Yutiel Susano, the 19-year-old fullback River Plate brought to Colombia after Montiel's injury

A strained left adductor picked up at the Argentinos Juniors stadium could end up changing the life of a 19-year-old kid. Because when Gonzalo Montiel left the field with discomfort and was ruled out of the trip to Colombia, River ran into a problem that goes well beyond the absence of its captain: the club has no available right backs. And that's where a name that until recently only circulated on the club's youth fields comes in: Yutiel Susano.

The Nunez side plays the first leg of the round of 16 in the Copa Sudamericana against Independiente Santa Fe in Bogota, and everything points to Eduardo Coudet having very few options. With Montiel out due to the strain, Giovanni Gonzalez not registered for this stage of the tournament, and Fabricio Bustos training apart from the squad, the natural pool of options for that spot has been reduced to just one: Susano, the only pure right back the club has available and registered for the competition.

A kid from La Matanza who dreamed of this moment

Susano was born on January 31, 2007 in Isidro Casanova, La Matanza, and took his first steps in soccer at Americo Passadores and Justo Villegas, two clubs in his neighborhood. He joined River at age eight, after a tryout in 2015, and has since worked his way through the club's youth ranks. His teammates call him "Terry," and although he came up as a center back, the club has also tried him at right back and in midfield, something that's working in his favor now.

His name didn't just come out of nowhere in Coudet's head. During 2026, Susano played 14 games for the reserves and scored one goal, in fact in his debut for that squad against Union. On top of that, the coaching staff had already brought him close to the first team before: he took part in the training camp in Cardales and was part of the European preseason tour, where River faced Flamengo in a friendly. He's not, then, a total unknown to the senior locker room.

The picture is already set: Coudet took him to Bogota, and now he has to decide whether to hand him a starting spot or go with an improvised fix, like shifting Lucas Martinez Quarta over to that position. What's certain is that Susano is one step away from making his first team debut in a knockout tie, and not just any tie, but one in which he'd be filling in for a recent club icon like Montiel.

What stands out is that all of this could happen without Susano even having a signed professional contract with River. At just 19 years old and with only brief reserve team experience, he's facing one of those opportunities that doesn't always come around twice in Argentine soccer: the chance to make his international debut at a moment when the team needs him most. The final call belongs to Coudet, but "Terry" has already taken the first step, going from a youth team prospect to part of a River Plate squad in South America.