Independiente Rivadavia: Cast-offs and Primera Nacional stars | OneFootball

Independiente Rivadavia is the big revelation of this edition of the Copa Argentina because they eliminated River in the semifinals and this Wednesday, from 21:10, they will face Argentinos Juniors in the final, where they will seek their first title. With players discarded from other teams and stars from the lower leagues, here's a look at how Alfredo Berti's team was built.

Undoubtedly, the star of the Lepra is Sebastián Villa, the Colombian forward who left Boca in 2023 after a conviction for gender violence, returned to the country in 2024 to defend the jersey of Independiente and is the team captain. Against the Millonario, he scored the penalty goal that secured their qualification and is Berti's main card.

Except for him, the rest of the players are much less known to most soccer fans as they mostly made their careers in the lower leagues or had leading roles in other teams. The offensive trio is completed by Matías Fernández, an attacking midfielder who stood out at Excursionistas and previously in regional football, and Alex Arce, the Paraguayan who shone at Independiente Rivadavia in the Primera Nacional, went to Liga de Quito, and returned.

The alternatives for those positions are also players with a past in the lower leagues, including Nicolás Retamar, a winger who played for Ferro, Juan Barbieri, a center forward who came from Deportivo Armenio, and Fabrizio Sartori, a youth player trained at Newell's.

In the midfield, the situation is not very different. The central midfielder is Tomás Bottari, who joined the club in January after a good tournament in the Primera Nacional with Nueva Chicago, and he is accompanied by Mauricio Cardillo, ex-Lanús and also with a recent past at the Torito, and Maximiliano Amarfil, who, although he played for the Mataderos team until December 2024, is on loan from Cipolletti de Río Negro. The most experienced alternative in that position is Diego Tonetto, a veteran who has been with the club since 2022.

In defense, the pattern repeats. Alejo Osella, a player on loan from Armenio, occupies the right-back position. If not, the options are two with more experience in the Primera, like the ex-River Luciano Abecasis, Ezequiel Bonifacio (ex Banfield and Gimnasia), or Mauricio Peinipil, with a past at Barracas and Madryn. In the central defense, there are the Uruguayan Leonard Costa and Sheyko Studer, who is on loan from Talleres, where he never found his place. On the left side, Luciano Gómez, who appeared as a right midfielder at Banfield and joined the club mid-last year on loan from Argentinos, after not performing well at Independiente de Avellaneda, usually plays.

In goal, finally, is Ezequiel Centurión, the youth whose transfer belongs to River and who won the position over Gonzalo Marinelli. In the last match, in which the Lepra fell to Aldosivi, the goalkeeper was Agustín Lastra, from Boca's youth ranks.

It is clear that Independiente Rivadavia was built to improve their average and escape the bottom positions of that table and the annual one, but as the year went on, they became a competitive team and are now 90 minutes away from glory. Will they manage to pull off the upset?

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.