Fútbolita

Boca and River are going through a really bad phase now… y no hay vuelta atrás. It’s almost like Barca and Real or Milan and Inter facing relegation together. Imagine that, spending a lifetime fighting off your enemy only to go down with him! Ah, this is almost like the Cold War.

Anyway, Boca lost 2-1 to Rosario while Lanús trounced the River boys 1-0. Qué tan doloroso para ellos! It must be painful to lie in 18th and 16th place respectively and are actually staring relegation in the face. And for the life of him, Martin Palermo (below) can’t figure out what’s going on either…

Oh dear, our chicas who attended the monster of a game between Boca and River Plate yesterday afternoon had to put up with the showers that descended upon La Bombonera! It was so bad they had to suspend the game… They should’ve just continued! Trust us, there’s nothing better than splashing around the pitch and standing under an umbrella with your photographer. A veces…tenemos que estar loco! Yes, we’re a little crazy.

Anyway, the score between the two giants still remains at 0-0 and referee Hector Baldassi was forced to stop play five minutes in to clear more streamers. Can you imagine that?! Tipo Palermo totally went home to cook himself a nice bowl of soup next to the fire.

113 years. That’s how long Argentina’s Banfield took to claim their first Apertura title! But that’s how long it’s also going to take AC Milan to find a new president as well…

Interestingly, Banfield, a city in Buenos Aires was founded in 1896 by English, Irish and Scottish immigrants. Their closest opponents  – Newell’s Old Boys(at 39 points) also have English roots. Their 2-0 to San Lorenzo allowed Banfield an advantage over the slip-up. Similarly, Boca Juniors’ 2-0 win over Banfield weren’t able to prevent their claim of the title.

“We lost today, but without a doubt we were the best. There’s no doubt we deserved the championship,” Banfield coach Julio Cesar Falcioni said.

via Reuters, SI

They may be lying in 17th place in the Apertura standings but River Plate’s new museum in Buenos Aires is muy impresionante! Amigas, even George Lucas would be proud. It’s like walking into the set of a sci-fi flick, except the only overweight Jedi available to welcome you would be Cristian Fabbiani.

Anyway, the players partied hard into the night on Monday to celebrate the museum’s official opening. Players from “past and present” came to revel in the momentous occasion. While we’re sure no Boca fan would be caught dead buying tickets to this place, they will certainly find it hard to top that super time tunnel above. Time to change our flight agenda to Argentina….vamos allá!

via Globo

So it was Mask Wearing Extraordinaire, Martin Palermo’s birthday yesterday (a November baby, like us. Now get running with that hint!) so Boca Juniors helped him to celebrate 36 years of his existence in this world. He’s still a hero to Los Xeneizes after all he has done for the club – including his important goals against River Plate. Seriously, this man may have had his down points but if Boca pack loves you, they’ll love you for life. Hopefully.

“Palermo is an Idol and he was an idol since 1998..he’s our star, like Roman,” says a Boca-crazy futbolita. Ok, that’s covered at least.

Unfortunately, Alfio Basile aka Ursula didn’t have time to eat cake yesterday following Boca’s dismal 0-0 draw with Colon. The fans sang and encouraged them while Riquelme watched from the stands… but nothing was done. The Argentinean dailies claim that Basile’s time is over and it’s time to say adios, but could it be the right time to take out the cheque books?

Photos via Gettyimages and Ole

So in the end, Alfio Basile’s army weren’t able to obtain a crucial away victory against Los Millionares (how dare you mistake them for Chamillionaire!) but at least they came away with a 1-1 draw. As expected, El Monumental had all the ingredients for an emotional game and things got heated when Ariel Ortega hit his arm on Boca’s defender, Julio Caceres’ neck. The Paraguayan got pissed and was subsequently sent off for ‘retaliating’. Apparently, Ortega fell to the floor like a baby. For the love of The Dona, it’s a soap opera!!

Surprisingly, River dominated the first half of play and won a penalty but Boca’s keeper, Pato Abbondanzieri (they’re not all Webcam Kings, ok?) pulled off a fine save to keep the score 0-0. Then Marcelo Gallardo’s stunning free kick broke the deadlock…. es demasiado grande para las palabras! Martin Palermo levelled the score upon removing his phantom mask in the second half. Hah, Riquelme was wrong after all.

River’s Matías Abelairas, whose effort slipped off the post in the dying minutes of the game said :”I will not sleep. I will review the play several times. I tried to do my best and hit the ball first because two defenders were coming for me. I saw (the play) in the locker room, the summary … and I think I did the right thing … It was a matter of inches and I could not fulfill my dream: to score a goal against Boca.”

Well tipo, there’s always the next time.

