A rare use of umbrellas in a tifo display by River Plate supporters. June 13th, 2009.

Photo credit: on Flickr, remozolli via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

My host-family father or “viejo” was named Oscar and religiously followed Independiente. He spoke painfully of the lost years, the decades of Diablos Rojos dominance when they were the toast of the town. But a young, ugly-as-sin Argentinian had caught my eye – Carlitos Tevez. Riquelme had recently left to warm the Barcelona bench, but at Boca the talent abounded and the stadium shook. What was not to love?

When River and Boca crossed swords in the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, I pinched myself just to be sure. A group of expat friends and I awoke at 3am to head the line at the Bombonera, but we were in for a rude awakening – only “socios” could purchase tickets. And these socios would have photo id cards (carnets). Despite the waving of dollar bills, no tickets were sold. And we were crestfallen.

Boca won the initial match 1-0, but in most unusual circumstances – the AFA had banned opposing fans in an effort to crack down on violence. When the second leg tickets went on sale to the general public at the Monumental stadium, I faced a dilemma – I liked Boca, but how could I see them play live in a crowd of gallinas?

La Bombonera. By #Hernán# on Flickr.

It was so simple – camouflage.

None of my expat friends cared to accompany me for fear of death, injury, hurt feelings, etc. And my Argentine friends? Olvidatelo! Still, I found a scalped ticket on mercadolibre, bought a cheap River jersey, and the night of the match headed towards Belgrano for the ultimate soccer spiritual encounter.

The flares, the flags, the songs…you’ve seen it on youtube before. I lost my voice from uttering so many pre-match Argentina Spanish pejoratives, attempting to fit in. I could only afford a seat in the upper level popular, a standing room only pen where there is only the law of the jungle. And this is not the jungle of Disney Junglebook fame. I followed the waves of running, jumping, and avoiding getting trampled, at times wishing I’d spent my time on the safe streets of Pamplona instead.

The first half ended 0-0. As the second half grew on, self-belief diminished and anger flourished. When River scored deep into the half, the crowd erupted in a pandemonium usually reserved for recently deposed despots. But then came my moment truth, the exact second when I realized I was at heart a true Boca Jrs. fan. And an idiot.

Boca launched an innocuous counter-attack but Carlos Tevez took on and beat two defenders, rifling a shot to the upper angle. Instinctively, I stood up and raised my hands in excitement and adoration. Boca was tied but winning! Boca was going to the final! Instantly, I saw my own death at the hands of a ravenous horde.

That split-second lasted an eternity. I thought of the flags and drums crushing my skulls, the thousands of hands tearing my jersey to threads. By the grace of God, I caught myself before shouting. Still, hundreds of eyes glued themselves to my face. It was as if I had been listening to a Mana song while at a funeral, and abruptly stood up to sing the chrous.

And then, in a moment of death-inspired-brilliance, I unleashed the longest, filthiest, and ludest string of Spanish words to ever grace the ear of man. I became a method actor – and my motivation was salvation. To my relief, others popped up besides me and echoed my feigned sentiments. Soon I led a chorus of boos and hisses, the conducting music man with a briefcase full of money, no trombones, and a worsening nervous tick.

Things finally settled down and, to everyone else’s delight, River scored an equalizer in injury time. After extra-time, the game went to the lottery of penalties. This time, though, I exercised extreme jaw control when Boca advanced after some key Abbondanzieri saves. Watching the thousands of River fans exit the stadium in dead silence created conflicting emotions of pity, contempt, and interest.

No cabs dared patrol the city that late at night after such a big game. I was left to trek the mazey city blocks of Buenos Aires by myself all the way to Scalabrini Ortiz & Corrientes. Still, I pulled my jacket over the jersey and whistled along the way. I was just happy to be alive.

Read more from Elliott at Futfanatico

First, the unavoidable: River Plate have been crowned champions of Argentina for the first time in four years. A 2-1 win at home to Olimpo de Bahía Blanca on Sunday, combined with Estudiantes’ simultaneous goalless draw against relegation strugglers Colón, was enough to hand the Millonarios the title with a match to spare. Hot young forward Diego Buonanotte was the man-of-the-match, scoring both goals for the hosts (and both very good ones at that), and has in fact been widely hailed, alongside a revitalised Ariel Ortega, as the side’s most important player of the campaign – top scorer, despite not playing as the main striker, and without a doubt the player who’s shown the most improvement under Diego Simeone in the ex-Estudiantes boss’s first six months in charge at River.

