Rosario Central won the Supercopa Internacional thanks to a goal and penalty from Di María, according to Mundo Deportivo, while Estudiantes de La Plata protested controversial refereeing decisions.

Before the match, Di María watched Messi's free-kick goal against the United States at the 2016 Copa América on his phone. As he prepared to take a free kick from a similar position, he recalled that moment and attempted to emulate Messi, successfully scoring. After winning the title, Di María said: "I thought to myself, I'm not Messi, but maybe I can pull this off..."

Di María led Rosario Central to victory in the Supercopa Internacional. His spectacular free-kick goal helped the team equalize, and he later converted a penalty. The entire final was highly contested, and the referee's decisions proved controversial, but this did not overshadow Di María's excellent performance.

Estudiantes de La Plata started quickly, with Alexis Castro scoring in the 1st minute. However, within 20 minutes, Gabriel Neves and Jalil Elías had to leave the field due to injury. After that, Di María scored a brilliant goal. In stoppage time, Julián Fernández finished with a left-footed shot into an empty net.

Another controversial aspect of the match involved decisions by referee Darío Herrera, several of which favored Rosario Central. Video assistant referee (VAR) Jorge Baliño was also implicated in the controversy.

For much of the second half, Rosario Central should have been playing with one fewer player: Elías Verón's foul deserved a second yellow card and expulsion, but neither the referee nor VAR took action or reviewed the incident. VAR intervened in a foul between Copetti and Leandro González Pírez, after which Rosario Central was awarded a penalty, which Di María converted to make it 2-1. In the final moments of the match, VAR failed to alert the referee to review a handball by Ovando; had a penalty been awarded, Estudiantes de La Plata would have had a chance to equalize.

Estudiantes president Juan Sebastián Verón led the protests with strong words. At halftime, he posted on social media: "The audacity with which they rob you is incredible, completely unnecessary. Did we come here for this? Haha, it's an absurd spectacle." Immediately after the match, Verón rushed onto the field to confront Herrera, telling him: "This is all your fault, you thief."

Minutes later, Verón attempted to analyze the situation more calmly: "It's very difficult to play under these conditions. Rosario Central is a strong team, but something else is happening that brought us to this point today." When asked what he said to Herrera on the field, Verón replied sarcastically: "I congratulated him. I told him he refereed very well."

At the awards ceremony, AFA president Tapia personally handed medals to the Rosario Central championship players but did not take the stage to present medals to Estudiantes de La Plata players.

This controversy is linked to political tensions between Tapia and Verón. Verón has been a vocal critic of how the Argentine Football Association organizes and operates its competitions and has pushed for private investment in Argentine football, which Tapia firmly opposes.

This dispute is not unprecedented. In late 2025, the Argentine Football Association announced Rosario Central as annual champions, but this award was not stipulated in the regulations before the competition began. At that time, the AFA presented the trophy to Rosario Central, led by Di María, at its offices. The AFA also stipulated that Rosario Central's next opponent should form a guard of honor, and that opponent happened to be Estudiantes de La Plata. In protest, Estudiantes players lined up with their backs to Rosario Central, an incident later dubbed the "back tribute."

Since then, the rift between the two teams has deepened, and this final has generated further controversy. The article concludes by noting that Di María delivered a brilliant performance amid the chaos and won a title with the club where his career began.

Traduzido por IA.

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