Miguel Borja’s night ’10’ at the Monumental: three header goals that made River history and an unusual request to the referee

It cost blood, sweat and some angry tears Miguel Borja earn the trust of Martin Demichelis to be The “9” of the river. First you have to know how to suffer says one of the most famous tangos of these lands and today the Colombian fully enjoys knowing that he is the starting center forward of a team that when it lights up shows all its potential and raises the bar far beyond any local rival.

Borja lived his ideal evening this Sunday at Monumental. The night ’10’ points out of nine. It took him 55 minutes to score a hat-trick in the 5–0 win over Vélez and bring the ball home, after having to “run” towards referee Facundo Tello who held it for him. He made the other two Facundo Colidiowho has 4 performances out of 18 since his arrival. Borja is the top scorer of the Demichelis era and accumulates 31 shouts plus assists in 32 starts. A real attack machine.

“The referee was taking the ball but I told him it was mine, ah”Hummingbird joked after laughing when he went to meet Facundo Tello and asked him for the ball for his collection. “He had scored a couple of hat-tricks with the Colombian Under-20s and with Palmeiras. They are special moments, they are not always marked in three. I am grateful to God and my teammates who focused. “Let’s go home happy”He added.

What Borja didn’t know when commenting on his previous twins is that he has become one the first player in River history to score three headed goals in the same match at Monumental. And third in professionalism. The previous one had been Vittorio Marchettistill 5-0 but against Platense, on 2 December 1977, on the Huracán pitch because the Monumental was being renovated for the ’78 World Cup.

While, José Manuel Moreno, the Charro, the man who scored the most headed goals in River’s history, twice headed three in 1938, the very year the Monumental was inaugurated. The first, on 11 May (15 days after the opening of the current stadium), in the 8-1 against Estudiantes in La Plata, while on 27 November he scored again from three but in the 5-3 against Talleres a Remedies for climbing. Borja will be able to say that he experienced a historic evening in his first hat-trick at the Millonario.

To arrive at this unbeatable gift, which sees him as the top scorer of this League Cup with five goals in three games, the 31-year-old striker had to be patient and at times it was difficult for him to understand why the coach did not give him continuity. The releases of Solomon Rondon AND Lucas Beltran They paved the way for him. And then Núñez’s team felt in control and in control of the territory.

With the triple scored against Fortín, the Colombian scored 28 goals in 64 appearances with the red band crossed across his chest. He has matched Teófilo Gutiérrez’s line at the Núñez club and has a devastating record: he has scored at least one goal in 4 consecutive matches, including the three matches of this League Cup and the friendly against Pachuca.

“What I liked most of the three was the first one because it was conflicted. The defender who was marking me followed me everywhere and I managed to break away from him and transform“explained Borja, who became the top scorer of the Demichelis era with 19 goals, surpassing Beltrán (17) and Pablo Solari (12).

“At this start he feels more of a protagonist. He needs support and trust, he has it because he deserves it, he is the best 9 in Argentine football but he can’t relax. I’m happy for him. These are the fruits of a lot of work that invests daily”Demichelis himself thought about it.

“The ‘9’ live on goals and it is a tranquility that they scored on these dates. We must continue to work with serenity, without believing that today we are the best, we played a great game but we have to think about the debut in the European Cup later ‘Argentina: “I’m proud of the team I have.”completed the DT.

In the 21st minute of the second half he was replaced by debutant Ian Subiabre and earned a more than deserved ovation from the over 80,000 fans who went crazy for his perfect performance and, obviously, for that of the whole of River. Was it the best performance of the Demichelis cycle? “I don’t know if it’s the best performance. We also played very well against Fluminense. There are games in which we don’t score fives but we also play as the River world requires.”analyzed the Colombian marker.

He needed to feel like the millionaire of ‘9’. He cost him so much. He sweated a lot to do it. And now he gives away goals in bulk.