So apparently, Riquelme says that his teammate, Martin Palermo’s mask-wearing antics has helped him to score more goals at Boca’s training sessions. He wants him to wear it for the game so that they can ‘score more goals together’. Kkkkk…

Anyway, he also added that Boca must be careful in the Superclasico against River this weekend or risk “paying dearly”. “I love football and I see that River had great moments but was unlucky not to win (the last game) because they missed a lot of goals. I want to enjoy the most, hopefully we can win and continue improving,” he said.

Our amigas in Buenos Aires may not have tickets to watch the game… but Roman still wants you to sing! “I want to give joy to people. Despite the few tickets they give us, the fans are still going to encourage (us). It was nicer when there were more visitors at the Bombonera. Despite the 4,000 tickets they gave us, the fans are going to listen. And we’re going to have to play to sing, be enthusiastic and enjoy.”

Meanwhile, you know you want Palermo’s mask….

via Ole

via GettyImages

All the attention is on River Plate this weekend, but of course the best photos were from Los Xeneizes‘ camp. Martin Palermo and Gabriel Paletta are muy feliz and rightly so, after Boca were able to escape with a 2-1 win over Lanus without the services of Riquelme. Palmermo scored the winning goal!

In another game, River defeated newly-promoted Chacarita Juniors 4-3 thanks to goals from Diego Buonanotte and Gustavo Cabral’s header from a corner in the 32nd before their veteran striker Ariel Ortega fired the winner. Matias Alustiza leveled each time for Chacarita, finishing well in the 23rd and scoring a penalty in first-half injury time.

In other Sunday matches, Independiente won 4-2 away against Atletico Tucuman and Newell’s Old Boys beat Huracan 1-0 at home.

So the Argie press are hailing Guillermo Marino for saving Boca’s blushes when he came off the bench to score two goals yesterday against Argentinos Juniors. Riquelme was out on a one-match ban and as for Alfio Basile, it was his first official game in charge of these tipos. Still, Ursula was happy with the performance so far…

“The team did not do anything right in the first half and my players knew it. But luckily, after the talk in the locker room, they knew they had to play better,” he said.

Meanwhile, Boca’s rivals River Plate fell to a 2-0 defeat in the hands of Banfield after their two Uruguay strikers, Santiago Silva and Sebastian Fernandez netted in a goal each. As for San Lorenzo, one of Argentina’s “big five”, they beat Atletico de Tucuman 3-1 on Saturday.

via Photogamma

The Boca boys didn’t have much to do yesterday (apart from their laundry, etc) since the AFA postponed the start of the Apertura. So it was only natural that Javier García, Lucas Viatri, Ricardo Noir and Juan Forlin turned up at the infamous DOT shopping centre in Buenos Aires to reveal Los Xeneizes’ new kit.

So what’s new? Nothing much, except for the collar. These people need to start hiring new designers instead of the ones who work for Milan.

In other Boca news, coach Ursula Basile has announced that no one can touch Riquelme... not even Corinthians who’re apparently crazy about him.

“The only player who has the doors closed here is Riquelme, and with a lock (geez!),” Basile told Clarin. “He still has one more year on his contract and he returned to Boca to end his career.”

via REUTERS

So after days of intense discussions about the state of the Argentinean championship , the AFA finally reached a decision about the start of the country’s domestic league. The first game is scheduled for kick off on 21st August (as opposed to the 14th – this weekend).

“From tonight the AFA is open to future negotiations to sell (the TV rights) as it corresponds to the price that football is worth,” said the league’s spokesperson at a news conference. “I do not know if the state is going to fulfill some role.”

The last we checked, Julio Grondona (above) still hasn’t bought a full-length mirror but nevertheless, he’d best focus on making the fans happy before clubs send their respective Ultras to his front door!!

No Boca this weekend..... / VIA AP

Uh-oh, it looks like we may not get to see the likes of Boca Juniors and Estudiantes this weekend in the Apertura after the AFA recently ran into major monetary problems.

Yes, it seems that the top-tier Argentinean sides have amassed massive debts estimated to be a whopping US$182 million and this has forced the Football Association to scrap the Aug. 14 start of the season. “Lavish spending and poor accounting” has caused contributed to the crisis and as a result, there’ll be no football this weekend!!!

“If there is no football, I’ll die,” said Ruben Tuci, a 58-year-old physician and Boca Juniors fan. “I get so fired up waiting for the weekends to come so I can go to see my beloved Boca.”

Television rights holders have turned down appeals to pay more for the rights and Argentina’s government also rejected Internet betting as another revenue source. In addition, Grondona is widely reported to terminate AFA’s contract with the current TV rights holders, Torneos y Competencias (TyC). The total package for all rights holders is reported to be $69 million, and TyC is by far the most lucrative. As it stands, their contract only expires in 2014.

“The only solution to the problem is money,” Julio Grondona, The Dona’s best friend said. “The institutions are spending more than they are taking in.”

