Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Argentinos Juniors and the city of goals - ericverschoor

Speak of “City of God” and everybody knows where to look in an atlas. What about “City of Goals”? I am sure many would put in a shout for that title. Cold numbers show that Buenos Aires has the highest number of League Grounds within it’s limits, bar one (sorry, you’ll have to google it, or guess).

Of course this doesn't guarantee you will get a netbashing fest whatever match you decide to attend. Studying this semester’s fixtures, I went for a season ticket at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium; recently refurbished and enlarged (2004) home of Argentinos Juniors. River, Racing, Boca and San Lorenzo were due a visit. Wallet health played a part too.

Surely the words “Maradona Stadium” , “refurbished” and "enlarged" got your imagination going. A Great stadium to honour the the Great(est) player. Hold it. Next thing you know a Tsunami will be needed to get you closer to reality. Think of it as an indigent’s Highbury. Small pitch, bang in the middle of a neighborhood.

Yesterday it was Boca Juniors’ turn.

On Saturday night San Lorenzo, top of the heap, 4 points clear of Boca, unexpectedly lost against the “Villan’s” Velez. Boca decided to hand in a full strength teamsheet in what could be a key game in their persuit of the “Double” (League+Libertadores). Argentinos had already harvested 6 points from games againt River and Racing in their allotment-size pitch. Riquelme, part of the last golden batch from the Argentinos quarry, snatched by Boca at 16, would be playing his first game in La Paternal. Omens were good.

Argentinos presented a rigid 4-4-2 a la Graham’s Arsenal. Boca, 4-3-Riquelme-2. It was clear from the start thar Boca would have control of the ball and Argentinos sit back looking to counter attack. Lured by the unusual size of the goal when viewed from half way, Boca started to put people forward indiscriminately and it wasn’t long before Argentinos had 2 clear chances (1 wrongly invalidated score). Boca controlled leather and ground, but appeared to be just a sum of individual efforts. Clearly, the team on the pitch was Argentinos.

Like a bully who doesnt realise it is being outwitted, Boca kept on going forward idea-less, only to find out that Argentinos had fine tuned its finishing and deservedly were two goals up (Choy and Nunez). Both scores were textbook fast breaks: deep middfield ball recovery, short one-touch offload, quick long square pass for a wide open player who would storm down the pitch and cross the ball for the forwards, loosely marked one-on-one by returning defenders. Twice the ball went from boot to hair to nylon. Argentinos’ tactics proved to be spot-on (horrid Boca defending aside). Maybe too successful. 65 minutes still ahead.

Surprisingly it was Argentinos who appeared to be fazed by the unexpected state of the affair. An over-zealous result-preservation instinct kicked in. A robust 4-4-2 turned into a bus-like 6-3-1. With only a lone striker to fear, Boca started the siege. Boca had only managed to muster a string of half chances when their deficit was halved 10 minutes before halftime: it had to be something special. It was. A majestic long range shot, ball crossing the line up there, where spiders web (Cardozo). By half time you couldnt avoid the feeling that everything was set for an epic comeback.

Nothing changed at the start of the second half. Argentinos’s dicipline and efectiveness was a distant memory. Boca placed men wide open on both flanks and its fullbacks resembled well oiled pistons of a powerful V12. Defending was’t bad, but the Law of Probability plays against you when crosses shower. 15 minutes into the half Palermo (B) pounced onto the inevitable missclearance and the game was tied. 30 minutes to go.

The stands drapped in blue and gold were roaring. More so five minutes later when Ibarra (B-rigthback), who has the habit of scoring decisive wondergoals, dribbled past a defender and 25 meters out, launched an unstoppable left foot missile. We all saw it comming. A minute later Pontirolli (A-Gkeeper) saved a free header. Could Argentinos stop the rot?

There was plenty of time left (25 min), but the players in red had the semblance of a convict on death row. It was their manager who triggered a change in attitude when the substituted the man in charge of Riquelme with an offensive midfielder (Cordoba x Ortigoza). The gamble paid off 7 minutes later. From a free kick gained by himself, Cordoba crossed and found the head of Joy...sorry Choy, who placed the ball superbly. 3 red headers, 3 goals.

