River Plate win Copa Libertadores tie despite 20 Covid absentees and no goalkeepers

Futbol, River Plate vs Independiente Santa Fe. Copa Libertadores 2021. Los jugadores de River Plate celebran su gol contra Independiente Santa Fe durante el partido del grupo D de la Copa Libertadores disputado en el estadio Monumental de Buenos Aires, Argentina. 19/05/2021 Fotobaires/Photosport Football, River Plate vs Independiente Santa Fe. 2021 Copa Libertadores Championship. River Plate s players celebrate after scoring against Independiente Santa Fe during the Copa Libertadores Championship match held at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 19/05/2021 Fotobaires/Photosport River Plate vs Independiente Santa Fe, copa Libertadores 2021 FUTBOL INTERNACIONAL

A number of football clubs have been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic at different times, but the powers that be have generally allowed games to be rescheduled as needed.

Not in the Copa Libertadores.

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On Thursday night, Argentina’s River Plate were forced to play their tie against Santa Fe despite having 20 members of their first team squad absent because of Covid symptoms.

That included all of their goalkeepers, which meant that midfielder, Enzo Perez, had to take up residency between the posts.

Enzo Perez deserved his man of the match award

According to MARCA, somewhat incredibly, River Plate raced into a two-goal lead in the opening 10 minutes thanks to Fabrizio Angileri and Julian Alvarez.

Though Perez was injured himself, he was able to play in goal as long as he didn’t take goal kicks.

His man-of-the-match performance ensured that Santa Fe could only get one goal back in the 80 minutes that followed Alvarez’s goal.

What made the victory even more impressive is the fact that River didn’t have any subs to use either.