The fact that this title has come in Simeone’s first campaign in charge, six months after River were a dismal 14^th in the Apertura under Daniel Passarella, is one of the more interesting points regarding the end to their trophy drought. A six-month turnaround like that would be impressive enough on its own (in fact it mirrors the transformation Ramón Díaz, River’s most successful ever manager, made with San Lorenzo this time last year), but it’s also Simeone’s second league title as a manager – a career he only embarked on two-and-a-half years ago. Having proven that the 2006 Apertura he claimed with Estudiantes was no fluke, he’ll now set about getting River to play the way he wants them to, because in spite of winning the title, he’s still not arrived at his ideal set-up yet. Expect to see the selección‘s second most capped player ever managing in Europe before long.

Getting the title race wrapped up at this stage, one match before the end of the season, could actually have prevented a bit of an anti-climax, because there’s a two-week gap between the most recent round of matches and the final weekend, thanks to the South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup taking place this week; Argentina playing Ecuador and Brazil. Whilst the final weekend won’t be too exciting at the top of the table when the club game reconvenes, though, the relegation struggle could scarcely be any tighter.

In the round of matches just passed, both of the title-effecting matches also had a bearing on the other end of the table. Olimpo’s defeat and Colón’s failure to win (after referee Héctor Baldassi failed to award a clear penalty in their favour with five minutes remaining) combined with Racing’s second win of the Clausura, 1-0 over Huracán, to leave the troubled Avellaneda giants safe at last from direct relegation. They’ve got a chance on the last day to avoid even the relegation playoffs. Colón are currently safe, and stand one point above Racing. Colón host Racing on the final day. It’s fair to say a dull encounter isn’t likely.

Racing are also the subject of the third, and perhaps most interesting point of this article. It’s certainly the point which comes closest to the original Pitch Invasion ethos of fan culture. The weekend before last, on the 31^st May, saw Independiente ‘host’ Racing (the match was played in Vélez Sársfield’s ground due to Independiente’s current groundshare with Racing whilst their own stadium is redeveloped) in the clásico de Avellaneda, the country’s second biggest derby behind the super. The match was a fairly uneventful 0-0, but off the pitch something interesting, if under-reported, was going on.

The match saw an experiment with stadium security which could prove either inspired, or the most stupid thing imaginable. After one trial run, nothing can be said for certain. But sit down before you read the next sentence. In the home end, Independiente’s barra brava provided the official security in the stand behind the goal. The product of talks between the Independiente hierarchy and an NGO, the plan saw 65 barras deployed as private security officers, with identifying jackets and walkie-talkies, for the match.

There are advantages: the barras, being recognised by their peers and perhaps feared by other fans, occupy areas of the stands the police simply aren’t safe going into, and they’re a lot cheaper than hiring professional security forces. The move also seems to be further confirmation that Pablo ‘Bebote‘ Alvarez, the capo of the Independiente barra, is indeed going through a process of personal reinvention as a more socially conscientious individual.

The part-time lawkeepers didn’t encounter any problems from other fans and were paid AR$150 (around US$50) for their services for the match, and observers from the authorities of the City of Buenos Aires were reportedly impressed by how the experiment went. But for the Olé article linked to above, it passed almost unremarked in the print press, and may well go no further. If the system gets used again, though, it could either prove a turning-point in Latin America’s struggle against football violence, or just authorise the barras to keep on doing whatever the hell they want. Interesting though the experiment was, one shudders to think what might have happened had it been tried with a more active set of barras such as those of River, Boca or Newell’s…

A title win, a relegation struggle to the wire and a fascinating new take on sporting security in the last week-and-a-half, then. There are still places in the Copas Libertadores and Sudamericana to play for, as well as deciding those relegation slots (Olimpo and Gimnasia de Jujuy to decide whether they go down automatically or go into the playoffs, Racing and Colón’s head-to-head to decide the battle for 16^th spot in the Promedio). For the country’s most domestically successful club, though, the party’s started already. Four years might not be a long gap between title for many sides, but for River Plate, it’s been an eternity. A promising young manager and yet another potential young Argentine attacking phenomenon have helped them to put that right at last.

Finally, be sure to vote in the Hasta El Gol Siempre Award for Best Argentine Footballer in a Foreign League.

Photo credit: juze1980, via the Hasta El Gol Siempre Flickr pool

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.

This Sunday, in a city at the centre of a large slice of the world’s footballing history, two sides will come together for one of the most legendary fixtures in the calendar. Both have been champions of their continent, both have provided players who became legends of the game locally and globally. Both, at this stage of the season, are fighting for the title.

‘The Milan derby,’ I hear you say, ‘with both sides fighting for the title?’ Well, no, because although the folk who sell Serie A’s TV rights would love you to think otherwise, the derby della Madonnina will not, in fact, be the fiercest footballing rivalry to take place on Sunday afternoon. Because a couple of hours later, in the docklands of Buenos Aires, Boca Juniors host River Plate.

