River Plate regained its balance after losing to its traditional rival, Boca Juniors, in the “Super Clásico”, with a difficult victory away from home over Aldosivi, with two unanswered goals, on Thursday, in the sixteenth round of the Argentine Football League.
River Plate waited until the last quarter of an hour to resolve the confrontation, after facing strong resistance from the hosts, before Lucas Beltran scored the lead goal from a penalty kick in the 76th minute, and Angel Correa added the second goal in the second minute of stoppage time.
The first half witnessed an offensive advantage for River Plate, but Aldosivi goalkeeper Lucas Acosta excelled in stopping a number of dangerous attempts, most notably the shots of Thiago Almada, Marcos Acuña, Angel Correa and Lucas Beltran, to keep his sheet clean until the break.
In the second half, Aldosivi almost surprised his guest with a goal through Santiago Moya in the 59th minute, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology intervened to cancel the goal.
River Plate increased their offensive pressure in the remaining minutes, and Beltran succeeded in decoding the hosts' defense with a penalty kick, before Correa confirmed his team's victory with a second goal in stoppage time.
With this victory, River Plate overcame the effects of its loss to Boca Juniors with an unanswered goal in the last round, and raised its score to 26 points in fourth place in Group Two, which Rosario Central leads with 31 points.
On the other hand, Aldosivi's score froze at 11 points in the fourteenth and penultimate place in the same group.
The Argentine League competitions this season will be held in an exceptional system, with the participation of 30 teams divided into two groups, each of which includes 15 clubs.
Each team will play 16 matches in the first round, with 14 matches against its rivals in the group, and two matches against two teams from the other group, within the “cross-match” system, which also allows the holding of major traditional confrontations, most notably the “Super Clásico” between Boca Juniors and River Plate.
The top eight finishers from each group qualify for the knockout rounds, which determine the champion of the competition.
Lamine Sané, the coach of the Senegal U-17 national team, is preparing to take on a new challenge in his coaching career, setting his sights on competing for the FIFA Junior World Cup title in Qatar 2026, after he led the Teranga Cubs to win the African Cup of Nations in his first major tournament as head of the coaching staff.
Sane (39 years old) does not seem to be a stranger to difficult challenges, as his first professional experiences date back to 2009, when Frenchman Laurent Blanc, then coach of Bordeaux, played him against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and assigned him the task of monitoring Dutch winger Arjen Robben.
After years of that experience, Sane moved from facing international football stars on the field to preparing a new generation of players aspiring to shine on the international scene.
Sani said, in statements to the official website of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA): “I will not hide my ambition. When I prepare my team to participate in a tournament, my goal is to win the title. We want to prove our worth as champions of Africa.”
The former Senegalese defender went through a professional career during which he moved between French club Bordeaux, German Werder Bremen, American Orlando City, and Dutch Utrecht, before heading to coaching after his retirement, benefiting from his long experience on the field.
At the beginning of his coaching career, he returned to the US Lormont club in Bordeaux, where his football career began, before joining the technical staff of the Senegal U-17 national team in 2025 in an advisory role, drawing on his international experience, which included 35 matches for the first team.
After a short experience with the French club Bourges, in which his former international teammate Sadio Mane is the main shareholder, Sani took over the technical leadership of the junior national team, beginning a new phase that quickly ended with a continental achievement.
The Senegalese coach recalled the circumstances of his assumption of the job before the African Cup of Nations, saying: “I joined the team only two and a half weeks before the start of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, but the coaches I worked with during my first period there helped me.”
He added: “That match was an opportunity to evaluate the situation, because we did not have enough time to prepare. We made some adjustments, and our level began to gradually improve until we became stronger and stronger.”
Sane had started his career with a 1-2 loss to South Africa, before the Senegalese team regained its balance and defeated Ghana 1-0, and Algeria 2-1, to lead Group D.
The team continued its progress in the qualifying rounds, achieving victories on penalties, thanks to the brilliance of its goalkeeper, Asane Sarr, who played a decisive role in crowning Senegal with the continental title.
Sane hopes that Sarr will continue his brilliance during the World Cup finals, especially in decisive matches that may require resorting to penalty kicks.
But the first task for the Senegalese national team will be to overcome the Group Six competitions, which include Croatia, Cuba and Tajikistan, in confrontations that the coach believes represent an opportunity to test his team against various football schools.
“This is the essence of the World Cup,” Sane said. This is what you would expect, facing different football cultures. I know a lot about Croatia and we have studied its national team. As for Tajikistan, I don't know much about it. “Cuba has a bit of a South American artistic touch.”
He continued: “Thanks to what we saw and the data available to us, we were able to draw some conclusions. “We will prepare strongly and work to ensure team cohesion.”
The Senegalese coach places team harmony at the top of his technical priorities, in addition to high pressure and quick transitions between defense and attack, which are essential elements in the playing style that he seeks to establish among his players.
He explained: “We are a team that loves to move the ball forward, and is based on teamwork and playing with intensity. We also take advantage of the entire width and length of the field, which allows us to create spaces between the lines, gain possession, and push the opponent out of his organized position.”
Between the ambition of winning the world title and the desire to confirm continental superiority, Sané enters his first World Cup experience as a coach, hoping to lead a new generation of Senegalese talent to an achievement that will be added to the record of African football.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso, two-time world champion in Formula 1, welcomed the approaching seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of joining the club of drivers who have contested 400 races in the world championship, during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil this weekend.
Alonso, 45 years old, is preparing to contest his 430th race in his career at the Sao Paulo Circuit, while Hamilton, 41 years old, will become the second driver in the history of the championship to reach the 400 race barrier.
Alonso said on Thursday: “Lewis had an exceptional career in Formula 1, and he competed in 400 races, during which he was always in a very competitive position. "I congratulate him, and I hope he has a good race and weekend."
The Spanish driver added: “I believe that more drivers will join this club, as the number of races in the championship calendar increases.”
Hamilton played his career in the championship with three teams, starting with McLaren, where he participated in 110 races, during which he achieved 21 victories, and was crowned the World Drivers' Championship for the first time in 2008.
He then moved to Mercedes, which witnessed the most successful era in his career. He competed in 246 races, during which he achieved 84 victories, and added six world titles to his tally, becoming one of the most decorated drivers in the history of the championship.
As for Ferrari, his current team, Hamilton participated in 43 races, during which he achieved one victory, continuing his long career in the first category of motorsport.
The British driver recently indicated his desire to continue competing until his mid-forties, expressing his hope to participate in a grand prix race held on the African continent in the future.
Hamilton's reaching the 400 race mark represents a new milestone in his exceptional career, joining Alonso in a limited list that reflects continuity and experience at the highest levels of competition in Formula 1.
