The unusual penalty committed by a Junior player against Santa Fe: “And he has the nerve to claim”

Junior from Barranquilla hit first in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Copa Colombia. The Barranquillero team won 2-1 this Wednesday against Independiente Santa Fe at the Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez stadium and will start with an advantage ahead of the decisive match at El Campín in Bogotá, which will be played next May 11.

The home team opened the scoring seven minutes into the first half with Miguel Ángel Borja, who defined after a heads-up with goalkeeper José Silva. The 'cardinal' team had reached the draw after Argentina's Fernando Coniglio converted from penalty (46'3'), however, Fernando Uribe defined the result to 88' after capitalizing on a rebound from the rival goalkeeper.

However, one of the most particular plays of the match occurred precisely in the penalty in favor of Santa Fe. The play was born from a corner kick by Neyder Moreno from the northwest grandstand, which was directed to the front post. In an attempt to clear the ball — apparently with his head — Walmer Pacheco, the Junior's right-back, threw himself to the ground, but, as he went, he ended up hitting the ball with his arms up to twice.

The player immediately stood up and demanded the referee Hector Rivera, arguing that he had not made contact with the ball with his hand; however, it was evident in the transmission that these touches did exist. A few seconds later, the footballer also argued with some members of Santa Fe, but the central judge had already made his decision.

Pacheco's strange movements when it came to committing the maximum penalty provoked multiple reactions on social networks, although a large number of users agreed that it was a penalty. “FPC [Colombian professional football] is the only one in the world where a player protests that penalty”; “he lacked shouting 'change of goalkeeper, '” “and he has the nerve to claim, that pelao' is in a strange world,” some fans commented.

The Twitter account 'El VAR Central', which usually analyzes the arbitration controversies in national football, said that the referee was right to sanction the maximum penalty: “And obviously it's a penalty, he throws himself on the ball Walmer Pacheco and ends up touching it with both hands. Surely he didn't intend to, but you know that doesn't count much here. Well, the referee Hector Rivera sanctioning criminal hand #CopaBetplay.”

Beyond the incident, Junior even had the chance to score a third score for a new penalty. In the final minutes of the match, Omar Albornoz was in charge of the collection, but his shot was deflected by the right hand stick of the goalkeeper 'cardinal'.

“We decided to put a team that wasn't playing together. The players made a very good effort, both the young boys and the boys who had to add minutes. (...) We played against a very good rival who came and put everything he had and I'm happy about that. We have to keep working to continue strengthening ourselves internally,” said Junior's technical director, Juan Cruz Real, at a press conference.

Junior de Barranquilla continues his good run of results, since, since the 1-0 defeat to Millonarios by the 13th date of the 2022-I BetPlay League, he has already accumulated six matches without knowing the defeat. In this period of time, those led by Cruz Real have 12 goals in favor and only four against.

Next Saturday, Junior will be visiting Unión Magdalena for matchday 17 of the league. The contest is scheduled for 8:10 at night.

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