After defeats and duel with Trezeguet, Vojvoda seeks first victory against River

Juan Pablo Vojvoda, Fortaleza’s coach, knows perfectly well the level of difficulty that his team will face this Wednesday (13), in the visit to Monumental de Nuñez to face River Plate, in Buenos Aires, in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores.

As a coach, the Argentine has already had the opportunity to face Marcelo Gallardo’s team on three occasions. All ended in defeat for Vojvoda.

In 2018, in charge of Defensa y Justicia, he lost 3-1 to Florencio Varela. The following year, in front of Talleres, another setback, this time 2-0, in Córdoba. Also in 2019, at Huracán, he was thrashed 4-0 (and again at home), a result that led to his dismissal from the Parque Patricios club.

There is, however, a less negative memory for him involving River Plate, which dates back to his playing days.

Vojvoda admits that he was not a virtuoso defender and has only built an average career on the pitch. Revealed by Newell’s Old Boys, he was always a reserve at Rosario’s club, and accumulated passages for clubs in Argentina and Spain whose names seem to belong more to public bodies than to football, such as Cultural Leonesa and Tiro Federal.

In one of these clubs, Sportivo Belgrano, the defender at the time participated in a memorable campaign for the team, which at the time was playing in the national third division.

In the 2011/2012 edition of the Copa Argentina, the team from the province of Cordoba eliminated Tiro Federal de Morteros, Douglas Haig and Almirante Brown, a triumph that earned the club a prize of 200,000 Argentine pesos. In the traditional photo of the players with the giant check, Juan Pablo Vojvoda can be seen celebrating with his teammates.

The winning streak allowed the Cordobesians to face River Plate in the phase that was worth a spot in the round of 16. It was a River in a very different situation from the one that Vojvoda and Fortaleza will find this Wednesday. At that time, in March 2012, the team played in the second division of Argentine football and sought to return to the elite.

One of his main signings for the campaign back to the top division was French striker David Trezeguet, world champion in 1998 and golden goal scorer that gave France the Euro Cup title in 2000.

In the duel between Sportivo Belgrano and River, Vojvoda was largely responsible for marking Trezeguet. And, during the first 45 minutes, with the exception of a shot inside the penalty area allowed to the attacker, the defense commanded by the experienced 36-year-old defender managed to fulfill the task of stopping him.

Vojvoda even had the chance to open the scoring with a header in the 21st minute, but he tested out.

In the final stage, however, the Cordoba team could not stop River Plate, who opened the scoring with Martín Aguirre, at 15, and closed the triumph with Rogelio Funes Mori, at 40, after escaping Vojvoda’s marking and starting towards the goal.

Despite the elimination, it was a historic campaign for Sportivo Belgrano, who came close to gaining access to the second division at the end of the season, but failed – they stopped in the sixth eliminatory phase of the Torneio Federal A, the third division, by falling to the North Crucero.

At least, for Juan Pablo Vojvoda, who was in the last year of his career, the memory of the day he faced David Trezeguet at the Estadio Bicentenario de Catamarca, in the interior of Argentina, remained. And Trezeguet didn’t score.