BUENOS AIRES, 28 June 2005 — Velez Sarsfield won the Argentina championship on Sunday, beating Estudiantes 3-0 to clinch the title as second-placed Racing Club lost at Banfield.
Velez, who have 38 points from 18 games, claimed their sixth title and the first since 1998 after opening up an unassailable six-point lead with one match to play over Racing, who had former Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone sent off in their 1-0 defeat.
Independiente’s game at home to Arsenal was postponed after 17-year-old youth team goalkeeper Emiliano Molina died following a car accident. Other games were preceded by a one-minute’s silence.
Molina had been in intensive car for 12 days after his car collided with a lorry on a bridge in Buenos Aires. He passed away on Saturday night.
A young team with no big-name players, Velez raced to a 3-0 lead in 27 minutes.
Miguel Angel Russo’s side went ahead in the 18th minute when playmaker Leandro Gracian crossed from the right and found Fabian Cubero, who took advantage of slack marking to open the scoring.
Gracian also set up the second four minutes later, when his majestic pass found Roland Zarate, who scored his seventh goal of the championship with an angled shot.
Five minutes later, a 50-meter clearance upfield found Lucas Castroman, who escaped his marker and rounded goalkeeper Martin Herrera for his eighth goal of the championship. “I’m proud to have gone into the history of this great institution,” said Russo, after winning the first Argentine title of his coaching career.
“The merits are shared by everyone: the directors, who had a lot of to do with it, the players, who performed fantastically, and the people, who gave us great support.”
Racing needed to beat Banfield to stay in contention and their challenge ended when Javier Sanguinetti outjumped the defense to head home a free kick in the 23rd minute.
Former Lazio, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid midfielder Simeone, who has been the inspiration of the Racing campaign, was sent off for a second bookable offense in the 67th minute.
