Since the Not So Super Superclásico
By Sam Kelly • May 17th, 2008 • Category: Features • 5 responsesThe super, in the end, wasn’t so super as a match. That’s not really anything unusual for a fixture in which the pressure and the intensity of the rivalry often produces foul-laden, fairly poor matches, but in recent years River Plate and Boca Juniors have given us some absolute crackers, so we were probably due a dud. That it’s also the first superclásico in ages at the point of which both sides have had genuine title aspirations is probably not a coincidence.
The match, a week-and-a-half ago now, came in the middle of the lowest week of River’s season so far. After a 2-1 loss in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores last sixteen tie with San Lorenzo, they lost 1-0 in La Bombonera, Sebastián Battaglia scoring the only goal of the game for Boca. The contest improved a fair bit after half time, but was still never up to much, with River’s attacks looking increasingly desperate as the minutes ticked down. Desperation didn’t seem to be on the agenda a few nights later, though, when they took on San Lorenzo in the second leg of the Copa tie.
The away goal gave River a lifeline, and after an hour, as Sebastián Abreu slotted home a penalty, they were completely in control. Ahead on aggregate, 2-0 up on the night and San Lorenzo, to boot, had had two men sent off. With 30 minutes left, the visitors’ challenge looked as dead in the water as Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic US Presidential nomination. But Ramón Díaz’s men, like Clinton, never quite know when they’re beaten in this Copa, and Gonzalo Bergessio scored twice in five minutes for San Lorenzo, who then hung on for a 2-2 draw on the night and an incredible 4-3 aggregate win. If there was such a thing as a superdelegate in the Copa, it would surely be San Lorenzo boss Ramón Díaz, whose side who could meet Boca in the semi-final, if both sides advance from their quarters, and are dreaming of finally claiming their first Copa.
This weekend just gone, though, saw things get dramatically better for River and the other Argentine side to be eliminated in the last sixteen of the Copa, Estudiantes. Both were still joint leaders of the Torneo Clausura table going into the last round of matches, and Estudiantes beat Boca to open up a gap at the top again – Boca’s win over River the previous week had taken them just a point from the summit. A couple of hours after that match in La Plata, River hosted Estudiantes’ cross-city rivals, Gimnasia. Playing poorly in the first half, they trailed 2-1 at half time, but blew their opponents away in the second period to run out 4-2 winners and return to the top of the table. River and Estudiantes now have 30 points each, Vélez Sársfield and San Lorenzo 27, Independiente and Boca 26. Five matches remain. Are you reading, Mr. Scudamore?
On Sunday, River have another clásico, this time away to fellow high-fliers Independiente, whilst Estudiantes ‘visit’ Gimnasia (they share a stadium at present) in the La Plata clásico. And as if there weren’t enough rivalries to be going on with for a weekend, Boca host Racing – who desperately need points from somewhere, anywhere, to avoid a relegation playoff – and Huracán play San Lorenzo in yet another derby. The super may be the headline-getter, but it’s far from Argentina’s only rivalry.
One of the sides involved in the upcoming ‘weekend of hate’ have been making themselves look a little stupid this week already, though. Regular readers, see if you can guess who. It’ll come as a surprise to no-one who remembers my previous Pitch Invasion columns to hear that the ones being pointed and laughed at by their peers are Racing. Yes, them again. They’ve slipped well and truly into the relegation zone and are now behind Rosario Central in the Promedio, occupying a relegation playoff place. Last weekend they were absolutely pathetic in the second half of their 1-1 draw against Argentinos Juniors, and were met on Monday by a group of unhappy fans at their training session.
So far, so usual for a side who’ve been woeful for a few years now. But this Monday was a little different. One fan, Mauro Paidón, voiced his disgust at the players’ performance more volubly than others. After an exchange of views with a couple of the squad, he returned to his car, Upon which two Lucozade bottles landed close by him having been thrown over the fence from the training pitch. ‘My back was turned, so I didn’t see which players threw them,’ he told the press. It’s a thoroughly embarrassing incident for the Avellaneda club, but it’s also entirely in keeping with the way their season’s going now. One Racing-supporting friend tells me most weeks in emails that the current side are the worst he can ever remember the club having, and that there’s no reason a decent B Nacional side wouldn’t be able to beat them in a promotion playoff if they can’t get out of this mess. With Boca coming up this weekend and the Avellaneda derby against Independiente also still on the agenda, it’s hard to see a way out for La Academia now.
The quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores are next up, then. Boca take on Atlas on Wednesday evening in Vélez Sársfield’s stadium for the home leg. La Bombonera is closed for the quarters and the semis after a linesman was hit by an ice cube thrown from the VIP section at the tail end of their first leg 2-1 win over Cruzeiro in the last sixteen. San Lorenzo take on LDU Quito, Estudiantes’ second round conquerors, on Thursday evening, and will be looking for a big win in the first – home – leg to give them some cushion before travelling to play at altitude in the Ecuadorian capital. The vanquished parties, River and Estudiantes, now have only the league to concentrate on – but it’s those two who are in the driving seat where that campaign is concerned.
Sam Kelly is a contributer to Pitch Invasion on Argentinian football. He also runs Hasta El Gol Siempre, a comprehensive blog on football in Argentina.
