0 in Mendoza).
Santiago González is one of the stars of Luis García's Deportivo Maipú. Photo: Prensa Deportivo Maipú.
The semifinal match against Estudiantes de Río Cuarto had a movie-like outcome. In the first leg, in Cordoba, Maipú played almost an hour with a man more than their opponent and had several clear chances, but could not break the zero. In the second leg, at the Omar Higinio Sperdutti stadium (there they had 14 wins, 4 draws and only 2 defeats in the season), the Mendoza team was losing 1-0 until, in the sixth minute of the second half, Luciano Herrera scored his eighth goal of the year, which gave his team the draw and the ticket to the final. favored by its better placement in the regular phase of the competition.
DEPORTIVO MAIPÚ IN AGONY AND TO THE FINAL!
⚽️ In the 51st minute of the second half, Luciano Herrera scored this goal for the Mendoza team to draw 1-1 against Estudiantes de Río Cuarto and advance to the final against Riestra.
🎙️ @aruli75 - @nicocayeta - @gasgerke #AscensoEnDSPORTS pic.twitter.com/H1RVY6vqiw
— DSportsAr (@directvsportsar) November 26, 2023
"This is what we set out to do at the beginning of the year and we are one step away from achieving it," said Luis García after the draw against Estudiantes. That last step will be on Saturday against the surprising Deportivo Riestra, who after finishing seventh in zone B eliminated San Martín de Tucumán, Quilmes and Almirante with solvency, defining all the series as visitors, at a disadvantage due to their position in the table and conceding just one goal in five games.
If Deportivo Maipú is victorious, it will not only join Godoy Cruz and Independiente Rivadavia as representatives of Mendoza in the Professional Football League, but will also become the seventh club from that province to compete in the highest category, since San Martín, Gimnasia, Huracán Las Heras and Huracán de San Rafael (in addition to Lepra) competed in the old National Championships between 1967 and 1985.