A beautiful ending to a troubled year

By EuropeanFootballNews.co.uk
December 13 2006

The Argentinean league has ended this troublesome year with a thrilling and emotive definition in which underdogs Estudiantes de La Plata stole the title from the hands of the reigning champions Boca Juniors. This fairy tale is a perfect ending to a horrible semester marked by violence and chaos.

It is easy to remember the English hooligans. In the eternal rivalry between England and Argentina, even when it comes to violence related to football there, there is something to compare. The main difference, though, is that England has managed to control the violent people, while Argentineans watching the Premiership can’t believe how it is that people can sit in the stands so close to the ground and hardly without any obstacles impeding them from entering the pitch.

Before these past two weeks, this semester was going to be remembered in the Argentine league as the one in which violence won. Hardcore fans leading the groups were the centre of the attention instead of the real main characters, the professional players and coaches.

Thankfully, the league found a lovely and dreamed closure. Estudiantes de La Plata, a typical middle table team who once were world champions in the 60’s, were crowned as winners in a thrilling ending. Boca Juniors, the favourite side to win the title for the third time in a row, had a 4 point lead with two matches to go and easy matches ahead against relegation battlers and a middle table team with no aspirations. Boca was disappointing and lost both matches, and Estudiantes, who never gave up, found those 4 points to equal the leaders in agonizing fashion. It didn’t end right there, wait for it.

Imagine a double entry chart combining the following items. From left to right: vandalism, fights, massive clashes, theft, threats, political moves, injured people, dead people (in the minor leagues) and even the now notoriously “piquetes”, a new local measure in which a few people can interrupt transit and get away with it. Downwards: against the police, against fans from other teams, between fans from the same team, to players & coaches, from players & coaches, to directives & board, from directives & board, against the security organisms. And I’m probably forgetting some other items.

Most of the combinations have taken place only this semester. Some examples:

- The president of Gimnasia de la Plata stormed into the referees’ dressing room at halftime during the match his team was beating Boca Jrs. 1-0. The referee suspended the match and claimed he had been threatened by this man. Controversy lasted for a couple of weeks as judicial procedures took over disappointingly. The result was that the president was given a six month license from his position.

- In the middle of an irregular season, players and coaching staff of River Plate found their cars vandalized in the private parking lot of the club, where the access is restricted. It was quickly known that it had been the work of angered hardcore River fans. It is a wonder how they entered that place and nobody admitted knowing them or having any relationship with them.

- At a certain point, at least one match per weekend had to be suspended due to violence in the stands or people throwing projectiles at referees or players. Fans of Racing confronted each other violently in the stands as a result of a division in the groups fighting for power within the fans.

- The match between Gimnasia and Boca was resumed a month after the mentioned events. There had been great controversy about Gimnasia letting Boca win in order to dismantle their rivals Estudiantes’ chances of winning. In that second half, Boca scored 4 goals thanks to a terrible performance of the Gimnasia players. It was known that the hardcore fans paid them a visit in training and urged them to lose the match, with threats involved. When the players were called by the Justice organisms to declare what happened, they all denied being threatened. The team entered then a crisis, players rescinded their contracts, and they are still not recovering from it.

In the end, after the amazing outcomes of the last weekend in which Estudiantes and Boca finished in the top, a match to find the champions was scheduled for Wednesday right after the last matchday. Boca, led by new coach Ricardo La Volpe who know is under fire due to the bad results, and counting with stars like Fernando Gago, Rodrigo Palacio and idols like Martín Palermo and Guillermo Barros Schelloto, had been playing very badly and seemed to be underdogs in the definitive match. The past years, on the other hand, proved that Boca knew how to play important matches, reckoning they have beaten Real Madrid, Milan and a host of Brazilian teams and in all these matches, Boca were no favourites.

Estudiantes, led by the recently-turned-manager and legend Diego Simeone and counting with their prodigal son Juan Sebastián Verón, had won 11 out of the 12 past matches, they had been playing good football but there was a sense they would be nervous about the match. But after halftime, they overcame a 1-0 Boca lead and turned the match around. Two of the outstanding figures, young and talented midfielder José Sosa and the powerhouse striker Mariano Pavone scored.

The last minutes were as breathtaking as expected, but the final whistle arrived and gave Estudiantes their first titles in decades. The celebrations were emotive, as the players dedicated the title to a close friend and former player of the team who died of cancer earlier in the year. Tears running down the faces of both fans and players, happiness in red and white.

Yet, the last and most impressive image left me a sense of hope and relief. The Estudiantes players gave the traditional runaround through the pitch during the celebration, and as they passed by the stands occupied by Boca fans, to everyone’s amazement they were received with claps from the bitter fans who could hardly believe the title had escaped their hands. A true proof that football can be civilized and enjoyed by everyone, right when it seemed everything indicated the opposite.