- The 22-year-old center-back, a product of the club's academy, opened the scoring in the 3-1 win over Vasco da Gama with a header three minutes into the first half that leveled the CONMEBOL Sudamericana Semi-final tie.
- Winner of the 2023 CONMEBOL Libertadores U-20 in La Serena, he is one of the starters in the back line of a Boca side that will play the Final in Barranquilla on November 21.
Boca Juniors arrived at the Maracanã needing to win against a side that had neither lost nor conceded a goal in their last five home games in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana. Three minutes into the first half, Lautaro Di Lollo had already ended that run. Lautaro Blanco swung in a corner from the left, the center-back got the better of Santiago Sosa and directed his header across goal past Léo Jardim. The 1-0 leveled the tie Vasco da Gama had tilted in their favor in the first leg at La Bombonera, with the match barely under way.
It was the first blow of a night the 'Xeneize' closed out with a 3-1 win that sent them back to the CONMEBOL Sudamericana Final for the first time since 2005. Miguel Merentiel, set up by Sebastián Villa, doubled the lead 33 minutes into the first half; Vasco pulled one back 21 minutes into the second half through a first-time finish from José Luis Rodríguez, and Leandro Paredes, who had come off the bench, sealed the 3-2 aggregate win with a strike from outside the box 42 minutes into the second half. Boca, champions in 2004 and 2005, will play the Final on November 21 at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla against the winner of Montevideo City Torque vs. Atlético Mineiro.
The center-back's header has a history in his career. His first top-flight goal, on February 14, 2025, came the same way: a Carlos Palacios corner, a leap in the Banfield box and a header across goal for Boca's 1-0 away win. "Very happy with the first goal of my career, those were three key points to take home", he said that afternoon. At the Maracanã, the formula was repeated on the biggest stage of his career.
According to Opta, it was his second goal in 19 matches in CONMEBOL competitions, both headers and both in 2026, and his first in a knockout tie. It came after 3 minutes and 18 seconds: no Boca goal from a set piece had come so early in those competitions since a Carlos Tevez penalty against Cerro Porteño in the 2016 CONMEBOL Libertadores. The cross came from Boca's top assist provider in CONMEBOL competitions since 2024: Blanco has seven assists, no teammate has more than three, and five of them have been for headed goals. At 22 years and 224 days, Di Lollo also became the third-youngest defender to score for Boca in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana, behind Aaron Anselmino (2024) and Juan Forlín (2008).
Born on March 10, 2004, in San Justo, he took his first steps in children's football at La Marca, a neighborhood club in Villa Luzuriaga. In 2012, aged eight, he had a trial at Boca. "I came for a trial and they kept me. We trained at La Candela, near my house", he recalled in the club's official magazine. In the youth ranks he played at right-back and even as a holding midfielder, though he prefers to play at the back: "From there I have a better view of the pitch". He signed his first professional contract in July 2022 and, in 2023, was part of the Argentina U-20 squad at the South American Championship and at the World Cup held in the country.
His first continental title came in a CONMEBOL competition. On July 16, 2023, in La Serena, he started in defense for Silvio Rudman's Boca side that beat Independiente del Valle 2-0 in the CONMEBOL Libertadores U-20 Final, giving the club its first title in the category after an unbeaten run. Two months later, at La Bombonera, that group won the U-20 Intercontinental Cup on penalties against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar. In 2024 he reached the youth competition's Final again, in Maldonado, alongside a teammate who also started at the Maracanã on Tuesday: Milton Delgado.
In the first team, his path had its pauses. His CONMEBOL debut came at right-back, in a 0-0 draw against Nacional Potosí in Bolivia on the opening matchday of the 2024 CONMEBOL Sudamericana Group Stage. In 2025 he moved between the senior squad and the reserve team until, months later, he made the position his own and, in August, extended his contract until December 2029.
In early 2026, Úbeda renewed his faith in him, and the defender himself revealed it at the time, as he was establishing himself as one of the regular options in the blue-and-gold back line: "He told me he thought I was doing very well, that I was ready to play and that I should do it calmly, like in training". Wearing the number 2 shirt, which he describes as "a source of pride", he now forms, with Facundo 'Jagger' Herrera, another academy graduate, the center-back pairing of Rodolfo Arruabarrena's Boca, who reached the Semi-finals having conceded just three goals in six knockout matches.
At the Maracanã he also had work to do at the back. With Marino Hinestroza and José Luis Rodríguez on, Vasco pushed forward in the second half and found the goal that made it 2-2 on aggregate. Boca held firm until Paredes tipped the tie back in their favor. Despite his youth, the value of Tuesday's win is not lost on him: "Honestly, I'm happy for the group, they deserved it and luckily we were able to reach the Final. We've built a great group, we all pull in the same direction".
In La Serena, aged 19, he lifted his first continental trophy in the blue and gold. At the Maracanã, with the first goal of the night, he left Boca one match away from another.
