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FUTBOL / SOCCER
A grand passion in
South America.
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From kids
kicking a ball around the streets to world-contender players, South
Americans love their futbol.
The Beautiful Game is today the world's
most popular sport, the only one universally organized and played by the
same rules. Over 200 countries and 30 million players are registered
with FIFA.
Futbol, came to Argentina from Europe,
first from Great Britain as British influence spread throughout the
world, then with successives waves of European immigration.
Football
associations were formed in Argentina in 1893, Chile in 1895, Uruguay in
1900 with other countries following.
When Uruguay won the Gold Medal and
Argentina the Silver at the 1928 Olympics, futbol fever soared.
When Uruguay won the first FIFA (International
Federation of Football Associations) World Cup in 1930, with Argentina
as the runner up, South American passion for the game knew no bounds.
In the seventeen World Cup games since 1930,
the South American nations have been predominant winners. Brazil has the
highest number of wins: in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002, plus runner
up in 1950 and 1998. Uruguay has two wins: 1930 and 1950, and Argentina
also has two wins, 1978 and 1986, with runner up in 1930 and 1990.
Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and Argentina have hosted World Cup games.
Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia are seemingly unstoppable forces
in current Latin American futbol.
The Centennial World Cup, in 2030, is scheduled
to be in Uruguay and already plans are underway with a plea for help
from the fans at Uruguay 2020 |
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Futbol in Argentina
Without a shadow of doubt, football is by far the most popular sport in
Argentina and has been for a long time. Men, women and children love to while
away the hours chatting in-depth about the state of the game and their favourite
clubs.
Football arrived in Argentina back in the 1840's when English shipping crews
used to play by the docksides and it was not long before local inhabitants
caught on to the game, attracted by its simplicity of form and rules and the
fact that anyone can play. The first official Argentine Championship came in
1891 composed of just 5 teams and from these humble beginnings, a thriving
network of
leagues throughout the nation now exists at all levels of competence. For
further information regarding the history of football in Argentina and South
America in general, an extremely good read is Tony Mason's "Passion of The
People?" (Verso Publications: 1995)
National Futbol
The main source of interest to the spectator is the First Division (La
Primera) in
which 20 professional teams battle it out for supremacy of the national title.
The current league system operates in a slightly different mode to the
conventional European divisions in that there are two championships per year:
the Opening (La Apertura) and the Closing (La Clausura.) The former runs between
August and November and the latter between February and June. Each team plays
each other once in both championships, although recently there have been talks
to do away with this system and revert to the original one championship per
season that had been in place until 1991.
Over the years, two clubs have emerged as traditionally more popular and more
successful than the rest: Boca Juniors and
River
Plate
(due
to play next on 07/05/00), but other significant teams in recent championships
include Velez Sarsfield, San Lorenzo, Independiente and Racing. There are no
fewer than eleven clubs in the top flight which play within the city of
Buenos
Aires, thus
offering a great deal of choice to those who love the game.
Despite its popularity, the Argentine footballing league is not without its
problems:
*--Apart from Boca and River many clubs are suffering financially due to lack of
funding. But for the insistence of the supporters, this almost led to the
collapse of Racing last year, which would have been a tremendous blow to the
league.
*--The wealth of footballing talent that comes through from Argentina's
"escuelitas de futbol" doesn't last long in the Argentine Championship. Most of
the top international stars are to be found in Italy,
Spain or
England, lured by the attraction of financial rewards. Although the standard of
play is still high and the atmosphere in the stadiums at times breathtakingly
passionate, the fact that only Boca and River can really afford to keep
world-class players naturally takes its affect.
*--Over the past few years, the national sport has been marred by elements of
hooliganism. It has long been standard for stadiums to have
security
fencing or moats preventing pitch invasions and a large police presence. Fans
are segregated accordingly but incidents still occur. The AFA is currently
taking measures to eradicate such violence in stadiums in order to restore
soccer's traditional festive spirit and healthy entertainment. A seat in the
"Platea" (side stands) is usually the safest bet and one which offers the best
view of the action, costing between $10 and $30 depending on the supposed
quality of the opposition.
International Futbol
Very few things have the incredible capacity to unite the people of Argentina.
One such thing is an international football tournament, which brings all the
pride and national sentiment to the fore. Banners galore are draped from
balconies and every other person seems to be wearing the famous blue and white
stripes of their beloved heroes.
Success and Diego
Armando Maradona
Argentina has always had a strong footballing tradition but its two most
memorable successes came in the World Cups of 1978 and 1986. The former was held
in Argentina itself and the
final
game, which
took place in the River Plate stadium (El Monumental), shall forever remain in
the hearts of those old enough to remember Mario Kempes slotting home the third
goal in their 3-1 victory over Holland.
The Mexico tournament of 1986 will be recalled as Maradona's tournament. Many
Argentines will argue that this raging midfielder, 'el pibe de oro' (the golden
boy) was the world's best ever player in his heyday. Whether that is true or
not, what cannot be forgotten in the footballing world is the truly remarkable
goals he scored against England and Belgium in 86 and his dominance in midfield
during the final against the Germans.
Unfortunately for Diego, his career has been surrounded by incident. The other
goal scored against England in Mexico (referred to as 'the hand of God' goal
because video evidence clearly shows he touched it with his hand) led him to
being branded as a cheat (although Argentines will defend him to the hilt.) In
addition, his personal life has been plagued with controversy, mainly due to his
inability to kick a drugs habit. Several times during his career, Maradona
failed to meet the ethical standards required in the world of sportsmanship,
most notably when he failed to pass a doping test in World Cup 94 and was
subsequently banned from the tournament.
