Latest news with #NicolásOtamendi
Washington Post
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Boca Juniors, Benfica draw 2-2 in Club World Cup match that includes 3 red cards, 22 fouls
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Benfica overcame a two-goal deficit, getting Ángel Di María's penalty kick in first-half stoppage time and Nicolás Otamendi's 84th-minute goal for a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors on Monday night in a heated Club World Cup match that included three red cards, four yellows and 22 fouls. Boca Juniors played in a home-like environment with the Argentine club's supporters making up most of the 55,574 crowd at Hard Rock Stadium against one of Portugal's premier teams. Both teams finished a man down and one Boca player was sent off after he was substituted from the match due to injury. Heavily armed police were present at checkpoints to ensure order for a Boca supporters' group that is extremely fierce and passionate. But, most of the rough action was on the field, not in the stands, as the game included red cards for Boca's Ander Herrera in the 44th, Benfica's Andrea Belotti in the 72nd and Boca's Nicolás Figal in the 88th. Boca built its lead on goals by Miguel Merentiel in the 21st minute and Rodrigo Battaglia in the 27th. Referee César Ramos awarded the penalty after a video review for Carlos Palacios' kneeing Otamendi. Herrera, who was taken out after 20 minutes, got a red card for protesting the decision. Belotti was sent off for a foul when a high kick caught Ayrton Costa on the back of the head and Figal for knocking over Florentino. Otamendi's front post header helped Benfica salvage a point. Boca Juniors, after underperforming last season in the Argentina first division and disappointing in the Copa Libertadores, used the support of their fans to fuel them and earn a point in group play. Their second match, against Bayern Munich in Miami on Friday night, will prove to be a more challenging game. Benfica, which was imprecise in its play and gave the ball away many times unprovoked, will play Friday as well and take on the only semi-professional team in the Club World Cup, Auckland City, which was badly beaten by Bayern. 'This was a game where there's two really big teams and they're gonna leave it all out there on every ball.' — Alan Velasco, Boca Juniors midfielder. 'It will be a new experience (playing against Auckland City FC), of course we saw the result against Bayern and we will have to do the same.' — Samuel Dahl, Benfica defender. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
The 3️⃣ key players in Boca's Club World Cup debut
Boca Juniors had a promising debut in the 2025 Club World Cup, although they were left with a bitter taste after drawing with Benfica despite leading 2-0. But Xeneize played a very good match and had outstanding performances, as well as an intensity and energy that allow them to dream about their participation in this international tournament. Advertisement Miguel Ángel Russo had a new debut at the helm of Boca Juniors, and some of his decisions have already had a significant impact on the team. These are the 3️⃣ protagonists of Boca's debut in the Club World Cup. Miguel Merentiel 📸 Megan Briggs - 2025 Getty Images The Uruguayan striker scored the first goal, anticipating a low cross at the near post. But he was also very switched on, constantly challenging Benfica's defense, connecting with the team, and lifting them with his attitude and commitment. There was some concern when he left the field after taking a knock in the second half, but it was confirmed to be just cramps in both calves, which shows the effort he put in on a hot and humid afternoon. Rodrigo Battaglia 📸 PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA - AFP or licensors Advertisement The first important decision by Miguel Ángel Russo was to move Rodrigo Battaglia, who under Fernando Gago generally played as a center-back, into midfield to play as a holding midfielder. He was the best in Boca's midfield and perhaps played his best match since joining the club, at the level he had shown at Atlético Mineiro. Nicolás Otamendi 📸 Megan Briggs - 2025 Getty Images Unfortunately for the Xeneize faithful, the Argentina national team player became a hero near the end (both goals against Boca were scored by Argentinians). Due to his well-known 'Millonario' affiliation, he was the main target of Boca fans present in Miami, and he also angered several Boca players. The truth is, Otamendi scored a great goal to rescue his team when they were down a man, and there's a reason he's the captain of the Portuguese team. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. 📸 Dan Mullan - 2025 Getty Images
San Francisco Chronicle
11 hours ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Boca Juniors, Benfica draw 2-2 in Club World Cup match that includes 3 red cards, 21 fouls