Still circa 15 minutes left and this game had new life in it. The home team could see that their opponents, despite greater quality, started to show the effects of playing middweek, and accepted the blow for blow proposition. Both teams had now a 4-2-4 shape. Middfield was mere transit area and both sets of fans were chanting their guts out.

Palermo had it once, saved by Pontirolli. Argentinos had it twice, the last one just a whisper wide (another header). Amid frantic tempo last resort defending was king.

In the end it was a tie. There was something for everyone in it. Boca came back from 2 down to shave off at least a point from San Lorenzo’s lead. Argentinos certified once again that its castle has thick walls. I enjoyed 6 nice goals and great entertainment. And Buenos Aires has strengthened its claim to be the “City of Goals”.

Man of the Match: Choy (A). Riquelme? I will have to check in the newspapers if he actually made it to the stadium.

78 comments:

Unknown said...

eric - there's so much in this piece i like...

boca's formation: Boca, 4-3-Riquelme-2. brilliant.

i hope you don't mind i asked the site editor to put this up as an article. :)

i often think GU should do it too: sometimes comments are standalone articles in themselves.

pipita said...

Have to quote myself here, as I already posted my comments on this piece in Paulita's blog. I'll be back once the thread develops

Nice one Erin. Enjoyed that. You should have sent it as an article for Pseuds. Im sure Ebren would have been more than glad to screen it. What part of the stadium where you?? Theirs actually a book by Simon Inglis called "Sightlines. A Stadium Odissy" that actually has four chapters dedicated to Buenos Aires football grounds, each one of them entitled "La ciudad de los estadios", really good stuff. Unfortunately I was at the monumental yesterday enduring the very dull River-Indpenediente game and the idiotic fanaticism of fans with no memory or gratitude towards Passarella who was not only jeered but also had things thrown at him, even a radio...Enfuriating for anyone who remembers him as a River player

Anonymous said...

ibarra does score wondergoals!
if only he wondermarked, he'd be a wonderplayer...

pipita
since you've been in la nacion, have you seen victor hugo's on passarella?

pipita said...

Hola Paulita

No, I havent actually. I'll read it soon and get back to you here. True, Ibarra's defending, or is lack of anticipation, was indeed alarming. Che chabona, que hashemo todo hablando en inglé acá loco, sho no veo que ande ninguno por acá, así que charlemo en criosho, que ocho cuartos

ericverschoor said...

Marcela

Wow...thats a pleasant surprise. I woundt have dared to think it was even worthy of consideration. There must be a shorage of material, probably the result of overindulgence of pakalolo and high octane (rabbit) drinks last Monday in the tavern.

Glad you enjoyed it.

paulita

Ibarra didnt have a good game, but I thought it was Silvestre who looked nervous and completely out of form. Shocking game from a player that a year ago promised so much.

The dog incident...was it broadcasted or were you in La Paternal too?

ericverschoor said...

Marcela, surely you know which is the city with the highest number of league grounds, dont you?
Pipita...dont give it away.

Anonymous said...

pipita

jaja!
a la mierda 'ebren's policy'!

eric

ibarra is a fantastic player, but his lack of commitment with the mark is remarkable.

silvestre (ibarra, palacio, etc) were having great (not good but great) performances until a certain someone came along.
we're still in recovery :)

the dog was broadcasted, I've never been to that cosy stadium of yours.

ps: I like nuñez (a lot). we should snatch than one too.

byebyebadman said...

eric - my first ever blog on here, just wanted to say I really enjoyed this piece, I did say much the same on the Guardian site but think that thread may have run its course.

The line about the ball going over the line where the spiders web - a very poetic description of picking out the top corner I must say! Sad to hear Riquelme isn't playing well, he was one of the best in the world to watch a year ago.

As for cities with the most league grounds - my guess would be London (using a very loose definition of what London is)? How many are in Buenos Aires anyway?

Unknown said...

