Welcome back once more, for a weekly fix of Argentine football drama. Expect bad refereeing decisions, worse managerial decisions and thousands of people who should know better wearing the same colours and jumping up and down in unison.
A strange week for me in that due to moving house and prior commitments I stayed away from the various canchas of Buenos Aires. That’s right, a football free weekend, weird. I was planning to branch out into other sporting arenas and check out some Pato, but bad weather meant I couldn’t even do this. Apparently horses don’t like it when it’s so wet the grass turns into an ice rink. Interesting idea though…
I’m sure many of you are scratching your heads now and thinking, “what the hell is Pato?” Well I’m writing an article as soon as the heavens close and we have a dry day here, so all will be revealed. All I’ll say now is that it’s a mix between Polo and Basketball, and the fact that it used to be played with a live duck trapped inside a basket shows that it has be pretty good.
But never fear, attention has duly been paid to the events of Fecha 15, and so I humbly present them to you:
No Love Lost in Rosario:
While many people think El Superclasico between Boca and River is the biggest game of the season, in Rosario and in my opinion the Clasico Rosarino between Newell’s Old Boys and Rosario Central is the game with most tension, suspense and pure hatred. It’s a matter of maths; while in Buenos Aires people are spoilt for choice when it comes to teams, in Argentina’s second city there’s no room for choice- you are either a lepra or a canalla. The two played out an entertaining 2-2 draw Sunday afternoon in a game marred by recurrent crowd violence, with the game being stopped at one point after a knife was thrown onto the pitch. Central raced into a 2-0 lead after only 20 mins, and looked to be in the driving seat. However they were let down by sloppy defending and the game was level by half-time, and stayed this way through a tepid second half. Newell’s as a result lost their share of the top spot in the league, dropping two points behind leaders Banfield.
Could it be?
Unfashionable Banfield meanwhile produced a great effort to beat Independiente 2-1 as visitors. Rojo legend Darío Gandín fired the home team into an early lead, with only three minutes played as the “other” Avellaneda team looked to build on their own recent good form. Two Banfield goals in the second half however secured a sixth successive win, and with breathing space now at the top and with only four games to play a first ever national title is very much possible.
Boca Back to Business:
After recent poor form and a habit of letting leads slip, Boca Juniors made no mistake in crushing Gimnasia L.P 4-0 at La Bombonera. Los Bosteros were in charge throughout the game, and the result could have been even more comprehensive. Federico Insua was the pick of the players, scoring either side of half time to make sure this time Boca would not waste a good start.
No, nothing to see here:
Down at the bottom Racing Club went down 4-2 to Vélez Sarsfield in Liniers. A first half opener for La academia thanks to an own goal from Velez defender Gaston Diaz gave fans hope of an upset, especially after the fantastic result last week against Estudiantes L.P. However Velez promptly scored four unanswered goals as a response, and a late consolation from substitute Grazzini did nothing to hide the comprehensive defeat. Racing remain in the relegation play-off positions, and to compound matters Atletico Tucumán’s 2-1 triumph over Chacarita Juniors means that Los Decanos are now snapping at the heels of Avellaneda’s premier club.
Full Results of Fecha 15:
|
Estudiantes L.P. |
3 |
1 |
Tigre |
|
Lanús |
3 |
0 |
Colón |
|
Huracán |
0 |
2 |
San Lorenzo de A. |
|
At. Tucumán |
2 |
1 |
Chacarita Jrs. |
|
Independiente |
1 |
2 |
Banfield |
|
N.O. Boys |
2 |
2 |
Rosario Ctral. |
|
Boca Jrs. |
4 |
0 |
G. y Esgrima L.P. |
|
Godoy Cruz (Mza.) |
1 |
1 |
River Plate |
|
Argentinos Jrs. |
1 |
1 |
Arsenal F.C. |
|
Vélez Sarsfield |
4 |
2 |
Racing Club |
Ridiculous Argentine stitch-up of the Week:
So in almost every league in the world, the matter of promotion and relegation is pretty straight-forward. The teams that have the least points at the end of the year, adios and goodbye. Simple no? But here they do a things a little differently. Relegation is decided by a team’s average points over three years, which means small newly-promoted clubs are disadvantaged immensely and usually return straight back down. Meanwhile the “big 5” clubs only need one decent season out of three to be assured of the spoils of top-flight football forever. Far be it from me to say some sort of corruption and political interference could be involved here, in Argentina of all places. Hmm….
Hero of the Week:
League leaders Banfield owe much of their success this season to prolific Uruguayan Santiago Silva, and so it proved again on Saturday as he popped up with yet another match-winning strike. Silva is the top scorer in the Argentine primera with 12 goals, and if he carries on this rich vein of form he could well be adding the accolade of leading goal scorer to a historic championship medal.
Boludos of the Week:
No contest with this one. Los Guerreros, the barra brava of Rosario Central, proved once again why these organisations are such a cancer in Argentine football. Deprived of the chance to scrap against their Newell’s rivals, they instead turned on the (admittedly up for a scrap also) police and their fellow fans. Eight were injured in conflicts, over 50 arrested and dozens of knives, firearms and bombs (!) confiscated. Clarín reported the story of one unfortunate canalla, who was jumped, beaten and had his ticket stolen by the barra before the game. A story that definitively proves these scumbags are in no way shape or form football fans, and that their presence in Argentine football harms legitimate football fans merely wanting to watch their heroes.
That’s this week in Argentine football through my eyes. I’m off to suggest horse ice-hockey as a sport to whoever will listen. Suerte!