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Benfica overcame a two-goal deficit, getting Ángel Di María's penalty kick in first-half stoppage time and Nicolás Otamendi's 84th-minute goal for a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors on Monday night in a heated Club World Cup match that included three red cards, four yellows and 21 fouls. Boca Juniors played in a home-like environment with the Argentine club's supporters making up most of the 55,574 crowd at Hard Rock Stadium against one of Portugal's premier teams. Both teams finished a man down and one Boca player was sent off after he was substituted from the match due to injury. Heavily armed police were present at checkpoints to ensure order for a Boca supporters' group that is extremely fierce and passionate. But, most of the rough action was on the field, not in the stands, as the game included red cards for Boca's Ander Herrera in the 44th, Benfica's Andrea Belotti in the 72nd and Boca's Nicolás Figal in the 88th. Boca built its lead on goals by Miguel Merentiel in the 21st minute and Rodrigo Battaglia in the 27th. Referee César Ramos awarded the penalty after a video review for Carlos Palacios' kneeing Otamendi. Herrera, who was taken out after 20 minutes, got a red card for protesting the decision. Belotti was sent off for a foul when a high kick caught Ayrton Costa on the back of the head and Figal for knocking over Florentino. Takeaways Boca Juniors, after underperforming last season in the Argentina first division and disappointing in the Copa Libertadores, used the support of their fans to fuel them and earn a point in group play. Their second match, against Bayern Munich in Miami on Friday night, will prove to be a more challenging game. Benfica, which was imprecise in its play and gave the ball away many times unprovoked, will play Friday as well and take on the only semi-professional team in the Club World Cup, Auckland City, which was badly beaten by Bayern. What they said 'This was a game where there's two really big teams and they're gonna leave it all out there on every ball.' — Alan Velasco, Boca Juniors midfielder. 'It will be a new experience (playing against Auckland City FC), of course we saw the result against Bayern and we will have to do the same.' — Samuel Dahl, Benfica defender. ___
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Boca let slip two-goal lead as Benfica claim late point at Club World Cup
Nicolás Otamendi rises to head home the equaliser for Benfica in a 2-2 draw with Boca Juniors in Group C of the Club World Cup. Nicolás Otamendi rises to head home the equaliser for Benfica in a 2-2 draw with Boca Juniors in Group C of the Club World Cup. Photograph:Well, that was different. On a violently hot Monday night in Miami Gardens, day three of Fifa's sport-style entertainment event, something unexpected happened. A football match broke out. And not just the styling, the outlines, the aesthetic sense of a football match. As Boca Juniors tore into a 2-0 first half lead against Benfica, as the stadium interior was transformed into a sustained static field by the Boca fans, as the coaching staff on both benches leapt up in random rotation, like the world's angriest improv night, this already felt like the real thing, blood, vim, borrowed life. Advertisement Related: Delap impact helps Chelsea see off LAFC at Club World Cup but fans stay away The final score was 2-2 thanks to a late equaliser scored by Nicolás Otamendi, who hovered powerfully before butting the ball into the Boca net from a corner. At which point the air seemed to shoot out through the powder blue gap in the stadium roof, as the entire Benfica squad leapt up to caper about on the pitch, an impressive feat in itself given the overall effect of the afternoon heat is like trying to walk across the surface of the planet Mercury in a Victorian diving suit made from loft insulation. There were three red cards by then, one for each set of players, one for a furious Ander Herrera on the Boca bench. And Boca will be hugely disappointed to let slip a 2-0 lead having played with a sustained, bruising fury for most of the first half. This was the opening game in Group C for both of these teams, and a crunch moment too, a chance to slipstream Bayern Munich towards the knockout phase. For all that this felt like a self-contained event from the start as the Boca fans took ownership of the day and the space, parking themselves like a mobile city state in the home of the Miami Dolphins and putting on a kind of faux-clasico in south Florida. Advertisement The three hours before kick-off had seen the blue and yellow shirts streaming in across the vast sunken surrounds of the Hard Rock, all sandy scrub and baked tarmac, and decorated now with names like Riquleme, Cavani and Carlitos. The day before had seen a mass gathering in Miami beach, the Boca fans drinking fernet and coke, grilling great flapping skirts of meat, and subjected also to a flying banter banner reading, in Spanish, 'RIP YOU DIED IN MADRID 9/12/18', arranged by some extremely prescient and well organised River Plate fans, and a reference to defeat in the 2018 Copa Libertadores final. The stadium was three quarters full at the start, and packed in the Boca section, which also helpfully drowned out the absurd WWE-style practice of announcing the players one by one, finishing with an ear-shredding field of white noise as Otamendi, a Vélez Sarsfield man, appeared