Fútbolita

Remember Riquelme? No, not Larissa Riquelme (NSFW) who singlehandedly caused a record number of eye surgeries to be conducted in one month. It’s the Boca man himself, Juan Roman Riquelme!

There’s a lot of talk suggesting that he will return to play for Argentina, especially after the dismissal of your royal Messi lover, The Dona. Sergio Batista, the team’s interim coach wants him back, so basically he’s telling Roman to forget what The Dona said about his cat’s clothing – and other insults – and pull his act together!

“It would be good to have Riquelme and Messi playing together,” Batista said. “We had them together in the Olympics and it went well.”

Meanwhile, here’s Gabriel Heinze doing his best rendition of Larissa Riquelme. What? Is there a handphone hidden in there somewhere too?

Via AP, Juan Roman Riquelme Oficial

Vale, so nobody wants to hug Palermo… but who cares right? Boca finally returned from their 2,421 year holiday in Ibiza and are back to winning ways with their 2-0 victory over San Lorenzo! It’s a good start, amigas. All the losses were starting to take a toll on their impatient fans!

At least Palermo and Riquelme hugged after his 71st minute goal, despite their ‘public feud’ which sounds like something my little cousin would proclaim in kindergarten.

Senor Palermo is opening up a can of worms again… by saying that Riquelme is not his amigo mayor. And you thought the biggest soap opera character in Argentina was The Dona! Anyway, everyone’s getting fired up because Riquelme didn’t celebrate with Palermo after scoring against for Boca Juniors on Sunday and instead, went to the fans! What’s wrong with that?!!

“I am not a friend of (Riquelme’s), I have no relationship (with him). The only thing that unites us is (to) defend the colors of Boca,” Palermo told Argentinean radio.

And it seems that no one is Riquelme’s friend these days. As an Argentinean futbolita once told us, Riquelme is an introvert in real life so you’d better not approach him in a samba costume!

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…

Earlier this week, Fútbolita heard from our amiga in Argentina, Sol Didiego, who is a die-hard fan of Boca Juniors! She attended last weekend’s rain-filled derby between Boca and River Plate and also makes it a point to go to La Bombonera whenever she can. Her favourite player is (no surprise here) Riquelme, whom she has also met in real life.

The cool part is that Sol’s entire family (including her mama and hermano) are all Boca crazy… so por supesto, it’s literally a family affair every weekend!

“It was raining so badly in the morning and I thought the match was going to be suspended, but anyway I had to be there in case we played. I arrived at the stadium at 12.30, ate a hamburger and waited under the rain… It was raining so heavily that we couldn’t see anything! But when match started, it was a real party… although sadly, after 10 minutes it was suspended!”

Photos © Sol Didiego

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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.

So it wasn’t just Gonzalo who had an amazing time on the pitch last night. His older bro’, Federico aka the Other Higuain Hermano also helped his team to score against Boca Juniors later in the day. But never underestimate Martin Palermoooo, Godoy Cruz! He’s full of surprises and as the Clausura’s leading goal-scorer (at the mo), he had to do something to salvage a point.

Still, the Godoy Cruz fans are such a passionate bunch. You have to give it to them… Cómo inspirar!

Check out this policeman – he’s really smiling and posing for the photo and holding on to Riquelme like there’s no tomorrow. Sneaky! “Look Jorge, I’m holding the bloke.. the famous one in the Adidas ad. You can go and take Martin Palermo for all I care, ” was the unwritten agreement in the Security Room.

There’s a lot of talk in Argentina now about the return of Roman to The Dona’s squad. As many of you know, they had a pretty bad fall out which led to Roman leaving the team eventually. As usual, any player who hasn’t won the World Cup feels an itch around their fingers at this time of the year. So obviously, the Argentinean presses are excited to speculate.

“Knowing Diego, the issue of Riquelme is very complicated and I do not think things will change,” said a member of Argentina’s coaching staff.

via Ole & UniversalFutbol

¡Qué trágico! for poor Diego Buonanotte. If you haven’t heard, the influential River Plate midfielder was involved in a fatal car crash – which killed three of his friends on Saturday. And according to the Argentinean dailies, Diego, who is in the hospital now frequently wakes up in the middle of the night asking “what happened? what happened?” From time to time, Diego also asks to watch TV.

“In his state, he does not remember much about what happened. He knows that there was an accident, but not everything that happened. So we decided that we will (summon) a special group of psychologists and psychiatrists to address the situation. It will be between hospital professionals and River Plate,” explained Diego’s doctor, Horacio Cavaliere. He added that the recovery process will take at least seven months and he is optimistic because Diego “is a young boy, an athlete, who neither smokes nor drinks alcohol.”

Messages are streaming in from all corners of the world – mostly well-wishes from fans of River Plate who want a speedy recovery for him. Even their arch rivals, Boca Juniors said : “Fuerza Diego. We are with Buonanotte in this difficult time.”

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

Poor Gago, he’s become the very thing we futbolitas must refrain ourselves from getting excited about.. which is the “Todos Guapos Y Sin Talento” (All Looks And No Talent) or TGST breed. All you masculine types are already rolling your eyes and murmuring “I told you so” but lighten up lads, we could not have predicted the fall of Gago this quickly. And he still has a future at Milan Fashion week!