Oi - what's wrong with my policy?

al lugar agradable 'ebren's policy'!

ericverschoor said...

byebyebadman,

No...its not London.

As for "where spiders web". Its cliche in spanish, but hey...Im sure martians would find Motty original first time they listen to him. :-)
Its all about timing.

Thanks for your kind words.

paulita

Nunez has the most powerful strike in Argentine football. Unfortunately lately he has been plaing for Nunez Juniors. You can sense he is looking to be snatched.

paulita and pipita (and marcela)

Grate scenes at Parque de la Independencia for the Rosario derby. INHO it is about to take over River-Boca regarding match day experience. Boca v River has lost a lot of "umpf" since away fans numbers have been drastically reduced. I remember when Boca would give River 2 tiers for its fans. 2 tiers that where actually bigger than the ones La 12 occupied, making it overall in the Bombonera a 65-35 or even 60-40 ratio. its more like 90-10 now.

pipita said...

Palita
Woooooops,red alert, Ebren's controlling our comments...But he's a sport as we all know. Me want Nuñez for riverplei also

Eri
Im sure Marcela is well aware about la ciudad de los estadios..
Re newels-central, boca-river, you may have a point there, all thanks to Mauricio's policies....

Anonymous said...

hellohellobadman

riquelme is playing wonderfully, just an off day.
maybe eric didn't see that he was sent to a more advanced position, dragging along those white and red satelites, and by that creating spaces for the wondergoals.

pipita

shhhh ebren sees it all

eric

if you're lucky nuñez might go abroad without stoping over in boca or river.

Frankie Morgan said...

eric, this is a wonderful description, it really is. I wasn't going to read it, because to be honest I almost never read match reports that don't feature my team - I find most of them incredibly dull - but this is excellent. Far more descriptive than any report I've read in a long while.

Pseuds is alive and well. Brilliant :o)

Speaking of brilliance, and almost on topic, I finally saw City of God the other day. Amazing!

ericverschoor said...

paulita.

Riquelme sent? Do you really think Russo is pulling the strings in Boca? I feel that Riquelme has the Libertadores as priority and hence will dissappear regularly during league games. Its all in the head.

andrewm...

City of God...yes amazing movie, there is a sequel to it that I myself havent seen and cant quite remember the name. Kind of puts into perspective our security problems, doent it?

ericverschoor said...

paulita

what makes you think I side with the ladybugs?

I recomend you start following Boca to the smaller stadiums, atmosphere is great. Much better now than in corporate and sterile Bombonera. Macri is doing so much harm. I followed Boca 9 years (51 games in 1991 only). Walked away 2 years into Macri's mandate. Burned my associate card in 1996. God, I sound like Valdano

ericverschoor said...

pipita...I owe you an aswer regarding Passarella.

Mixed feeleings. Nobody can doubt his quality as a player.
He now is a Manager and my thought on this are:
I cant forget the Cruz episode in Bolivia. Argentine football pitch black moment. Heads should have rolled. He just turned his head instead of putting it on the block. Redondo Gate...Daniel lied here when he said Redondo had an issue with playing on the left (and so avoiding the truth, which was that Redondo woudnt accept to compromise his looks. Topic in which public opinion waters were divided as to who was the stupidest of them both). Proof of his lie is that 3 months later Redondo played in Real Madrid on the left. Redondo decided he didnt want to play for a lier. He put his principles first.
Passarella then changed a lot after he lost a son (who wouldnt?). He is not a totalitarian anymore and I like him much more now. Somehow I think he regrets his behaviour in the mid 90s. But as a politician he feels he cant appologise.
My 2 centavos

Unknown said...

Andrewm's ALIVE!!!

Huzzah! The cat has been overthrown!

And I have to say that, like City of God, Ladybugs is a great film as well.

And I'm not controlling anything. Monitoring, maybe, but that's only because I'm the one that would get sued if anyone decided to.

Anonymous said...

Ebren: how do WE know that andrew's alive? Are we supposed to take your word on this? Chelsea nil, MU nil, and I may have to seek out GU and see if there's an MBM for this.

