It is indeed the biggest and most popular fixture in this part of the World.
I left my grandma’s house after I watched on the television my beloved Racing defeat Colon 2-1 to earn our third straight win and I felt alone in this World! Nobody on the streets. Nobody in the buses or trains around the city. It was the fastest, easiest trip back home from Avellaneda and there was a reason: River was playing against Boca.
It wasn’t just quite when Argentina plays a World Cup match because that’s even bigger. But I felt something similar today.
River won 3-1 (Gonzalo HIGUAIN –pictured here- scoring twice and Ernesto FARIAS adding the third, while World Cup player Rodrigo PALACIO had equalise for Boca in the first half) and now the Torneo Apertura is open again with Boca leading River by one point and a host of other teams (Racing amongst them) chasing the two big guns.
Now I would like to ask you:
Where do you think El Superclasico ranks amongst the biggest derby matches in the World?
I’m sure there are plenty of other choices in the menu with Real Madrid-Barcelona, Inter-Juventus or Inter-Milan, Celtic-Rangers or Manchester United-Liverpool receiving votes. But where do you rank El Superclasico?
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25 comments:
Seba,
This is definetly the biggest derby in the world, perhaps rank alongside Real-Barca. However it is very unfortunate that matches like this are not shown in Malaysia. What a shame!!!
I've heard so much of Gonzalo HIGUAIN. It seems he is currently a Liverpool target. What do you think of him?
John
Malaysia
The only problem with him is that he doesn't hold an Argentine passport! He is French! His dad was a River Plate defender and once scored against Boca Juniors but Gonzalo was born in Brest, France when his dad was playing there.
So now he is elegible for France but not for Argentina (even though he speaks perfect Spanish -wish Argentine accent- and I doubt he speaks any French).
Time will tell and we'll see whether he opts to play for the Albiceleste or for Les Bleus.
I think he is a great talent and the goals he scored today show a great deal of his ability. One with a reflex back-heel no-looking shot and the other one cooly rounding the keeper to send it home to an empty net.
This is a clip with a few of his goals for River Plate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrUOKsA0JRc
Seba,
Does this means that he is regarded as a foreign player in the River Plate roster. Well if he is great talent, then I guess COCO or the AFA should hurry up to process his Argentine passport. We should not be losing talent that we produce to others, for example DAVID TREZEGUET or MAURO CAMONERASI. From your own opinion, do you think both players would have feature for the Albiceleste, provided they were given the chance.
Is Ben Hur the most successful club in Argentine Basketball?
John
Malaysia
Yes John, HIGUAIN is regarded as a foreign player so far.
However, there are talks about BASILE planning on calling him and secure he'll never play for France. As I said before, we must wait and see.
As for attending a River-Boca match, Alex.
Unfortunatelly, violence is everpresent in Argentina. This season (after the World Cup) in our domestic league we've seen 2 matches being officially abandoned (they will continue eventually).
Every weekend is a new nightmare and I'm not exagerating here.
When it isn't trouble amongst the fans, then there is a lighter thrown to a linesman. Or a president of a club invading the referee's room to threat him to death!
However, there were no troubles yesterday at River. Maybe because the security measures are tighter.
My advice is to go with a local who knows the ways towards the stadium and (most importantly) the way out of it, to avoid any unpleasant surprise after the match (when trouble are more common).
I don't think it is a life-threatening experience if you take your proper measures.
You will find it difficult to find tickets for a Superclasico though. Specially if you're planning on attending the the match with your whole family (maybe one ticket should be easier to get)
There were Boca's season ticket holders without a ticket yesterday. And plenty of River supporters too. And there were troubles in the lines to get a ticket amongst the River fans during the week.
I think the River - Boca derby is the top for atmosphere and spectacle. As a Celtic fan I have been to many "Old Firm" derbies and the atmosphere at those games is amazing - an incredible amount of noise and hostility (although it's possibly not as intense now with all-seater stadiums).
