After Lionel Messi lit up the Club World Cup opener, Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium was awash in Argentine passion again as Boca Juniors fans turned it into a little Buenos Aires for their team’s 2-2 draw with Benfica on Monday.
A day after draping the shores of Miami Beach in blue and gold on the eve of their team’s debut, the Boca fans chanted their way into the arena and through the game, which put the side in second place in Group C behind Bayern Munich after the German champion demolished Auckland City 10-0 on Sunday.
Both teams finished with 10 men after Benfica’s Andrea Bellotti and Boca’s Nicolas Figal picked up straight red cards in a heated contest that saw the Portuguese team cancel out a two-goal deficit.
Boca next faces Bayern on Friday in Miami, while Benfica will face Auckland City in Orlando.
After a scrappy opening 20 minutes, the stands trembled when Boca went ahead in the 21st as Lautaro Blanco’s low cross was met by Miguel Merentiel, triggering wild celebrations.
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Six minutes later, the Argentine side doubled the tally with a Rodrigo Battaglia header, stunning Benfica, which had been dominating from the onset.
Nicolas Otamendi was then brought down in the box, and Benfica earned a penalty following a VAR review, and Ángel Di María coolly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to cut the goal deficit down to one at the stroke of half-time.
Benfica was down to 10 in the 70th after Bellotti was shown a straight red card for a high kick in the back of the head of Ayrton Costa.
The Portuguese side, however, levelled six minutes from time when Otamendi found the back of the net with a powerful header.
The result kept the six-time Copa Libertadores champion’s hopes alive to advance into the knockout phase, which would be a boost for the tournament, as South American fans are expected to bring the highest amount of passion into the stadiums.