Anonymous said...

eric

you're a nomad then?

I saw the indications of russo on tv (in paso a paso I think). but I agree that riquelme is very set on the libertadores (as most of bosteros are). his appearances against river and racing were quite enjoyable though.

if you think la bomboera's sterile, wait for the all seats stadiums!
argentino's stadium isn't small compared to leandro n. alem's...

Unknown said...

mimi, take it from me... andrew IS alive.
how lovely that he's joined us too.

eric, if you scroll around this site you will find pipita's profile of passarella. love him or hate him, you can't deny the guy has made a valuable contribution to our national game.

pero ya que estamos hablando en criollo de tanto en tanto, los trapos sucios se lavan en casa. o no?
the redondo dispute... bah humbug.


ebren, you do such a fine job. you really do. :)

badman is an oxford resident. for those of us who have also been. perhaps we can grill him about the bar staff at some old haunts. wonder if, like the dreaming spires, they have aged as nobly.

Anonymous said...

marcela: did we used to drink with Badman? do we know him and how do we know that andrewm was not eaten by kittens?

Unknown said...

mimi, badman says he moved to oxford long after maradona spoke at the union. that would make him nowhere near our yoof haunts.
also, i rather suspect he a little younger than us :(

listen. robert faracini. mean anything to you?

as for andrewm, it could be the kittens talking... i see your point.

Anonymous said...

marcela: robert faracini, no, means nothing to me beyond a chap who does running stuff. Should I know?
Was he a drinking chum at Raoul's?

byebyebadman said...

Flattered by the speculation about my age...but I'm probably older than you think. Go on, guess! There was a big gap in me leaving Manchester and ending up in Oxford that took in university, a long stint in New Zealand and a not inconsiderable amount of time wondering what on earth to do with myself whilst drifting here and there.

So many of you on here went to Uny in Oxford I presume? Which haunts did you frequent? not an awful lot changes in this town...this is britain after all! Just walked home from the Oxford Blue (anyone??) amidst a nice horizontal blast of wind and rain.

Not being a Spanish speaker I had no idea where spiders web was cliche, but I did wonder...still sounds better than 'parked it in the top corner' to me though!

Frankie Morgan said...

mimi, for better or worse I am, in fact, still me.

Cats are now a painful subject. My old adversary is being taken overseas. I am inconsolable.

Now I have to go to sleep before offside starts his silliness again.

ericverschoor said...

My cat just ruined my Oxford jeans. I blame Robert Faracini...

Anonymous said...

I think it's a relief to all of us to know andrewm was not eaten by small and fierce scottish cats. I myself was quite worried when small one kept refusing her dinner.
Byebye: any Oxford memories will quite probably ring bells for me. As you all know, although now living in the farest north, I spent most of my youth in Oxen town and have a wide range of aquaintances from that time.

byebyebadman said...

Raouls mimi? know the place and the bar staff very well. Have spent many an elongated Friday evening in there in the last four years (it's a natural dropping in point as it's a stone's throw from work). Hope you'll be pleased to know they still rustle up a particularly fine mojito.

Anonymous said...

byebye: a stone's throw from Raoul's? Please all things in the heavens you are not working for my old employers just up the road on Walton Street, cos that would just be tooooo weird.
I spent too many years at OUP.

byebyebadman said...

Mimi - perhaps think I should maintain some veil of anonymity but er, yes they would be the ones! I guess I still have my byebyebadman identity to cover my tracks.

Realise I'm not even talking about football now...is this like the GU blogs where we must stay even vaguely on topic? I'm only a Pseuds corner newby...

Speaking of which, what did you guys make of Valdano's comments? The chance was there to have a real good debate about aesthetics versus results on the GU blog but they made it an open blog and it just ended up with my club versus your club mudslinging...although the same may have happened however well thought-out and written a piece on it may have been.

Anonymous said...

byebye: oh what delight! You're at the old place. Did you ever hear the story of the Koi Carp? And don't worry, I don't know anyone there any more, though all my referees on the CV are old OUP bods.

