South American football is shaken, hurt, in shock. The VAR became a madness because of the referees who interpret and execute it. Now the Copa Libertadores is equal to an immense suspicion. It is that Boca was eliminated against Atlético Mineiro after two legitimate goals were annulled in the round of 16 series through the use of technology. Everything was closed in one night that ended in a scandal and with some xeneizes players in a Belo Horizonte police station. For something, Vice President Juan Román Riquelme exploded: “For a team to win both games and be left out … I have never seen anything like this. They didn't let us pass. It is unfortunate. The Libertadores is losing a lot of prestige ”.
The two games ended 0-0 and the Brazilian team qualified for the quarterfinals because in the penalty shootout it was more accurate and won 3-1. However, Boca had two rare goals annulled, one in each match and after endless deliberations.
It all started in the first leg, in the Bombonera. Diego González converted, but the goal was not validated after being reviewed by an alleged previous foul by Norberto Briasco, almost imperceptible. As the field referee and the person in charge of the VAR were sanctioned indefinitely by Conmebol after that first chapter, it was assumed that the rematch in Brazil would be normal.
Nothing imagined in Belo Horizonte happened. Back the football history passed in absolute parity. Until Boca had a free kick, the center fell into the area, Mineiro's goalkeeper cleared imperfectly and Weigandt took the opportunity to score the xeneize goal. After sifting the situation in the VAR, they summoned the Uruguayan referee Esteban Ostojich (the same one from the very good refereeing in the last Copa América final between Brazil and Argentina) to evaluate a possible position ahead of Diego González. And the judge decided that it was not a goal, although the images and lines that were drawn did not show the offside clearly …
There was a scandal that was missing and that would happen in the locker room. Players, members of the coaching staff and leaders of the Boca soccer council clashed with the police. There were runs, blows, security fences were blown up and the troops fired tear gas. The images were daunting. Of course, it is not very clear who caused and / or initiated the incidents.
The concrete thing is that eight members of the Boca delegation had to testify at a Belo Horizonte police station during the early hours of this Wednesday: the players Marcos Rojo, Sebastián Villa, Carlos Izquierdoz, Carlos Zambrano and Javier García; goalkeeper coach Fernando Gayoso; and two leaders of the Soccer Council, former soccer players Jorge Bermúdez and Raúl Cascini.
They were accompanied to the police station by bus with all the soccer players and the coaching staff, in a way of support and pressure to allow them to return to Buenos Aires. Even the authorities of the Argentine Embassy in Brazil had to intervene.
The voice of Riquelme, current vice president of Boca, sounded very strong: “We all saw that Boca clearly won both games. Sometimes I can play dumb to answer, but here we all saw what happened. They didn't let us pass. The Copa Libertadores is losing a lot of prestige ”. Roman summarized: “We were the clear winners, we scored two goals and won both games, but they didn't want to collect them. They left us outside. The lesson that he leaves us is that the next time you have to score 5 goals. If 10 minutes are going to stop to validate the goals, 50 minutes will pass. Maybe that's how they validate one for us. It is very rare to win both games and not continue competing. It is very sad”.