with the Benfica flag. This was always an interesting basic premise, a meeting of yawningly opposed extremes. Boca are connection, collectivism, passion, an acme of the legacy football world. This club is all rootsy culture, history, legend, Diego-scale iconography, the Argentina of Argentina. And in the black corner, well, we have something else entirely. Authenticity: meet the Fifa Club World Cup, the most plasticised, commodified football competition ever devised. There was something a little uncomfortable about this spectacle. Here is Fifa saying lend us your edge, your colour, your clout, your stamp. Make us feel real. In the build up to this game Fifa's reliably unctuous website had described Boca as 'a nomadic passion'. And this is the business plan in one handy phrase. Instant reality, bolt-on culture. Advertisement On the other hand, why not if it pays well? The thing about Boca and the other non-European teams is that they genuinely want to be here. And for obvious reasons too, finally offered a piece of the global broadcast pot that doesn't involve acting as a talent plantation. This what Gianni Infantino is getting at with his boilerplate chat about diversity and inclusion. Look. South America is getting a cut. Don't you want to share? This is also a little misleading. Boca will now have a cash boost, via Fifa/Dazn/Saudi, which means they can buy again, come back again, fed by this new stream of income. In effect Fifa is creating client clubs, a mini-elite to staff the show. For now Boca brought some authentic World Cup energy to this pop-up stage, as they were always going to do. This is a vast sporting enterprise with its own global reach. And after a slightly dozy start they began to play with some real fury. Boca's tactics were not complex. They kept a low block, challenged fiercely, broke at speed. The energetically squat Alan Velasco had their first shot at goal, veering into space and skimming the ball just over the bar. With 11 minutes gone we had the first mass vibration of the Boca fans leaping in unison and making even this vast mound of concrete and steel throb delicately. Advertisement And 10 minutes later Boca scored, the goal made by Lautaro Blanco, who shimmied his way inside and crossed low for Miguel Merentiel to nudge the ball on into the far corner. The bodies seethed and writhed in the stands. And shortly afterwards it was 2-0, Rodrigo Battaglia heading in after a flick back across goal from a corner. This time the bench was cleared, the bibbed players streaming on, the stands in uproar, a noise that seemed to have many layers, hitting you in the chest, ears, teeth. Watching Boca defend in that period was like watching a group of hugely energetic construction workers demolishing a bungalow in formation, all hungry, rotational collisions. It was fun to see this kind of defending, not pressing or denying space or shutting down angles in the European style, but going straight for the man, rushing from the block to attack the ball. Benfica looked a bit unprepared for this. But they were awarded a soft penalty before half-time, beautifully rolled into the corner against a fury of whistles and boos by Ángel Di María, who has heard this stuff before. Advertisement The second half brought more of the same, both sets of players running themselves into a state of desiccated exhaustion. With 72 minutes gone Andrea Belotti was sent off for a high boot into the head of Ayrton Costa. Jorge Figal got an instant straight red at the death for a targeted assault on the shins of the nearest man to the ball. And that was pretty much that. No doubt some will see an endorsement of Fifa's vampire show in the sheer vivid life of this game. But it felt like an act of defiance too, evidence of a culture and an energy that exists undiminished outside of all this.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Boca let slip two-goal lead as Benfica claim late point at Club World Cup
Well, that was different. On a violently hot Monday night in Miami Gardens, day three of Fifa's sport-style entertainment event, something unexpected happened. A football match broke out. And not just the styling, the outlines, the aesthetic sense of a football match. As Boca Juniors tore into a 2-0 first half lead against Benfica, as the stadium interior was transformed into a sustained static field by the Boca fans, as the coaching staff on both benches leapt up in random rotation, like the world's angriest improv night, this already felt like the real thing, blood, vim, borrowed life. The final score was 2-2 thanks to a late equaliser scored by Nicolás Otamendi, who hovered powerfully before butting the ball into the Boca net from a corner. At which point the air seemed to shoot out through the powder blue gap in the stadium roof, as the entire Benfica squad leapt up to caper about on the pitch, an impressive feat in itself given the overall effect of the afternoon heat is like trying to walk across the surface of the planet Mercury in a Victorian diving suit made from loft insulation. There were three red cards by then, one for each set of players, one for a furious Ander Herrera on the Boca bench. And Boca will be