Anyway, Gago the player is turning out to be a major flop and each time he touches the ball at the Bernabeu (observed the fervent Argentinean press), the stadium erupts into a sea of whistles. He has now expressed a desire to return to Boca, his boyhood club and even Alfio Basile is excited about that prospect.

Well, knowing Potter Perez’s strategy, he’d want to “reclaim some of the investment” he made in Gago (kkkk, not in that way). Second, Pellegrini doesn’t have many players who can take over Gago’s position and that’s not good. Well, it’d be better if Gago moved to Italy instead. It’s a lot slower paced there and the fans love you more…. not to forget, he can totally be the next face of Armani.

• That’s The Dona’s son, Diego Sinagra and not a reincarnation of Wolverine, mind you. He demands that you give his papa all the respect in the world! “He was brutally attacked. Qualifying for the World Cup is his victory. My father deserved it as well as the rest of the nation. Of course, the football team can and must improve, but players like Messi are back to what he was before. I’m sure my father will bring great joy to the people of Argentina,” he declared. By the way, Diego Jr’s mother is Cristina Sinagra, a Neopolitan woman whom The Dona had an affair with when he was at Napoli. And no, he probably doesn’t get text messages from The Dona’s favourite son, Kun Aguero. Qué triste!




• Uh-oh.. it has now emerged that Riquelme is in talks to move to Corinthians! No surprise there, he said so himself earlier this year. Corinthians’ President, Andres Sanches said : “I will not deceive spectators and say that Riquelme has (already joined). Once we are endorsed by the investor, we will start negotiations with the club and player. For now, there’s nothing.”
• It was Del Piero’s 35th birthday yesterday, and they still love him despite his injuries. That’s the mark of a true captain! Trezeguet says “Hmmmm”.



• Last but not least, we can’t say adieu without a little CQC and Andreoli loconess. Here’s Futbolita’s Favourite Host at Sorin’s last professional game against Argentino Juniors last week. From daring them to eat a peach to asking the trainer and players in the dressing room politically incorrect questions, ele é um gênio!

Photos via La voce di Napoli & Reuters

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

Don’t you love it when futbolitos do that to the camera? We do! And Nicolas Gaitan has every reason to celebrate after scoring a brace in Boca’s 2-1 triumph over Tigre yesterday. Alfio Basile’s men have been fighting hard this season so we should stop calling him Ursula. Maybe he ought to pay Leonardo a visit… they can both enjoy celebratory drinks courtesy of Potter Perez.

Anyway, Los Xeneizes needed a win this week to take them through to the next game. After all, they will be meeting old foes River Plate next weekend. Well, they’re both nowhere at the top of the table, but everyone knows the rivalry is still fierce. Que no se puede negar que!

In Sunday’s other matches, Independiente drew 1-1 with Chacarita Juniors while Newell’s Old Boys defeated Estudiantes de La Plata 2-1.

The Pied Piper of Higuain may have opened the scoring for Los Albicelestes but it was Martin Palermo’s close-range effort that secured a crucial win 2-1 win over Peru last night. The Dona actually dived into the wet grass – on his stomach – in celebration. Lighten up, uncle. You don’t want the empanados to be flattened. He’s lucky that the Rain Gods approved of Palermo – except that the Boca man’s goal was ten years into the making.

“The victory gives us new life,” said The Dona.  “It was a very dramatic finish. Now we go to Uruguay to play for a place in the World Cup.” And because ya’ll are in love with him, here you go…

That mop of hair Riquelme is smoldering belongs to none other than the Messiah. Obviously times have changed and one year on, no one would have anticipated his fall out with The Dona. And and if the rumours are true, Riquelme will be joining the Timão gatos at Corinthians next season. It’ll be pretty cool to see him with Ronaldo Lima… maybe even better than watching Veterans Football F.C that Milan are offering now!

“Corinthians called my representative several times,” Riquelme told Ole. “I don’t know if I’ll be contacting the club, but I’m right here. I have an important year ahead and want to do the best I can (for Boca). Let’s see if I am lucky to be champion again and after June 30, we’ll see what we’ll do.” Anyway, the rumored sum is believed to be U.S.$5 million a season and don’t worry, this does not include a large payout to Tevez’s shady agents.

So the Albicelestes are facing another crisis – and this time, it involves a rift between The Dona and the squad’s general manager and former midfielder, Carlos Bilardo. Can’t anybody get along anymore?!

Anyway, it’s common knowledge that the coach didn’t call up any Europe-based players for Argentina’s friendly against Ghana tomorrow but now, it seems that The Dona has told Bilardo to “stay out of his decisions” because he “prefers a distance”. Bilardo also feeling bitter because apparently, his role as ‘general manager’ has been disregarded. He does not get a say in player selections or other decisions The Dona makes. Basically, his job is “to go and see the stadium and hotel.” Es insultante!

Also, according to Ole, Maradona told Bilardo that “the player lists, meetings … It’s all in the computer,” before adding: “After qualifying, we’ll see (what happens with you).”

Meanwhile, Boca’s Martin Palermo is hopeful that his performance on Wednesday will earn him a place in Argentina’s remaining crucial qualifiers. “(We) must seize the game  if we have a chance to play in Wednesday’s friendly. We must be able to do things (in) the best way possible, to live for the moment, and then wait. Hopefully I can play against Peru and Uruguay,” he said.

Photo de periodical Olé