Anonymous said...

byebye: going off-topic is not only permitted here, it's compulsory.

Anyone here know about rugby? I've just read what I think is a rather beautiful GU piece by Thomas Castaignede about his rugby career, but as I know less than zilch about the sport didn't feel entitled to comment.

Anonymous said...

Eric,

great stuff, I really enjoyed that. And I'm delighted with the overall quality of commentary on South American (well, Argentine) football at Pseuds'. Many thanks to Paulita, Marcela, and Pipita also for their informative articles and comments. Keep them coming, please.

Very happy also to see andrew again. I've missed you and I hope it's not my silliness (incurable, I'm afraid) that was keeping you away from here. Do let me know.

Nice also to see badman, file, and eric showing up. Always good to have new "faces" around. Pseuds' is alive and well indeed, Ebren. Good work.

Anonymous said...

Eric, I'm afraid I'm ignorant about South American football too, but your piece read very well, full of atmosphere and excitement - thank you.

Unknown said...

crespo scores twice in italy.
riquelme man of the match tonight in libertadores.

que lindo!! all friends of pseuds.

paulita, i read victor hugo's blog on passarella. very victor hugo, no?

agree with offside, it's good to have some fresh blood joining us.

reason for thinking badman's young: when you wrote about heroes you said something about 1986 being the first world cup that made an impact on you... i may have that wrong, of course.

pipita said...

Hurrrray, Ive got me internet at home again. I feel conected.

Ebren
Its a privilege to have a moderator of your quality

Andym
Welcome back!!!!!!We were worried about you mate

Badman
Me was at Oxford too for quite some time. Vaguely remember Raoul's. Was that on the corner of walton st and south parade??

Offy
Where's Gutou?? Wanted to thank him for the Santana song he dedicated to me...

ericverschoor said...

offside(in paris)...
thanks for your compliments.

Ive been catching up with what Ive missed at pseuds' and came across a couple of your articles. Your jawdropping wordcraft was only overshadowed by the beauteous setting. Reading your match report, I started to percieve the stench of envy emanating from every single pore in my skin. I can live with your prose but definitively not with your surroundings. I then came upon a thought that brought serenity back.
I traded your location for an awesomely prodigious imagination (can live with that too). You are actually chained to a desk in the third basement on an old decrepit aircon/heat-less building in a Sarko-doomed suburb of Paris (Irreversible opening scenes popping in my mind were bliss) and making it all up. Im ready for an angel's sleep.

Unknown said...

for the love of fuck.
it hadn't even crossed my mind but of course it's possible.
you're ALL making it ALL up.

offside, the pink hammock doesn't exist? please tell me it ain't so...

ericverschoor said...

watched the match marcela? On channel 5?

MoM - Caranta...Juan Solo Quiero La Libertadores Riquelme, close second.

paulita....did Lavolpe make you swet a bit?

Anonymous said...

yeah, yeah, yeah, good guess Eric.

And Marcela, that picture I sent you was heavily photoshopped of course. I do my rowing in a trashcan floating in an open air sewer located in the underbelly of the dirtiest, seediest, car-bruning suburb of Paris.

Pink hammock? Nah, unspeakably soiled tarpaulin hanging from the spider web covered walls of that basement Eric mentioned.

Unknown said...

no. can't 'watch' the matches here. only follow when bloggers do mbm on threads... :)

don't really buy into mom anyways. i refer you to a blog on GU in february entitled "who was man of the match?" for a more thorough questioning of ranking, points and so on.

i just checked argentinian media on-line. caranta y riquelme figuras del partido.

don't really care if he was or wasn't.

good night for him. he scored. we're through.

good night for crespito = good night for pipita. (with a home connection to boot!)

as i say... all friends of pseuds. even el kaiser.

even, possibly, victor hugo ta ta ta el gol. and his 'genio, genio, genio' commentaries.

all friends. :)

Unknown said...

offside. i know the picture isn't actually YOU. c'mon now.

Anonymous said...

