Argentinos Juniors relegated to second division

Argentine team Argentinos Juniors, where Diego Maradona kicked off his career, were relegated to the second division despite defeating Atletico Rafaela in their last match.

The team from the La Paternal neighborhood in Buenos Aires won 2-0 at home against Atletico Rafaela on Saturday. However, in another match Sarmiento de Junin won 1-0 away to Olimpo with a goal in the 92nd minute. This caused Argentinos Juniors relegation, reports Xinhua.

The last match of the season was played this weekend and it defined the only team to be relegated to the second division.

Argentinos Juniors, coached by former team goalkeeper, Raul Sanzotti, ended their season with 12 points from 16 matches -- two victories, six draws and eight defeats.

Founded on August 15, 1904, the club is known for helping a wide range of great soccer players to get started in the sport such as Maradona, Fernando Redondo, Claudio Borghi, Fernando Caceres, Juan Roman Riquelme, Esteban Cambiasso, Juan Pablo Sorin and Lucas Biglia.

The team have won three titles in Argentina's first division in 1984, '85 and 2010.

They also won the Copa Libertadores de America 1985 and in December of the same year the team played in one of the Intercontinental Cup's most memorable finals in Tokyo, Japan, against Italy's Juventus. The match was a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes which the Italian side then went on to win 4-2 in penalties.

In 1986, the club were crowned champions in the Inter American Cup and two years ago they went down a division but they were promoted back to the first division after six months.

The club's stadium, called Diego Armando Maradona, is located in the capital city of Buenos Aires and can hold 24,600 fans.

--IANS

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