A duel of football legends between Colo-Colo and River Plate was experienced this Saturday at the Monumental stadium in Santiago, where more than 20,000 attendees attended the 2-1 victory of the Argentine team The Argentines Ariel Ortega and Javier Saviola and the Chilean Marcelo Salas They headed the list of figures. ‘El Matador’ Salas, idol of Rive Plate and of the Italians Lazio and Juventus, was the protagonist of the day when he scored, at 49 years old, a great goal that opened the account in the match played at the El Cacique stadium.
The first half ended without goals, despite the efforts of the Argentine team led by Salas in attack and with Javier Saviola who, at 42 years old, still radiates football flashes like those that made him a figure in River Plate, Barcelona and Real Madrid. In that first half, the 47-year-old Paraguayan goalkeeper Justo Villar also stood out, who was captain of the Albirroja team for years and who spent time at Colo Colo between 2013 and 2017, for which he received an ovation from those in attendance.
Ariel Ortega, at 50 years old, continued doing mischief
The goalkeeper, who also played for Real Valladolid, retains good reflexes that allowed him to neutralize goal-scoring plays. Salas’ goal came in the 55th minute. He took advantage of a rebound and took off pressure from a defender before scoring with a shot.
“I was able to enjoy it with my teammates and friends beyond the goal and the result. I felt better than I thought, it’s been a while since I played, but I’ve been concerned about training a little,” Salas told the TNT Sports channel. Colo Colo equalized twelve minutes later through former Chilean striker Manuel Neira, who had a career in Sao Paulo, Las Palmas, Argentine Racing and América de Cali.
River’s victory finally came through an own goal in the 79th minute by former defender David Henríquez, who played for the Mexican Monarcas de Morelia and Dorados de Sinaloa. The squads of the teams made up of former soccer players had an average age of between 44 and 45 years, with the oldest of all being the former Argentine goalkeeper José María Buljubasich, who at 53 years old is currently the sports manager of the Chilean Universidad Católica.
Marcelo Salas scored for the Chilean legends
There were also moments of nostalgia when seeing Argentine Ariel Ortega, now 50 years old and with platinum hair, dominating the ball and making passes to his teammates like when he dazzled with River, which was champion of the Copa Libertadores in 1996.
The Colo Colo squad, which was led by Argentine Claudio Borghi who was also Chile’s coach between 2011 and 2012, was made up of: Justo Villar, Eduardo Lobos, Luis Mena, Pablo Contreras, David Henríquez, Álvaro Ormeño, Miguel Aceval, Braulio Leal, Miguel Riffo, Rodolfo Madrid. In addition to Rodrigo Meléndez, Jaime Valdés, Matías Fernández, Arturo Sanhueza, Rodrigo Millar, Gonzalo Fierro, Esteban Paredes, Lucas Barrios, Manuel Neira and Mario Cáceres.
Read also
On the bench of the River Plate squad was Omar Labruna, who coached Marcelo Barovero, José María Buljubasich, Ariel Franco, Jonatan Maidana, Walter Acevedo, Mario Yepes, Juan Pablo Sorín and Matías Abelairas. Along with Marcelo Salas, Leonardo Ponzio, Guillermo Pereyra, Ariel Ortega. Federico Almerares, Javier Saviola, Rubén Sambueza, Juan Pablo Ángel and Alejandro Domínguez also played.
