Superclasico- River Plate vs. Boca Juniors

10/28/2012

Armed guards, cages, barricades, smoke flares, confetti (essentially, thousands of pages of work emails, english lessons, and history exams ripped to shreds by hand) and an inflated pig. The barricades and cages are not a joke. The visiting team had its own section of the stadium, walled-off from the home team because it is impossible for them to co-exist in the same location and for peace to reign; and all this was before the actual game had begun.

  River Plate celebrating goal No. 2


 
 

Georgia – Florida, Army – Navy, Ohio State – Michigan, Duke – North Carolina, and Louisville – ­­Kentucky are all some of the most heated rivalries known in American sports. In futebol they refer to them  as “classicos” or “derbies.” Essentially these games are typically annual or semi-annual encounters by rival teams, either in the same city or leagues. My top 5 classicos are:

•      El Classico (Spain) – Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
•      Milan Derby (Italy) – AC Milan vs. Inter Milan 
•      London Derby (England) – Chelsea vs. Arsenal 
•      Manchester Derby (England) – Manchester United vs. Manchester City 
•      Super Classico (Argentina) – River Plate vs. Boca Juniors

On Sunday, the Super Classico between River Plate and Boca Juniors put the heat in heated rivalry. This game was bigger than most of their previous encounters because they had not played in over 18 months, as such, there was a lot of pent-up aggression. River Plate was relegated to the second division for the entire 2011 season and as a result the two teams have not played since late 2010. Like so many of my experiences in South America so far, words and pictures are not enough to capture the experience. Energetic, exciting, vulgar, dangerous, entertaining, and fun are just a few words that come to mind.

Too busy watching the game to bother selling coke..

Me and Roni, another EY fellow, taking in the excitement

Before the game – Notice no blue and yellow jersey (Boca’s colors) anywhere remotely close to the red and white (River Plate colors)

Some fans spend more time watching and insulting the opposing fans than actually watching the game.  

Some risk safety just to be seen defying the opposing team

Others hurl chairs, diapers, plastic bottles over the barricade during the game (yup! Those are the bases of many chairs that have been ripped apart!)

   

Boca Juniors’ first goal – via penalty kick

 

 A video of the electric atmosphere at the game

I have been lucky enough to watch some major soccer tournaments, on what I perceive to be a “grander scale” but this experience trumps them all. I was honestly a little disappointed by the quality of the actual game on the pitch, but the entire viewing experience definitely takes top spot.



The game ended in a very dramatic fashion with Boca Junior scoring 2 goals in the final 15 minutes to tie the game. The second was scored in the final minute of the game, with the celebration, gesturing, and chair throwing that ensued; you would think a championship was on the line. But for many in Argentina, this was just another league game between rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors who sit 6th and 9th, respectively, on the league table only a third of the way into the season.



For me, and the several dozen tourists in our group that took in this experience, it was pure entertainment pleasure. Thanks to Trevor and Daniel for setting this up, and to LandingPadBA for an enjoyable experience that was “close enough” to all the action but still safe.