Hasta El Gol Siempre

Boca’s pre-season didn’t continue as smoothly as they’d surely expected on Sunday, as they lost 3-1 to Mexican side Cruz Azul in the final of the friendly Copa Panamericana, in Phoenix, Arizona. Having taken the lead through Mauro Boselli, they were clawed back by a fantastic free kick from Israel López right at the end of the first half, and in the second were well outplayed as César Delgado scored one and ran the game. López grabbed a second for himself late on.

San Lorenzo also lost to Mexican opposition, albeit after being marginally the better side against Veracruz in scorching 35ºC heat. San Lorenzo played in hotter during the Clausura - but it’s worth remembering that when they set off from Buenos Aires, it had just snowed for the first time in 89 years. They perhaps have more cause for grievance than Boca, since the host’s first came from a penalty which shouldn’t have been given, and El Ciclón deserved more than the sole consolation they managed late on. If performance is more important than scoreline in pre-season games, though, Ramón Díaz is unlikely to be overly concerned.

Elsewhere, Estudiantes continued their tour of Uruguay with a 2-1 win over Nacional, new arrival Leandro ‘El Chino‘ Benítez putting in a man of the match performance, setting up one goal and scoring the other. Like San Lorenzo, Estudiantes are continuing their preparations for the Copa Sudamericana, and Benítez is starting to look like an astute signing to replace Mariano Pavone.

Other pre-season results: Aldosivi 1 - 2 Olimpo; Banfield 3 - 0 Arsenal; Argentinos 0 - 0 Gimnasia La Plata; Huracán de Tres Arroyos 0 - 0 Nueva Chicago (4-2 to Chicago on penalties, this was the final of a friendly cup competition - and Huracán T.A. aren’t the same as the side recently promoted to Primera A, in case you’re wondering); Almagro 1 - 0 Español.