It took blood, sweat and some angry tears for
Miguel Borja
to gain the trust of
Martín Demichelis
to be
River's '9'
.
First you have to know how to suffer says one of the most famous tangos of these lands and today the Colombian fully enjoys knowing that he is the starting center forward of a team that when it lights up shows all its potential and raises the bar far above any local rival.
Borja had his ideal night this Sunday at the Monumental.
The night '10' points out of nine.
It took him 55 minutes to score a hat trick in the 5-0 win over Vélez and take the ball home, after having to 'run' to referee Facundo Tello who was keeping it for him.
The other two were done by
Facundo Colidio
, who has 4 in 18 performances since his arrival.
Borja is the top scorer in the Demichelis era and has accumulated 31 screamers plus assists in 32 starts
.
A true attacking machine.
“The referee was taking the ball but I told him it was mine, ha,”
joked the Hummingbird after laughing when he went to meet Facundo Tello and asked for the ball for his collection.
“He had scored a couple of hat-tricks with the Colombian under-20 team and with Palmeiras.
They are special moments, they are not always scored in threes.
I am grateful to God and to the teammates who were focused.
“We are going home happy
,” he added.
THE REFEREE ALMOST TOOK IT!
Facundo Tello gave the hat-trick ball to Borja in the Más Monumental.
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What Borja did not know while commenting on his previous hat tricks is that he became
the first player in River's history to score three headed goals in the same game at the Monumental
.
And the third in professionalism.
The previous one had been
Víctor Marchetti
, also in a 5-0 but against Platense, on December 2, 1977, on the Huracán field because the Monumental was under renovation for the 78 World Cup.
Meanwhile,
José Manuel Moreno, the Charro
, the man who scored the most headed goals in River's history, twice scored three with his head in 1938, just the year the Monumental was inaugurated.
The first, on May 11 (15 days before the opening of the current stadium), in the 8-1 win against Estudiantes in La Plata, while on November 27, he scored again in threes but in the 5-3 win against Talleres in Climbing Remedies.
Borja will be able to say that he experienced a historic night in his first triplet at the Millonario
.
Miguel Borja and one of his scoring headers.
Photo Maxi Failla - CLARIN
To reach this unbeatable present, which finds him the top scorer of this League Cup with five goals in three games, the 31-year-old attacker had to be patient and at times it was difficult for him to understand why the coach did not give him continuity.
The departures of
Salomón Rondón
and
Lucas Beltrán
paved the way for him.
And he felt like lord and master of the Núñez area then.
With the three he scored against Fortín, the Colombian scored 28 scores in 64 appearances with the red band crossed on his chest.
He matched Teófilo Gutiérrez's line at the Núñez club and has a devastating record: they have scored at least one goal in 4 consecutive games, including the three games in this League Cup and the friendly against Pachuca.
“The one I liked the most of the three was the first because it was fought. The defender who was marking me followed me everywhere and I was able to get away from him and convert,
” explained Borja, who became the top scorer of the Demichelis era with 19 goals, surpassing Beltrán (17) and Pablo Solari (12). .
"In this start he feels more of a protagonist. He needs the support and confidence, he has it because he deserves it, he is the best 9 in Argentine football but he cannot relax. I am happy for him. These are the fruits of a great work that he invests every day"
, Demichelis himself pondered.
"HE IS THE BEST '9' IN ARGENTINE FOOTBALL."
Demichelis praised Miguel Ángel Borja.
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"The '9' live on goals and it is a peace of mind that they have scored on these dates. We have to continue working with serenity, without believing that today we are the best, we played a great game but we have to think later about the Argentine Cup debut. "I'm proud of the team I have
," the coach concluded.
At 21 minutes into the second half he was replaced by debutant Ian Subiabre and earned a more than deserved ovation from the more than 80,000 fans who were crazy about his perfect performance and, of course, that of all of River.
Was it the best performance of the Demichelis cycle?
“I don't know if it's the best performance.
With Fluminense we also played very well.
There are games in which we do not score by five but we also play as the world of River demands
,” analyzed the Colombian scorer.
He needed to feel like the '9' millionaire. It cost him so much. He both sweated to achieve it. And now he gives away goals in droves.