Marcela,

of course not. That's rule # 1 of cyber-relations. Always send a picture of someone younger, slimmer and more suntanned than yourself. And if you ever meet your cyber-friends in real life, blame the discrepancy on poor screen definition.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful match report, almost like an impresionist South American version of Stuart Hall. 'Boca controlled leather and ground', crackin' stuff.

Here's a clip of the goals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1IjrhZVI3o

ericverschoor said...

hannibal...
thanks for the clip...

"leather and ground", comes from too much cricket streaming during the WC whilst pretending to work (leather on willow - Mike Atherton).

As for Stuart Hall. Believe it or not, at school (a scottish one here in Bs As) It's a Knockout was screened as a learning tool (dont mention it to the British Coucil). Some imprint in my mind!

file said...

eric,

storming report, thanks, it may be the first (and easily) the best match report I've read from BsAs

why does English sound so much better when non-englassi speak it? One of the many sad truths of the blighted Angle

and I'm truly gobsmacked (astonished) that the British Council are using 'It's a Knockout', were you being taught to laugh like Stuart Hall?

and eric, that is the only (and again best) way to deal with our little cornichon, put him in a damp cellar, reccomend you count the bottle first tho...

all, it seems,

file too is happy to be an anony-mouse, while they would never let the likes of me onto the clean and polished parquet floors of Ox. it could well be that some of us are unknowingly communicating by other channels, amazing, and a little scary

coincidences? windows on the interconnectedness of all things

file said...

er just realized that it's not BC but a mysterious scottish school using It's a K,

which explains everything, badly

if you call the school by its given name will bad luck your way cometh, break a leg?

byebyebadman said...

Mimi - Yes, I've been told - how bizarre to meet a work colleague (well, sort of) on here! where in the north are you now?

Pipita - Raouls is on Walton Street, roughly opposite the end of Little Clarendon Street if that means anything to you? Has recently had a lick of paint to make it brighter and as a result has lost some of its ambience.

Marcela - That's a good memory you have, that or you go back and check old blogs! You are right about 86 as its the first World Cup I remember in full, although I have a patchy memory of 82 as well.

I saw Ramon Diaz out and about doing some shopping in Oxford a couple of years ago (this ties in, he played and scored in 82) when he was manager here. Have to admit to being pretty starstruck - all I could think was 'that guy used to play up front with Maradona!'.

clack said...

Superb Eric

I was there at the 'allotment' on Sunday, packed into the terrace behind the goal - no need to say which one as there's only trees at the other end.

It's so small amd cramped in there that families, including grandmothers, arte mixed in with the Argentinos Barra.

Can't believe there can be another city in the world with more stadiums/teams than Buenos Aires?

Argentinian football stadiums and crowds are a home from home for anyone who grew up with English football in the 80's -even down to the smells.

file said...

Jakarta may have more stadiums, non?

Unknown said...

London's got 13 league clubs and seven in the Prem. I find it hard to beleive there are many cities with more....

file said...

oh yeah, 'league grounds', got to be somewhere with a big league then, so probably not Papeete, must be down to South America or Europe, and as the question has come all the way from Argentina...

Sao Paulo?

and is the city of god liverpool?

byebyebadman said...

The stadia question - Mexico City?

ericverschoor said...

file,

Bottles are long gone, probably at the time I smoked away my A levels and blew any chance of walking down the wooden corridors of wisdom (I blame Its a K's Penguin Game).

The ignominious school is named after the patron saint of the soon to be Republic of Scotland.

clack...

nice to hear that a fellow blogger was there too. Dont miss the San Lorenzo game in a couple of weeks.
Many cuervos still resent Argentinos for being responsible for relegation in 82.

paulita....
all seater stadiums in Buenos Aires? Smaller teams will never accept that. But expect Boca to convert with the only purpose of milking more money from fans. Have you read Mr. Conn's blog on FC United in GU? Macri always advocated for turning clubs to plc. In England they are starting to go in the other direction.

Regarding stadia...

Think small, forgotten.
"Other countries have their history...we have football"

byebyebadman said...

