Two Argentine wins, and giants on tour

To sooth the tortured spirits of Argentine football fans everywhere last night, following the 3-0 capitulation by the seniors in the Copa América, there’s been better news for two other Argentine national sides, whilst River have won again and Boca set out on their own tour.

First, the Under 20s saw off a spirited Mexico side in the quarter-finals of the Under 20 World Cup Canada 2007, Maxi Moralez scoring the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time. They’ll play Chile in the semi-final, in Toronto on Thursday. Click here for the highlights.

Also in action, on Monday, were Argentina’s under 17s, who kicked off their Panamerican Games challenge with a shaky performance and a 1-1 draw against Haiti. The Panamerican Games tournament is run on a similar basis to the Olympic Football Tournament – that is, under-20 sides with three ‘over aged’ players allowed – but because of the aforementioned Under 20 World Cup, Argentina have sent their under 17s.

Jerone Nechack opened the scoring just after the half-hour for Haiti, and Independiente forward Nicolás Mazzola, playing alone up front and at times very isolated indeed, equalised just four minutes later. He later saw red for an off the ball incident in stoppage time, but was man of the match according to the Argentine media. Argentina’s next fixture is on Wednesday, when they’ll play Jamaica. The womens’ team play Mexico later tonight.

River won their second match in the Peace Cup in South Korea, beating Shimizu S-Pulse by a single goal, Matías Abelaires once again scoring the only one of the game. Danilo Gerlo was sent off right at the end and will be suspended for the next match, River’s toughest so far, against Lyon, French champions for approximately the last 73 consecutive seasons (or something). Lyon lost to Reading, also 1-0, so if the last group match is a draw or a River win, River will be in the final against, most probably, Bolton Wanderers of England or Chivas Guadalajara of Mexico.

Boca, meanwhile, are going for another trophy in the Copa Panamericana (not to be confused with the Juegos Panamericanos, or Panamerican Games, which I’ve already mentioned above). The trophy will be disputed in the United States, and Boca will kick off later tonight (22:00 Argentine time, 02:00 BST) against Alianza Lima of Peru, in a 63,000 capacity stadium which is – get this – owned by the University of Phoenix.

Boca’s other rivals in Group 1 are Club América de México, whilst Group 2 consists of Cruz Azul (Mexico), Caracas (Venezuela) and Deportivo Cali (Colombia). The winners of each group will meet in the final.