Izuchukwu Okosi
Barcelona on Tuesday night were defeated 4-2 on penalties in the Diego Maradona memorial game against Boca Juniors.
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Barcelona’s manager Xavi was left frustrated in his first attempt to win a trophy at the club in his new position, as the Catalans lost to the South Americans.
The two sides, both former clubs of Argentine great Diego Maradona who dies in November 2020 fought out an entertaining match at Riyadh’s Mrsool Park in Saudi Arabia.
The Blaugrana welcomed back old boy Dani Alves to the fold but ultimately ended up empty-handed in Saudi Arabia
Alves’ cross was diverted into the path of youngster Ferran Jutgla, who steered a powerful shot past Boca goalkeeper Agustin Rossi five minutes after the half-time break.
Boca remained in the chase and went close to equalising through Sebastian Villa minutes later before finally equalising in the 77th minute through 19-year-old substitute Exequiel Zeballos.
In the resulting shoot-out Matheus Pereira saw his effort saved by Rossi and Guillem Jaime shot over the bar, while the Argentines netted all four of their penalties to seal a 4-2 victory.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