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For those new to this site, Racing’s demise is akin to a club like, say, Spurs or Lazio going down. No wait, not just going down, but going down in flames. As a Racing fan since the late 80s, I never anticipated the ride that they’d give me. The weren’t River or Boca and they played (vs. San Lorenzo) in the first game that I saw (on my second day as an exchange student there). Holy crap were the explosive and tough; holy crap are they awful now. My Argentine friends laugh at me and I try to point out to them that Racing’s fall from grace (if they were ever full of “grace”) is a concerning side for the whole league. Even with financial irregularities, a club as “big” and as “popular” and as (once at least) stable as Racing was…well…it’s been a bad year.
Vamos Acade!
It’s difficult for even non-Racing fans not to sympathise, Kent. I haven’t yet heard from any Independiente supporters, but comments on my site have come in from River, Boca and San Lorenzo fans as well as followers of other sides outside the ‘Big Five’. It wouldn’t, of course, be the first time Racing have gone down - they were in B Nacional a few years before you arrived in Argentina - but it would just add to a mood of real turmoil which currently surrounds the club.
I’m not even sure about Spurs. They’re bigger, in Argentina, than Spurs are in England. Historically they’re an Aston Villa kind of club, but with a more notable fanbase that’s as dedicated as (and as a United fan it pains me to say this) Manchester City’s.The biggest worry for them has to be that B Nacional is a very competitive division indeed. This wouldn’t be Juventus going down to Serie B, or even comparable with Corinthians’ recent relegation in Brazil. If Racing go down, it’s by no means a given that they’ll be coming straight back up.
This evening, they were 1-0 up against Boca in La Bombonera, and were easily the better team. Then Boca got an equaliser following a clear handball, seen by everyone except the ref. That was followed by a winning goal from a debutant substitute, with almost the last touch, at the end of five minutes of stoppage time. There’s no way they’re escaping the relegation playoffs with that kind of luck.
Exactly. Thanks to this blog, people are finding out about Argentina’s football. (Thanks for that by the way.) Exactly x2, Racing going down is no ticket back up. The club’s in real trouble. They almost need to accept the mess that they’re in and just be honest about Argentine football. By this I mean that they need to work more on the youth ranks (which aren’t bad right now at all) to honestly and openly bring players in for a season or two and intentionally sell them off to Europe; couple that with signing a player or two past his prime (but not a superstar-type).
Not just tonight, they’ve been screwed by a few calls this season. They’re down already. Newspaper reports that I’ve been reading seem to show that team as down before the season even began.
Surely the youth ranks are not the most important part of Argentine football.
I’ll be honest i don’t know too much about the set up, but i’ve always enjoyed watching the games, as they are exciting and the fans seem to be some of the best in the world - what passion! Riquelme moving back was a clincher for me, as he was always one of my favourite players.
So what i suppose i’m asking, from what pools do the clubs take the players from? Are most of them from youth ranks, or are they poached from ‘lesser’ South or Central American countries?
I really sympathise with Racing. Villa and Spurs are both traditionally very big clubs in England (both have had domestic and Europena success) and for big clubs to go down is always upsetting, as by and large thye have the best support (history = support).
One further question/request: What’s going on with the olympics? What are the feelings of the fans/players towards it? And what foreign based players are set to be involved?
Football Best: to answer your last question first, the inital fifteen named by Under 23 boss Sergio Batista to go to Beijing can be seen here: http://hastaelgolsiempre.com/2008/01/24/the-olympic-squad-and-some-transfer-news/ Additionally, Juan Román Riquelme, Javier Mascherano and Martín Demichelis will be the over-age players. There are also discussions ongoing with Barcelona about whether Lionel Messi will be able / allowed to travel. Before the event I’m not sure how much passion will be shown, but the country loved it when they won in 2004. It was Argentina’s first ever Olympic Gold in any sport (they won the polo back in the ’30s or ’40s, but it was only a test event), and for it to come in the sport they’re most passionate about was quite something.
And I think the youth ranks are more important than you’re giving them credit for. The clubs survive because of (or, for River, end up in baffling amounts of debt in spite of) bringing their own talent through and selling it on to more financially powerful clubs in Europe and Asia. The most important aspect of the domestic game certainly isn’t marketing (there’s very little), or the financial clout that comes with it.
It’s impossible not to generalise on this subject, but broadly speaking, the ’smaller’ clubs (by and large, those you might not have heard of before you started reading my columns / website) bring young players through their ranks and sell to each other. River and Boca can cream off the best of those, and most transfers to Europe will go from either those two or the other ‘Big Five’ clubs. There are some qualifiers to this. Velez and River, for instance, are both particularly well-regarded for their youth systems, whilst Boca tend to buy players very young from other sides and bring them through the reserves (the list of players the wider world thinks of as Boca though-and-through, who in fact started out elsewhere, is a very long one).
Foreigners do also play in the league - at present we’ve got Colombians Radamel Falcao García at River, Jairo Patiño at Banfield and Freddy Grisales at Independiente, Chilean Alexis Sánchez at River and any number of Uruguayans and Paraguayans (one of whom, Julio Cesar Cáceres, recently joined the ranks of the incredibly brave or the incredibly stupid when, having played for River a few years ago, he signed for Boca in January).
So Argentina and Brazil take the best players from the continent’s other leagues, River and Boca take the best from elsewhere in the Argentine league, and then the very best go off to Europe, inevitably - sometimes, like Riquelme or D’Alessandro, to return after getting homesick or falling out with a manager, often to establish themselves in their new homelands. And that all starts with the youth development…