BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – A 12-year-old boy made his first division debut in Bolivia, the youngest ever in South America, and strikers called Gutierrez scored hat-tricks in Chile and Colombia at the weekend.
Mauricio Baldivieso, who turns 13 tomorrow, came on as a substitute for the last nine minutes of Aurora’s match away to La Paz, a 1-0 defeat, in the Clausura championship at the weekend.
“I’m very proud, he’s got a lot of talent,” said the boy’s father, Aurora coach and Bolivian 1994 World Cup midfielder Julio Cesar Baldivieso.
Baldivieso senior, in the stands serving a suspension, was much less happy though with the rough marking by Henry Alaca that left his son in tears, calling the defender a criminal and slamming the referee for not booking him.
Media in Bolivia and neighbouring countries said the previous youngest debutant in South American football was Peruvian Fernando Garcia, who was just short of his 14th birthday in 2001.
La Paz, who scored with an own goal by Ivan Huayhuata after half an hour, had Juan Pablo Fernandez sent off in the 62nd minute and Aurora’s Joe Escobar followed him to an early shower five minutes later.
On the first weekend of the Clausura championship, Apertura champions Bolivar beat Nacional Potosi 3-2, while The Strongest held runners-up Real Potosi 1-1.
Argentine central defender Alejandro Schiaparelli put Bolivar ahead after 20 minutes and Jair Reynoso and Ignacio Garcia scored further goals in the second half after Alfredo Jara twice pulled Nacional level.
Alex da Rosa scored twice in nine minutes in the first half and Damir Miranda two in seven minutes in the second to give 10-man San Jose a 4-0 victory over Blooming.
San Jose, who were third in the Apertura, had Alvaro Ricaldi sent off in the 52nd minute.
CHILE
Argentine Enzo Gutierrez scored a hat-trick as Rangers, who finished one from bottom of the Apertura championship, upset Universidad de Chile 5-3 on new Argentine coach Jose Basualdo’s Clausura debut.
Universidad’s Uruguayan striker Juan Olivera scored twice, a penalty and a superb volley, as the champions fought their way back to level terms before Gutierrez completed his hat-trick on the hour to put Rangers 4-3 up.
The dismissals of Rodrigo Rivera and Rodrigo Jara for second bookings between the 73rd and 78th minutes allowed Rangers to make sure of the points with a fifth goal by Pablo Vranjican in stoppage time.
Basualdo’s compatriot Hugo Tocalli got his first win in charge of Colo Colo, who beat La Serena 2-1, but Argentine-born former Spanish international striker Juan Antonio Pizzi, who succeeded Basualdo at Santiago Morning, saw his side lose 1-0 at home to Audax Italiano.
COLOMBIA
There was also a hat-trick in the Colombian Clausura championship, scored by Chilean Julio Gutierrez whose Independiente Santa Fe side beat Boyaca Chico 4-2, playing against 10 men from the 14th minute.
Santa Fe took control from the start and Chico’s Johan Caicedo quickly landed himself in trouble with two bookings for a red card before Gutierrez gave the home side a 1-0 halftime lead. Chico managed to turn the score round early in the second half with a free kick by Ever Palacios and a Julio Galicia goal after Yovanni Arrechea missed a twice-taken penalty for Santa Fe.
However, Gutierrez equalised in the 66th minute and Omar Perez added a penalty for a foul on the Chilean.
Galicia was sent off for a second booking in the 84th minute, leaving Chico with nine men, and Gutierrez completed his hat-trick in the final minute.
Apertura champions Once Caldas had Peru striker Johan Fano and John Viafara sent off between the 71st and 77th minutes and went down 2-1 away to La Equidad.
PERU
Universitario are four points clear in the lead of the Peruvian championship after a 1-1 draw with Sporting Cristal following bitter rivals Alianza’s 1-0 home defeat by 10-man San Martin.
San Martin had Jorge Reyes sent off after only 19 minutes and Christian Ramos headed the winner nine minutes from time.
Sport Huancayo, who beat Cesar Vallejo 3-2, and Juan Aurich, 2-0 winners against Bolognesi, are both four points behind the leaders. Alianza and San Martin are seven points off the pace.
ECUADOR
First stage winners Emelec and runners-up LDU Quito were held to home draws at the start of the second phase of the championship, Emelec 1-1 by Manta FC and LDU 2-2 by Cuenca.
URUGUAY
Striker Alvaro Navarro scored a hat-trick as Defensor Sporting got over the loss of the 2008/09 championship final to Nacional last week with a 3-0 win over River Plate in the six-team round-robin playoffs for berths in the 2010 Libertadores Cup.
Defensor were under new coach Gustavo Ferrin. Jorge da Silva quit after the championship final defeat.
