Oh, South America, what would we do if you didn't raise crazy to a new level on almost a weekly basis?
More than 100 fans were involved in a riot four hours before Sunday's Boca Juniors' kick at the Bombonera.
Okay, rioting bad. But, eh, not completely out of character for South American fans. But Boca fans didn't clash with their opposition, Argentinos Juniors. They fought amongst themselves.
From the Guardian: "It was the second successive week that rival factions of [Boca's supporters group] The 12 have fought before a game. Last week, dozens were arrested during a pitched battle before the game away to Independiente."
Among the wounded? A 55-year-old man, and an 85-year-old woman. The latter was hit in the leg... with a bullet, while the former—and here's where this gets substantially less funny—suffered a serious head wound.
But Argentinos Juniors fans were not without their own action if Boca fans didn't want to riot with them. No, they fought with Racing fans even though they were involved in seperate matches. Buses carrying supporters of the respective teams crossed paths in Buenos Aires so rival fans took the opportunity to stone each others' buses.
Argentina, it's like South America wanted it's own Ohio, only burning furniture wasn't quite good enough.
Monday, March 16, 2009
In Argentina This is a Documentary
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Riquelme a criminal?
Riquelme had claimed after the match that the young man - who on Monday appeared on national TV giving his version of events - had been insulting the team throughout the match and looked very nervous after the player had celebrated his second goal. Quite how Riquelme heard this one supporter’s shouting above the Bombonera crowd, he didn’t explain. He did explain what he’d said, though: ‘I only pointed out to him that now, he was celebrating the goal.’
Our tour of South American soccer madness continues this week, this time from perhaps the most famous player/club/stadium on the whole continent. Boca Juniors midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme, after scoring the winning goal against Racing Club, then called out a heckler in the stands. Apparently the result was brawl in the stands involving said fan after Riquelme called him out, and now the district attorney wants to charge the Boca player with inciting violence.
So far this story has been picked up mostly by spanish language media (see here, for example) but Hasta el Gol Siempre has a good recap in english:After rifling in what proved to be the winning goal, Riquelme ran to the executive boxes and pointedly singled out one fan, who had earlier been insulting the playmaker for reasons best known to himself (but which, at a guess, may have something to do with his form for club and country earlier in the year). There were scuffles in the stands around the fan and Zapata wants to see Riquelme brought up for ‘inciting disorder at a sporting event’.
I'm not sure what the problem is here, really. Seems to me this sort of thing happens every other week with Didier Drogba, but I guess he's lucky he doesn't play in Buenos Aires. And its not like the various supporters groups in Argentina don't, you know, murder each other with regularity. Riquelme talking shit to a heckler seems pretty innocuous in comparison.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Riquelme wearing out his welcome in BA?
‘Riquelme when he plays for the Selección is more motivated than when he plays for Boca,’ Cáceres told the interviewer, making a statement plenty of Argentina fans would probably disagree quite strongly with given JRR’s performances for both his club and his country so far this year. ‘He could be tired or mentally “saturated”,’ the Paraguayan continued, not so much hitting the nail on the head as driving it home with a sledgehammer. ‘When you don’t have any motivation, you need to spend a bit of time on the sidelines.’ Cáceres compared Riquelme unfavourably with attacking partner Martín Palermo, a man who for all his successes with the club he’s supported all his life, remains hungry for more. The response from Riquelme, who’s currently training separately from the rest of the Argentine squad in an effort to regain fitness due to a metatarsal problem, was scathing. ‘He’s left all his former clubs in the wrong manner,’ said Riquelme, whose exits from first Barcelona and Villarreal I must have dreamt. ‘The only thing [Cáceres] wants is to cause trouble. If he wanted to leave Boca, there was no need to pick on me.’ He’s certainly got a point there, and it might be added that if Cáceres didn’t want to leave Boca, he could equally have spoken out about any of Argentina’s other players from the squad this week. Where this is going we’ll find out…
Not surprisingly, the knives are coming out. Riquelme's teammate, defender Julio Cesar Caceres, told a Paraguayan radio station this week that Riquelme wasn't giving 100% on the pitch. Of course, Riqeulme's lack of pace is legendary, and he was often accused of a similar lassiez faire attitude in Spain. But criticism from one of his own teammates at a club where he regarded as something of a god is surely a sign that he is beginning to lose it, right?