To this day, he continues to steal the limelight in the Argentine press. Having
picked up the prestigious award of "Argentine Sportsman of the Century" in
December 99, he came
tumbling
back down to earth at the start of the millenium. Following a nervous breakdown
while holidaying at Uruguayan resort, Punta Del Este, cocaine was again found to
be the root of the problem. Consequently, he recently entered a
rehabilitation
center in Cuba (Jan 2000) as the drugs were beginning to seriously affect his
heart. Perhaps this time the golden boy has done it once too often and the
Argentine public is beginning to see the frailty of their sporting icon.
Recent Performances
Both recent major international competitions have been relatively disappointing
for Argentina (bearing in mind that anything which isn't victory is a poor
showing to an Argentine football fan). Being beaten by Holland in World Cup 98
and by Brazil in Copa America 99, both at the quarterfinal stage, severely
dented Argentinean pride. And worst of all it was eliminated out of the 2002
World Cup by
Sweden.
The strength of the team lies in the fact that they have several world-class
players such as Juan Sebastian Veron, Ariel Ortega and so much more talent like
Saviola, D'Alessandro, Canevaghi, Tevez, Crespo, Ayala, Samuel, Cavallero, the
list just keeps going on of pure world class players. The majority of these play
in Europe and are therefore well prepared for quality opposition. Bielsa after
the 2002 WC defeat has been making new lineups for him self, whatever it is, we
all hope it's good for the the World Cup of 2006 or else Bianchi can be a good
replacement.
History of Boca Juniors vs
River Plate
Boca and River are undoubtedly the two biggest football clubs in Argentina. With
the most financial backing of Argentina's most loved sport, together they have
dominated the Argentine championship over the last seventy years. Over 50% of
football followers within the country support one of these two Buenos Aires
outfits.
After Boca and River, the top 4 teams are:
*--Independiente
*--San Lorenzo
*--Velez Sarsfield
*--Racing
Traditionally, Boca (known as Boca Juniors) is associated with the lower working
class immigrant population; River (River Plate) tends to represent the wealthier
middle class type but the differences are far from clear-cut. Both teams hail
from the same Italian district of La Boca. The former still play there, whereas
River have since moved to the more affluent neighbourhood of Nunez.
The first professional game between the two teams took place in 1931, which
ended as a 1-1 draw. Since then, every game has been a battle of nerves,
strength and breathtaking passion.
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WHO IS DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA?
Diego Armando Maradona has
been the greatest football player ever!
To prove this, just think that the most beautiful goal in the history of
football was scored by Maradona in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico against England,
when he dribbled 6 English players and the goalkeeper scoring an amazing goal...
just few minutes after his world-famous "Hand of God" goal, when he scored with
his hand and the referee did not notice that.
Born on October 30, 1960 in
the poor slums of Villa Fiorito in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Diego grew up
with soccer. In the halftime of the Argentinos Juniors matches, a young boy from
the youth team entertained the audience playing and juggling with the ball. "¡Que
se quede!, ¡que se quede!" (=let him stay!) the fans in the stadium said.
His quick football career started in Argentinos Juniors where he made his debut
in the Argentina first division at 15 years of age. He then joined Boca Juniors
and led the Argentina youth team to win the world cup in 1979. After the 1982
world cup in Spain, when he was already an idol, he joined Barcelona and played
in Spain for two seasons. In 1984 the dreams of millions of Napoli fans
throughout the world became reality: he joined the team where he would win two
Italian Championships in 1986/87 and 1989/90, one Coppa Italia (1987), one UEFA
cup (1989) and one Supercoppa Italiana (1990). In the meantime, he became the
hero of Argentina's triumph in Mexico 1986 World Cup where he almost
single-handedly led the team to the final victory. Unfortunately, after failing
a dope test in 1991 he was banned from the soccer fields. After the suspension,
he went to Spain to play for Sevilla and then back to Argentina with Newell's
Old Boys. Then, after a pair of coachings in Argentina for Deportivo Mandiyú and
Racing de Avellaneda, he came back to play for Boca Juniors.
In the World Cup of 1994 in
the USA, Maradona was tested after the match against Nigeria and was found to
have used "ephedrine", not permitted by FIFA. He was suspended from playing
soccer for more than a year as punishment. Although Argentina came in with a
strong team in the 1994 World Cup, everything went downhill and, without their
captain, they were soon defeated.
After the suspension, he
started playing again for Boca Juniors until 1997: on October 30, 1997, day of
his 37th birthday, he retired from football.
Nobody can judge somebody
else's life. Even less can anyone judge such a difficult life as the one of a
world-famous personality. But we must all judge Maradona for what he showed on
the football fields all over the world, and we will certainly all agree that the
spectacle he brought to the world of sports is something really unique and
unforgettable.
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www.bocajuniors.com.ar
www.cariverplate.com.ar |
Follow Boca
Juniors and River Plate teams throughout the
national football league of Argentina. We have safe seats
and our tour guides will be together with you along the whole
event. Watch the Argentina´s National Team and the International
Cups Soccer Matches in Buenos Aires.
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+54-11-4782-7173 | e-mail:
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