Italy has its own colourfully-named derbies, and across the Spanish-speaking world there are various clásicos and, in Spain, even el gran clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Only Argentines, though, with their country’s supporters divided roughly one-third to Boca, one-third River, and one-third the rest, have enough nerve (or simply endearing lack of modesty) to label their own great clash the superclásico [Editor's note: MLS has the cheek to do so as well nowadays, as the Galaxy play Chivas USA in the Honda sponsored Super Clasico!].

The 2008 superclásico

This year’s clashes – this weekend’s is the first competitive meeting between the sides in 2008 – will be given a little added historical significance because the super is one-hundred years old in August. Not that any extra spice is needed – over the last century the fixture has seen more than its fair share of action, as well as the worst stadium disaster in the history of Argentine football. After a dreary 0-0 at the Monumental in June 1968, Boca fans began to leave the ground but found their way blocked. Either the doors of Gate 12 were left locked, or the police refused to allow the fans to leave right away, or a combination of the two – to this day the situation’s not entirely clear. Whatever the cause, the result was a mass crush which left 71 people dead. ‘The Tragedy of Gate 12′ has still never been officially investigated.

The darkest point in the history of the super, then, isn’t in dispute, but the story’s not all so dreary. Both sides were founded in the dockside district of La Boca at the turn of the twentieth century, River a few years before Boca. In the face of the rapid urbanisation Buenos Aires was undergoing at the time, playing space became hard to come by, and the two local clubs played a match to decide which club would stay in the area and which had to move on. That’s the urban legend at least – River did indeed move on after losing the match 2-1, and now play in the northern barrio of Núñez, whilst Boca are still based in the barrio they take their name from today, but the reasons for ‘betting’ the teritory on the match are murky.

With the sides playing in separate leagues for much of the following few years, the first officially-recorded super took place in Racing’s stadium in 1913, with River winning by the same scoreline as their defeat of five years previously.

These days, the two are established as by far the biggest clubs in Argentina, and the match between them gets far and away the most international exposure of any domestic game in the Americas. It’s been good fun for River lately – they’ve not lost to Boca in a competitive match since the 2005 Apertura, although the same time period hasn’t been quite so good trophy-wise; their last title came in the 2004 Clausura, four years ago. To that end, this Sunday’s super is going to feel a little different. River go to La Bombonera joint top of the table with Estudiantes, whilst Boca, in fourth, are four points back. A draw wouldn’t be a disaster for either side but the chances of them playing for that are zero, even with the match sandwiched as it is between the two legs of the Copa Libertadores first knockout round. A win for River would all but end Boca’s league hopes, with five matches left, whilst a home win would get them right back in the hunt.

It’s a sign of just how massive the super is that Argentine papers are already discussing team selection and preparation for it in spite of the fact that both sides have those Libertadores first legs to play first, in midweek. River travel to San Lorenzo in an all-Buenos Aires clash whilst Boca host Brazilian side Cruzeiro in a tie that would seem a lot trickier were it not for the fact that Brazilian clubs universally seem to fear Boca regardless of current form or indeed their own abilities. As well as these big matches, this weekend is also showtime at the bottom of the Argentine first division.

There Are Other Games

Last time I wrote for Pitch Invasion, Racing were having a dire time, but a few weeks ago, to the astonishment of their fans and the joy even of some supporters of the other four of Argentina’s ‘Big Five’, they claimed their first win of 2008, 1-0 against Arsenal de Sarandí. That was the second of what’s now four straight matches without defeat, although the other three have been draws. The run hasn’t yet got Racing out of the relegation zone, although Saturday could help – they visit Rosario Central, with whom they’re currently dead level in the relegation points average table, in what might be termed a six-pointer, if the Argentine league operated a normal relegation system. San Martín also host Olimpo in what’s likely to be a slightly less intense affair; both sides, newly promoted, look doomed, although if the hosts win they can drag Gimnasia de Jujuy into the automatic relegation spots and replace them in the relegation playoff places, at least for the moment.

Whatever else happens, there’s a season-defining week ahead for more than just the most famous two of Argentina’s clubs. Some things will look much clearer in ten days’ time – and on Sunday in La Bombonera, the fireworks will be the least of the entertainment.

You can find the Argentine tables – league, goalscorers and relegation – on this page, whilst all the superclásico buildup, reports and aftermath, as well of course as coverage of Argentina’s Copa Libertadores and relegation struggles, gets top billing on Hasta El Gol Siempre.

Photos by Sam Kelly on Flickr.

Photo credit: kimochan on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.