I see a mountain...is it Montevideo?

Anonymous said...

hola eric

just to make this clear, I'm politically nowhere near macri.
I don't like the treatment for visitor fans and I think clubs should remain non profitable organizations.
that said, you can't dismiss everything about boca's administration, neither in terms of sporting results nor institutional growth.
(which article is that of conn??)

about the seats, it's a fifa dispossition that should be fulfilled this year. what I don't know is if it concerns the lower divisions?

ps: I don't sweat, I ocassionally forget breathing. la volpe was quite helpful though, curious changes no?

Anonymous said...

offside

I'm really feeling like reading one of your pieces. could you do something about that? por favor?

oh and I don't care much if you're in a basement or in paradise.

Anonymous said...

eric: I should have said last night I much enjoyed reading your report though know absolutely minus nothing about South American football, and not much about English or Scottish either. Didn't stop me liking what I read. I shall try to learn more.
Byebye: STADIA!! Could you possibly work for the OED and will we all have to mind our Oxford z's and commas in future?!

ericverschoor said...

paulita...

I am only discusing Macri's involvemente in Boca. Politics outside football dont belong here.
I will always listen to you no matter your political views ;-)

Have you heard of Boca Crece? It is a company set up by Boca and investor groups (benditos grupos empresarios anonimos) which controls everything related to Boca as a brand (marketing, sponsors, etc). Look into that. One of my best friends is their Head lawyer. Several times he told me that they are explioting a loophole in both the statutes of Boca and AfA (Non profitable clubs shouldnt be allowed to own shares in other lucrative oriented busines) and are siphoning huge amounts of money from Boca (Boca has a 15 percent share but is invoiced by Boca Crece for all its costs). Salvestrini is its CEO. You are being ripped off.
There comes a point in football where money cant make you grow anymore (ask abrahmovich). Boca is generating much more money than they could really spend as an Argentine club. You dont notice they are filling their pockets only because Boca already reached that limit and the money siphoned would only be sitting in its bank account. The AfA is to blame too.

I sensed it in 1996, it is horrible to see that your worst predictions come true. From 1990 to 1994 I would go every year and ask for the directory meeting minutes and trascripts at Boca and never received any hussle. When I went in 1996 for them, and the clubs raw balance (not that stupid little promotion booklet they hand around) I was asked 1847346343 questions, sent fron office to office for ages. I got fed up. That was the beginning.

Macri and his team have brilliant minds. Are they using them for the correct purpose??

Rant over. Thanks for listening.

Lavolpe did make some wierd changes. I will give you my full opinion on him (and the Boca affair) soon. I promise.

Frankie Morgan said...

Belated and probably unnecessary disclaimer: offside's incurable silliness had nothing to do with my absence.

It's also not true that Ebren banned me and it took me three weeks to bypass his security measures.

Unknown said...

what matters is that you're here now, andrewm :)

byebyebadman said...

mimi - It'd be a bit rich for me to pick people up on their grammar and spelling, trust me! From the man who once handed in an essay whose opening paragraph mentioned the resistence on the eastern front by the Soviet Onion - damn spellchecker always lets a few through.

The people in the OED section are terribly proud of themselves at the moment as Balderdash and Piffle is back on telly tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

eric

your rant is in fact very interesting (saddening is the word, I think).
despite the fact that macri's been accussed of profiting from boca by many, there have never been any conclusive proof, I think not even a serious attempt to investigate the issue. similarly to what happens here in politics outside football, no? nobody will throw the first stone (I mean real, heavy stone), in case it backfires, en criollo: "todo el mundo tiene 1 muerto en el placard".
don't clubs (most of them) have a brand product? and aren't most clubs in arg in debt? I read about AFA asking for the physical persons of the 'benditos grupos inversores' to come into the light, but I don't know what happened with that.
would it surprise me that the character of boca as a non profitable organization is a fiction, mere romaticism? no. and yes, saddening is the world.
I guess this kind of organtization demands a lot more active role of the fans. but in reality, most of us neither have the time/energy to dig nor the hope that the information (and solution) is within our grasp. of course we are to blame to.