“What AFA is asking for, we can’t do,” TyC president Marcelo Bombau said. “Besides, we have a signed contract until 2014. It’s like if someone rents an apartment for 2,000 pesos, and after he’s told. ‘Now, give me 4,000.’

Those are actually Velez Sarsfield’s players celebrating their Argentinean Championship victory last night. Some of the supporters climbed the barriers to celebrate with their idols (see below), resulting in a muito legal picture.

The team are the surprise package in this season’s championship and this is their fifth Clausura trophy although they’ve won the national title seven times.

“We played a great match, we played the ball around very well and we never let Huracan play their game, we cut their circuit; we deserve to be champions,” said defender Fabian Cubero.

River Plate are taking drastic measures to reduce the risk of the dreaded swine flu that has taken 44 lives in Argentina. In fact, they’re cancelling their last game of the season against Estudiantes de la Plata. What’s there to lose right? It’s the end of the Apertura championship and they lie in sixth place with zero chance of becoming champions.

They’ve also closed their head office until next Monday and the only time they will meet will be for a “nice meal together”, according to the club’s technical committee.

“I believe it was a very intelligent measure. The more precautions that are taken, the better,” River’s president told Argentinean daily, Ole.

They’ve also started placing “explanatory posters” in the players’ locker room. Y’know… the normal jizz. Like how to wash your hands to prevent bacteria and contamination. Shit, we’re sneezing now! Hasta pronto.

Thanks to Sol from Argentina for remembering us when she went to La Bombanera to see Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores last week! They weren’t able to come off with a win , but we love the photo all the same!

Sadly for Boca, they crushed to another defeat in the hands of Velez Sarsfield yesterday. With the 2-0 loss, Boca sink further down the table to 17th place. Carlos Ischia is in hot water – so if your Sunday team needs a coach, act quickly before the EPL’s Men in Black arrive!

Elsewhere, rivals River Plate claimed a 2-0 victory over Independiente although they’re effectively out of the title race. Watch the goals from Diego Barrado and Falcao García below!

Boca Juniors welcomed back the influential Riquelme on Sunday, but had to work hard for their 2-1 win over Arsenal de Sarandi at the Bombonera stadium. And for those of you who’re wondering, Roncaglia (in the photo above) is not attempting to wear a Ball Hat. Believe it or not, we’ve heard that phrase before. Oh… the sad non-football loving species!

Luciano Figueroa and Cristian Chavez both scored for Boca, steering them back to their winning ways after a rocky start to the Argentinean championship. And as usual, their fans went all out!

One of the Argentinean superclasicos took place this weekend between River Plate and Boca Juniors. Unfortunately, both teams had to settle for a draw, thanks to goals from Martin Palermo and Gallardo in the second half.

Martin had declared earlier that he “imagined” himself scoring against River. Well, he must’ve thought he was dreaming when the goal sunk into the bottom of the net. Ah, you know that feeling.

Still, nothing changes the fact that they have the most creative fans in the world. Espléndido!

Boca Juniors only managed a 1-1 draw against Godoy Cruz in the Argentinean Championship last night. Despite Nicolas Gaitan’s early strike in the first half, the visiting team fought hard for their one point when Leandro Caruso equalised. The local press are questioning the fact that Riquelme only entered the field in the last ten minutes.

In another game, surprise package Lanus thrashed Independiente 5-1. The last 11 minutes of the game saw José Sand scoring hat-trick, sealing the win for his side.

And here’s another bonus video featuring the ever enthusiastic Boca fans below.

It’s nice to see fans of Los Xeneizes going all out in their support for Riquelme. Half the country appears to be against him now (in favour of Maradona), but he can always rely on Boca fans!

Riquelme steered his side to a 3-0 win over Argentinos Juniors in last night’s Apertura game. Ironically, some of Argentina’s top players – including Riquelme and Maradona – started their own careers at Argentinos Juniors. Boca dominated all 90 minutes of the game and goals from Forlín, Figueroa and Palacio gave them the vital three points needed.

Elsewhere, River Plate drew 1-1 at Vélez. Enjoy the video of the Boca fans celebrating after the game!

Boca Juniors aren’t having the best start to their season as of late, slumping to a 0-2 defeat in the hands of Independiente. They lost three of their last games with star player Riquelme still out due to injury.

In contrast, Boca’s hardcore rivals, River Plate emerged victorious against Arsenal de Sarandí, winning the game 3 goals to 1. Luciano Leguizamón opened the scoring for his team. Interestingly, Arsenal have never won an Apertura championship title.

Lanús now lead the standings with 12 points followed by Vélez and Colón with 11, Gimnasia LP and River with 10 and Arsenal and Huracán with 9 points.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-4enz3GaW8]