Federico Vera was this Wednesday protagonist, hero and villain in the 1-1 draw between Union of Santa Fe and Junior of Barranquilla Well, he put the Argentine team to win but then, with his own goal, he allowed the Colombian team to return home with a point after the debut in the South American Cup.
The right-back opened the account very early, at 2 minutes, by capturing a rebound in the Colombian team’s area and defining with his right foot.
However, as fate would have it, just 4 minutes later everything would be as it was in the beginning. A deep pass for Jorge Arias, who sent the cross, found Vera, who in his attempt to clear the ball, ended up pushing it deep into his own goal.
Union appeared before a packed April 15 stadium with more than 25,000 spectators at the start of the Copa Sudamericana that marked the third experience of the venue after those of 2019 and 2020.
For Junior from Barranquilla, his background before starting the twenty-first edition of the tournament indicated 17 participations in the Libertadores, eight in the Sudamericana and one in the Copa Conmebol with the 2018 runner-up and the 1994 semifinal in Libertadores as the best results.
After the two goals from Vera, which were like heads and tails, Unión tried to get back in the lead with options Franco Calderón and Ignacio Machuca, but they did not break the resistance of the visit with the Uruguayan Sebastian Viera in goal .
Junior was not far behind either and had his chances through Miguel Borja with a shot on the post in the first stage and, towards the end, a very clear shot from Edwin Cetre who had an accurate header that went just wide.
Both teams finished the match with ten players due to expulsions, first Colombian Luis González in the 54th minute, and then Argentine Gastón González due to a double warning.
Unión, in addition to this international participation in the local Professional League Cup, is sixth with 14 points and with six games remaining, it is out of the qualifying zone for the quarterfinals only because of goal difference.
The Tiburón team is fifth in the Colombian tournament with 22 points, 8 less than the leader Atlético Nacional.
On the second date of Group H Unión will visit Oriente Petrolero in Santa Cruz de la Sierra this Tuesday, and on Wednesday Júnior will receive Fluminense in Barranquilla.
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