The difference between those games and Barca-Real is that hardly any away fans go to the stadium in Spain, so there is not so much rival chanting during the game. However, I'd have to say that in terms of quality of football Barca-Real is the best.
I knew Gonzalo Higuain was born in France but I thought he must be an Argentine citizen - I was wondering why he hadn't been picked for the national team at some level. As a fan of Celtic and River I'm a happy man today, Celtic beat Rangers 2-0 a couple of weeks ago and now River win the Superclasico!
I saw the game on TV, and I thought it is great - definitely one of the top-class derby matches.
I am hugely impressed by this guy HIGUAIN, with some luck he might become the next Batigol. That's just what Albiceleste needs. There you have Messi, Kun and Tevez, which are all world-class forwards, but because of their small sizes none could actually play as central forward.
If you lose him to French side, that will be a huge loss.
By the way, I heard Basile made comments that Tevez and Mancherano should leave West Ham, which really surprised me.
They are already having a hard time at West Ham and such comments, especially from national team coach, will only make things worse. I don't know why he should say anything like that.
Hi Everyone,
Helen, I dont think Basile's comment was meant to make things worst. Its true that both players are not having great times at West Ham. All he wants is the best from his players. Because in the end, he is the national team coach and he can only pick players who are at the best form in their club.
So the friendly match against Spain is coming already. So what could be the final outcome? Prediction anyone?
John
Malaysia
Arg should win easily.
Spain is in disrray, losing two of the three qualification matches, and may be eliminated. Everyone is tired and angry.
Actually I have to question the necessity for this friendly after two tough qualification matches, poor Spain. It is virtually sitting duck now. and Arg should win easily and perhaps by a big margin as well.
Helen,
The reason for such friendly match is of course to allow the coach to prepare or experiment with his team for future competitive games.
From looking at our beloved Albicelestes fixture for the next few months, I think we are moving in the right direction. We are challenging ourself against top teams and that provides good exposure for our players. From my humble point of view, there is no point (besides financial gains) when you play against weaker opponents
John
Malaysia
It should be a good game. Spain especially has something to prove and I would like Argentina to win because then I can gloat to my Spanish friend, hehe. I just found out the lineup and I'm a little upset that Aimar isn't starting. Why is that NT coaches don't seem to like starting him. Poor guy can't catch a break. IMO he is a little better than Insua but Insua played for Basile and so El Coco knows him...Still, would have liked to see Aimar start, he has been playing so well for Zaragoza and seems to have escaped injury for the most part. It's only a friendly so I shouldn't worry.
BTW, for anyone living in the US the game will be shown on SUNDAY Oct 15th at 1pm CT(?) on Telemundo which means that Cantor is going to be commentating :) He is hilarious since he is such a fan.
-argentinafan
How you're doing ARGENTINAFAN?
Thanks for the info regarding on on AIMAR and INSUA. How about letting us know on what is the first eleven?
John
Malaysia
Oh whoops, I realize I didn't include that info *blushes* I've very good by the way John and thanks for asking :), busy with school stuff, but good. I'm very sad that I'm not going to see the game until Sunday. I have to decide if I'm going to look up the score tomorrow or try and remain unspoiled until Sunday...Anyway after that little delay, the starting lineup appears to be: Abbondanzieri, Zabaletta, Ayala, G. Milito, Arruabarrena, Lucho Gonzalez, Mascherano, Maxi Rodriguez, Insua, Messi and Tevez. I don't know what lineup Spain is fielding but I heard a murmuring from my Spanish friend (cocky idiot though I say that with love, hehe) that the lineup would be the same as the Sweden game which they lost. Someone else might know more than me.
I'll let Seba fill you in on anything else, he is more knowledgeable than I am and I always like his pre game and post game analysis.
-argentinafan
Well if this is the 1st eleven, then overall I would say that we should have a lot confidence in our time. The only thing that I'm most concern is our up front pair. The finishing part might be questionable.