Perhaps, but as the incomparable HEGS notes, Caceres is from Paraguay, who are currently ahead of Argentina in qualifying:In an international week, though, he didn’t miss the opportunity to turn the interview with Paraguay’s Radio Católica Cáritas into a tirade against certain aspects of the Argentine selección. [Deposed goalkeeper] Caranta met on Tuesday with Boca manager Carlos Ischia, but wasn’t entirely satisfied with the reasons Ischia gave him for his sidelining. Cáceres spoke about that situation but saved the main portion of his criticism for Boca captain Riquelme.
Palermo, who blew out his knee at the beginning of the season, is one reason for Boca's struggles, but the inconsistent results this season are more a result of a young squad coping with the usual summer exodus (and continued transfer rumors) of the more established players to Europe. Ischia's curious selection and tactics have also played a role (are you Juande Ramos in disguise?).
Anyways, according to HEGS, Riquelme fired back:
Boca's president has also come to the defense of his embattled star, and Mr. Caceres might be looking for alternative employment come springtime. Meanwhile, Argentina plays archrival Uruguay in Buenos Aires on Sunday, while Paraguay travel to Colombia. Brazil, who are somehow still managed by Dunga, travel to Venezuela. Both of the South American heavyweights have dropped points in qualifying and will be looking to put in convincing perfomances this week.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Welcome back again, Juan Roman Riquelme
Boca Juniors beat River Plate 2-0 on Saturday night in the Torneo de Verano (it's a summer tournament somewhat akin to spring training), and offered some clear evidence of why they are one of the favorites to win the upcoming Clausura. After the jump, find out why I have a huge man crush on Juan Roman Riquelme.
Riquelme, of course, is the main reason for optimism in La Boca. After the horrible gag job that Ricardo La Volpe presided over in the 2006 Apertura, Boca Juniors were able to take the disgruntled Riquelme on loan from Villareal at the beginning of 2007. While they weren't able to win the league, Juan Roman was instrumental in Boca's victorious campaign in the Copa Libertadores. Boca again were flat in last fall's Apertura, as Riquelme was sent back to Villareal. But now that he has moved back to Buenos Aires for good, Boca should be contenders in every competition they enter this year. He appears determined to show his critics he is still world-class. Riquelme was launching some verbal volleys at River Plate prior to Saturdays game. Hell, he's even found his way back into a starring role for the national team, after retiring from international football because it made his mom cry.
In Saturday night's beat down of River, a mini-Superclasico, Riquelme was his usual commanding self, creating chances with precision passes (highlights here). The knock on him is that he isn't really suited for the modern game, because speed isn't one of his strengths. He likes to play a slower, more deliberate style, which doesn't always mesh with his teammates or managers. Certainly he would be terrible in the EPL, but why Villareal's braintrust - specifically Manuel Pellegrini - decided to not even let him train with the first team, much less see the pitch in La Liga, is a total mystery. Maybe its a Chilean-Argie thing, or maybe Pellegrini didn't like to take orders from Maradona. Its amazing how fast he fell out of favor at Villareal, considering he was instrumental in their magical run to the semifinals in the 2005-2006 Champions League.
As for the rest of Boca, Martin Palermo looks the same as ever, and he will definitely benefit from improved service. Nery Cardozo is still dangerous on the flanks, and he still rocks the nastiest rat tail I've ever seen. Boca overhauled their backline, which was a problem last year, and brought in a couple of Paraguayan center backs. The defense looked pretty solid against River. As for Los Millionarios, they were shitty, which is pretty much par for the course over the past few years. Ariel Ortega, who was warmly cheered on a freezing day at the Estadio Monumental when he returned to the club in August 2006, looks very old and probably doesn't have much in the tank. The one bright spot for River, and this is based solely on what I saw on FSC between pints of Guinness, is that they have a young winger who looks like the second coming of Cristiano Ronaldo. He made a couple of runs down the left side, and showed some nice stepover skillzz. Didn't score, though. Kind of like a 2004 vintage C Ron.
As the only UFer who follows Argentine football (I think), I intend to offer at least occasional updates when the Clausura kicks off next month. In the meantime, check out the new national team shirt. (NSFW)
Photo from CABJ official site.
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