hugely disappointed to let slip a 2-0 lead having played with a sustained, bruising fury for most of the first half. This was the opening game in Group C for both of these teams, and a crunch moment too, a chance to slipstream Bayern Munich towards the knockout phase. For all that this felt like a self-contained event from the start as the Boca fans took ownership of the day and the space, parking themselves like a mobile city state in the home of the Miami Dolphins and putting on a kind of faux-clasico in south Florida. The three hours before kick-off had seen the blue and yellow shirts streaming in across the vast sunken surrounds of the Hard Rock, all sandy scrub and baked tarmac, and decorated now with names like Riquleme, Cavani and Carlitos. The day before had seen a mass gathering in Miami beach, the Boca fans drinking fernet and coke, grilling great flapping skirts of meat, and subjected also to a flying banter banner reading, in Spanish, 'RIP YOU DIED IN MADRID 9/12/18', arranged by some extremely prescient and well organised River Plate fans, and a reference to defeat in the 2018 Copa Libertadores final. The stadium was three quarters full at the start, and packed in the Boca section, which also helpfully drowned out the absurd WWE-style practice of announcing the players one by one, finishing with an ear-shredding field of white noise as Otamendi, a Vélez Sarsfield man, appeared with the Benfica flag. This was always an interesting basic premise, a meeting of yawningly opposed extremes. Boca are connection, collectivism, passion, an acme of the legacy football world. This club is all rootsy culture, history, legend, Diego-scale iconography, the Argentina of Argentina. And in the black corner, well, we have something else entirely. Authenticity: meet the Fifa Club World Cup, the most plasticised, commodified football competition ever devised. There was something a little uncomfortable about this spectacle. Here is Fifa saying lend us your edge, your colour, your clout, your stamp. Make us feel real. In the build up to this game Fifa's reliably unctuous website had described Boca as 'a nomadic passion'. And this is the business plan in one handy phrase. Instant reality, bolt-on culture. On the other hand, why not if it pays well? The thing about Boca and the other non-European teams is that they genuinely want to be here. And for obvious reasons too, finally offered a piece of the global broadcast pot that doesn't involve acting as a talent plantation. This what Gianni Infantino is getting at with his boilerplate chat about diversity and inclusion. Look. South America is getting a cut. Don't you want to share? This is also a little misleading. Boca will now have a cash boost, via Fifa/Dazn/Saudi, which means they can buy again, come back again, fed by this new stream of income. In effect Fifa is creating client clubs, a mini-elite to staff the show. For now Boca brought some authentic World Cup energy to this pop-up stage, as they were always going to do. This is a vast sporting enterprise with its own global reach. And after a slightly dozy start they began to play with some real fury. Boca's tactics were not complex. They kept a low block, challenged fiercely, broke at speed. The energetically squat Alan Velasco had their first shot at goal, veering into space and skimming the ball just over the bar. With 11 minutes gone we had the first mass vibration of the Boca fans leaping in unison and making even this vast mound of concrete and steel throb delicately. And 10 minutes later Boca scored, the goal made by Lautaro Blanco, who shimmied his way inside and crossed low for Miguel Merentiel to nudge the ball on into the far corner. The bodies seethed and writhed in the stands. And shortly afterwards it was 2-0, Rodrigo Battaglia heading in after a flick back across goal from a corner. This time the bench was cleared, the bibbed players streaming on, the stands in uproar, a noise that seemed to have many layers, hitting you in the chest, ears, teeth. Watching Boca defend in that period was like watching a group of hugely energetic construction workers demolishing a bungalow in formation, all hungry, rotational collisions. It was fun to see this kind of defending, not pressing or denying space or shutting down angles in the European style, but going straight for the man, rushing from the block to attack the ball. Benfica looked a bit unprepared for this. But they were awarded a soft penalty before half-time, beautifully rolled into the corner against a fury of whistles and boos by Ángel Di María, who has heard this stuff before. The second half brought more of the same, both sets of players running themselves into a state of desiccated exhaustion. With 72 minutes gone Andrea Belotti was sent off for a high boot into the head of Ayrton Costa. Jorge Figal got an instant straight red at the death for a targeted assault on the shins of the nearest man to the ball. And that was pretty much that. No doubt some will see an endorsement of Fifa's vampire show in the sheer vivid life of this game. But it felt like an act of defiance too, evidence of a culture and an energy that exists undiminished outside of all this.