John
Malaysia
My spanish friend lied it appears. Acording the the Telegraph UK there will be changes in the spanish lineup from the one that played against Sweden with José Reina in goal instead of Iker Casillas. Pablo Ibañez is set to return to the centre of defence, while Xabi Alonso will play in the centre of midfield with Iniesta and Luis Garcia will take the place of Miguel Ángel Angulo going forward.
I know that this is the Argentina blog but since most of the spanish players are teammates to the Albiceleste players I thought it would make for an interesting discusion.
-argentinafan
If thats the case, then this could be the Battle Of Titans
John
Malaysia
Battle of the Titans? A team who loses 3-0 to a Brazil without Ronaldinho, Adriano and Ronaldo v. a team who were humiliated by Northern Ireland?
Game over. Arg lost 1-2.
I didn't see the game but from what I heard this is a very disappointing game.
Neither team played well, Arg played even worse.
And I heard Spain played a very rough and physical game. I don't understand this, perhaps they were simply angry after the qualification losses?
I don't know, perhaps Basile shouldn't leave Boca? Boca lost the winning edge since he left, and national team doesn't seem to be in good position as well.
Bad game on a bad, roughed up pitch. Barely watchable. Riquelme certainly missed, Crespo missed, Messi still hogs the pelota and generally very, very sloppy. I believe I could see the outlines of NFL markings on the pitch or something like that, and it looked like they were playing in a cowfield. The Albicelestes are clearly in a state of transformation.
Hi there! Sorry I haven't been online lately! But it is for the good reasons. I'm travelling around Argentina and right now I'm at Puerto Iguazú, the closest city to the famous Iguazu Falls. There are impressive. If you ever have the chance to travel to Argentina, please don't forget to visit Iguazú. Amazing! I'll tell you more some other day.
I'm gutted with the result of the match today and my plan was to write a preview a couple of days before but I couldn't. I'm one of those guys who always leave things for the very last minute and so I left Buenos Aires on Monday and I packed on Monday!
Anyway...I've seen the highlights and for what I saw, Spain was the better team. I've heard BASILE's comments and he doesn't sound too worried about these two initial defeats. He said that come the Copa America, Argentina will play more as a team. Right now, with little time to work with the players, it is impossible to show a good level of performances.
I wish MAXI a speedy recovery and hope his injury is not serious.
Tomorrow I'm off to Tucuman (North-West) on my way to the beautiful Salta and Jujuy. I'm touring around my country for the first time in my life and I couldn't be happier!
Boca-River ranks pretty high in terms of derbies.
I also enjoy Liverpool-Everton, Hearts-Hibernians (Edinburgh derby), and Roma-Lazio.
I watched the match via the net. It was very exciting and fun and
WOW Argentinians can jump for long time, I mean the fans on the terrace. It must be an explosive atmosphere in the stadium. You can even feel it watching through a screen with the nonstop singing and everything.
I am rather impressed with Fernando Belluschi. He's great!
Andaman,
Thailand
which country will gonzalo higuain play for\?
I read that he would play for Argentina if he do get called. He was very impressive again last night in the game with Banfield. Belluschi and Farias too. Gallardo came in the second half and supply the pass for Farias within 1 min. 20 seconds something from the start. What a cracking game. These guys are good. I wanted to see Boca too but TVant ain't working well on my computer.
Hello!
My name is Facundo, I'm argentinian and I want to say that I'm very proud because I went to the Monumental Stadium the day that River won 3-1. Boca: YOU'RE HORRIBLE, WHAT A SHAME!! Am I writing well? I don't know... I just study a bit of english... jeje. Well, River-Bosta is, for me, the best match to see in the world... did you see? It's a party! Milan-Inter?? Real Madrid-Barcelona? Noooo! River-Boca the best!! And I don't say this just because I'm very fan of River Plate, I say it because the match is the best!!!
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