Anonymous said...

Paulita,

thanks for asking, but don't hold your breath (although it seems to be a habit of yours, so suit yourself). I'll see if I can come up with something but I'm not making any promises.

And I have andrew's official permission to be silly, so watch out.

guitougoal said...

andrewn wonderboy I share your enthusiasm about eric's article.
" offside silliness has nothing to do..." may be not but
but now that they are teaming up, offside + gg's silliness= total madness.Let's hope you can handdle it.
welcome back.

Frankie Morgan said...

guitou, it must have been a terribly silly day when offside and gg realised they could combine their powers. You might have thought they would cancel each other out - but no.
It's like crossing the beams in Ghostbusters.

Anonymous said...

andrewm: so you have got over your grief at losing small fierce ones - we are glad to see you back.
Byebye - there is something weird about dictionary dept folks, always was, always will be. I shared a Portakabin in the old north wing (under death row) when Wilbur was pasting up the pages for OED 2. Strange times, and if you want to share, do email me: mimi@lydcott-house.co.uk.

file said...

bbbm,

resistance of the Soviet Onion, I love it!

I guess that was just before the cold war with the United States of Asparagus huh?

Anonymous said...

Doesnt the world feel a little bit better with AndrewM back in it?

Loved this Eric. Oh that our home reports would take the time to describe the fecking match, instead of giving us chapter and verse on Jose's latest prattlings (still love 'im tho) or some other arse.

Does anyone know if 'Park the Bus' is a Joseism, or does it have longer legs? It's a doozy either way.

And as for Stuart hall and IAKO as an educational experience - truly there is hope for the world!

byebyebadman said...

Bluedaddy - I'm pretty sure Mourinho said when he first used it (about a home game with Tottenham I think) that 'we have a saying in Portugal - they came on the bus, and they parked the bus in front of the goal'.

He is pretty good copy though, and hams up his role as the anti-hero superbly...would be a loss for English football if he left I feel.

ericverschoor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ericverschoor said...

As far as Im concerned, Jose was my first bus inspector. But Im sure traffic in Portugal must be woeful. None of that in Argentina.

I have always wondered if I was the only one who percived jose's accent more russian than portuguese?

I thank everybody for their praises.

Anonymous said...

Well done, Eric. Why don't you step into the taproom for a celebratory drink?

Unknown said...

BD - it was spurs. The Tottenham fans took to calling Ledley King "the bus" and singing "the wheels on the bus go round and round" as a terrace chant for a while after that.

It's great how football fans work.

Anonymous said...

Eric - you are not alone, I've commented before that JM is sounding more Russian than Portuguese. And with the designer stubble, he's looking more like Abramovich, whereas he used to look as if he modelled himself on Alain Delon circa 1973. Macho southern-European transmutes into brooding Slav... weird...

Anonymous said...

Zeph: Jose is moving north at a rate of knots. I confidently expect to find him in Aki Kaurismaki's next ironically dark and strangely humourous Finnish offering!

Anonymous said...

I'm very late to pseuds, but what a pleasure!

Eric - Thanks for this report. I loved it.

I think I posted on Pipita's thread that I find South American stuff strange in the very best sense of that word. It may have been like Highbury, but very unlike Highbury too!

In the early days of pseuds I was advised by Marcela and Ebren I think of books detailing the relationship between Britain and Argentina - I shall pursue the material soon. In the meantime, I think I would rather visit BA to watch football than anywhere else in the world. Maybe I will on the way back from watching cricket in Kolkata, Adelaide and Bridgetown.

Another 100 years with food to eat and a bed to sleep in and I would be bored for not a minute with the sport that's to be seen out there.

pipita said...

Fantastic thread.Anyone seen the pipita's goal in Real's amazing 4-3 comeback today??
badman
Off Little Clarendon, yeah now I remember Raouls. Must have been kind of surreal to see good ol "pelado" diaz shopping in Oxford
Eric
Blimey, dont tell me you also went to st andrews bloody scots school????Ill be dammned....

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