Buenos Aires is already one of my favourite cities and it was great to return this time for a 10 day football frenzy. I was to join 10 Dutch lads and 2 Belgians on the trip, all of which spoke Dutch fluently but for my benefit frequently spoke in perfect English!
Game 1 was the renowned San Lorenzo from an incredibly rough neighbourhood of BA. During my previous visit I had never seen anything quite like this. The club dine out on their reputation and play up to it… songs along the line of “They say we are all crazy in the head, we drink (cheap) wine from the bottle, we smoke all the marijuana, oooh San Lorenzo”, actually an incredibly catchy tune! Our guide for the day was noticeably on edge and very nervous en route in our private mini bus to the stadium. As we pulled down the Main Street with many fans pre gaming and partying they saw our bus and started singing towards it as we did our best from inside to try and show our support without drawing more attention to our bus (which stuck out like a sore thumb).
It was deemed too dangerous to cross the street to grab a beer from the street vendor as we waited for our tickets to miraculously appear, I won’t say where they came from but tourist fans aren’t so welcome here. The prior week the ultras spotted the group and demanded money to allow them to enter. The guide was comfortable we were physically safe maybe just not financially if we were spotted.
The game was terrible but it was an experience and great to be sitting over looking the ultras. San Lorenzo won with a late penalty after a 15 minute VAR review… naturally only 8 minutes of injury time was played despite the 15 minute delay… welcome to Argentinian football!
My time after BA was only pencilled in (Brazil) as being in Argentina for the penultimate round of games I wanted to have the option to hang around in case the title came down to the wire… and it certainly looked like it was going to! Runaway minnow leaders, Tucaman, had been clawed back after some terribly unlucky performances, now Boca (nicknamed Xeneize) and Racing were hot on their heels and soon to overtake! Therefore it looked like it was going to come down to a final day of the season battle! Boca (playing Racings fierce rivals) and Racing doing the exact same (playing Bocas fierce rivals River Plate). Unbeknown to me, as all teams involved were from BA, there were some very tense police discussions on how to keep the fans separate depending on who should win the title!
Through contacts made there I managed to source a ticket for Bocas last game of the season, they needed to match or better Racing to win the league and what unfolded that afternoon was truly incredible!
The streets were packed three hours before kick off, flags hanging everywhere, fireworks and a lot of drinks being sank. Officially tourists are not allowed in the stadium but they manage to get in through contacts, or companies like the one I joined earlier etc. for this game even though I got my ticket separately I managed to tag along with the same company for safety and to join their pregame party.
Entering the stadium I was in the already packed bottom tier and no chance I could find my front row seat so I took a seat on the second row on the aisle near the half way line. I was right where the Boca team comes out sitting near some WAGs and family members, which only became apparent at the end when they were invited on the pitch to see their loved ones!
The atmosphere before kick off was wild! Hundreds of flags, songs for over an hour without a moments silence, full stand TIFO / banners and then the match itself. The atmosphere soon turned tense when Boca went down 0-1 to a soft penalty! But in South America they say the time to make the most noise is when you concede! So the fans started up again urging their team on and it duly worked and Boca pulled it back to 1-1 and Mayhem in the stands. One goal at Racing could still change it all… however Boca decided to try put their fate in their own hands and went 2-1 which was instantly pulled back to 2-2 and then news went around that Racing was 1-1. Still advantage Boca, just. Then as injury time approached Racing were awarded a 89th minute penalty to essentially win a historic league title… The River Boca rivalry is one of the most fierce in the world and in the 89th minute the River Plate goalkeeper saved the (pathetic) Racing penalty to gift Boca and their bitter rivals an unlikely League Title! As news filtered through the penalty had been missed the stadium went full throttle into party mode and then moments later it was all over! Campeones otra vez! And one of the most impressive firework displays I have ever seen to accompany the trophy presentation!
After the game in the mini bus to the city centre to join the street parties I made a comment to the group saying how sad it must be for the Racing firework team to have to dismantle the show they would have had planned just in case. My mate Johnny piped up having (unbeknown to me) previously worked in pyrotechnics and said that dismantling an unused show is incredibly difficult – dangerous and very slow! That certainly added insult to injury. I did feel for the Racing fans.
The following day the Racing team were met at their own stadium with banners berating them from their own fans! Cowards and other words to that affect plastered all over the players entrance.
Between the penultimate and final game I spent three nights in Montevideo, the highlight was maybe the drive there through fantastic open fields as far as the eye could see and of course a visit to the infamous Centanario stadium. Aside from that I did the major sights but didn’t think much of the city.
Moving on to Rio I stayed right on Copacabana with a sea view. Another fantastic city! Once again the highlights here were more football! Flamengo at the Maracana and Botafoga in the now weary looking 2016 Olympic Stadium. Maybe 8/9 thousand fans at the second game, but they made a terrific amount of noise. Both games were the first time for both clubs that their fiercest ultra groups had been allowed back in the stadium in two years. The two rival clubs met over two years ago in what sadly descended into a very violent and deadly riot, as such the ultra groups responsible were duly banned for two years which expired during my visit to both stadiums.
