Top-flight rookies Deportivo Riestra have been promoted to Argentina’s highest tier of professional football for the first time in their 92-year history.
The Blanquinegros achieved the historic feat with a 1-0 victory over rivals Deportivo Maipú in the final of the ‘Reduccido’ play-off tournament that decides who wins the second promotion spot from the second-flight Primera Nacional.
Ex-River Plate striker Gustavo Fernández scored the only goal of the game in the 61st minute, securing Riestra’s win at the Estadio Juan Domingo Perón (otherwise known as the Estadio Monumental de Alta Córdoba) in a match the side dominated.
Fernández’s goal – the most important in the club’s history – broke the deadlock and the team clung on to secure promotion.
The result means that Deportivo Riestra – a club with just 1,200 members of “socios” – will now play in the Liga Profesional de Fútbol next season. They will be joined by Independiente Rivadavia from Mendoza, who finished as Primera Nacional champions.
The two clubs will be swapping places with Arsenal di Sarandí and Colón de Santa Fe, who were both relegated at the end of this year’s campaign.
Founded on February 22, 1931, in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Nueva Pompeya, Deportivo Riestra today play at the modest 3,000-spectator capacity Estadio Guillermo Laza. Located just a few metres away from neighbouring San Lorenzo, the stadium will next year host some of Argentina’s most iconic clubs.
Riestra has been participating in the official tournaments organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) since 1946, but this the first time it will play in the top division.
The club has competed at all levels of the professional pyramid and the Blanquinegros have progressed significantly over the last decade, rising in 2017 to the Primera Nacional, where they have spent the last six seasons.
However, some rival supporters have been fiercely critical of the Villa Soldati side, which opponents feel have benefitted from several controversial refereeing calls.
The team's young coach, Matías Módolo, has been the architect of the team’s success, providing continuity and inspiring the team to an impressive home record – the side have lost just twice in 19 matches before their own fans this campaign.
The last time they made national headlines was a decade ago, when legendary national team icon Diego Maradona took charge of a few training sessions and held several motivational talks with the squad.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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