Legendary star Heleno De Freitas (Redaçao Alvinegra)

Football in the 1940's and 50's had Alfredo Di Stefano as one of the top ambassadors of the game.  But there was another one that was another player that was the antithesis of the "Blonde Arrow" at least on the pitch.

Heleno De Freitas was one of the biggest footballing stars post-World War II in South America.  He is also one of the two greatest idols of Botafogo alongside Garrincha.

He was the next star that would follow Leonidas after he was finished come the end of the 1938 World Cup.  Although he was part of the 


Many also considered him the opposite of Garrincha.  While Garrincha was more organized chaos, De Freitas was pure elegance.  His posture was perfect, he moved on the pitch with grace, and this also was amplified with charisma as well as animal magnetism with the ladies.   He was well-educated as he was a licensed lawyer and had a particular eloquence when he spoke. 


He was also a man filled with nerves and sometimes hard to deal with prior to matches.   Many fans nicknamed him "Gilda" after a Rita Hayworth character in one of her movies.   Based on that you can only imagine what type of dramatic attitude he had.  


The difference between him and Garrincha was that his predecessor won the big titles with Botafogo, while De Freitas only won two cups.  He did win a Cariaocão with Vasco Da Gama two years after his departure from the team with the lone star.  One thing that could not be denied was his scoring penchant.  He was the scoring machine of the time for a powerful Botafogo side scoring 209 goals in 234 matches.  


His marks also impressed on the Brazilian national team where he scored 15 goals in 18 matches.


In 1948, De Freitas made a move from his beloved Botafogo and move to Argentine giants Boca Juniors.  His transfer fee was the highest in club's history at that time. During that one season, De Freitas was able to become an idol with the Xeneize. During his season there at Boca he was a vital part of the team on attack.  His play on the pitch was overshadowed significantly when he was being allegedly connected to having a love affair with Eva Perón.

That connection with the Argentine first lady was never confirmed, still it was part of the magnetism and myth that was part of the persona of Heleno De Freitas.
  

De Freitas with Boca Juniors (BocaCampeonWeb)

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Next time we'll profile Italian scoring legend Gianni Rivera

Footballing legends: Heleno De Freitas

Rogelio Funes Mori celebrates goal (TuPost.com)

Apertura week three wrap

River Plate striker Gabriel Funes Mori (AP Photo)

The Argentine league is off and running and there was a dose of excitement throughout the weekend as they began using the Jabulani. 

With the exception of Gimnasia-San Lorenzo and Godoy Cruz-Boca, every other match had a one-goal difference.  Some teams showed their stuff as was the case with Vélez Sarsfield who also won with ease.  Others like recently promoted All Boys played well, but lost to Banfield 2-1.

The teams showed their intentions to play and rust, amid extremely cold conditions.   But the most impressive side this weekend was Vélez Sarsfield as they dominated an Independiente side that was being penciled in as a contender for the title this semester.

River Plate was disappointing in their home debut against Tigre and they were looking to avenge their 5-1 loss to the boys from the Delta in their Clausura finale.  For well over 90 minutes they battled and had problems cracking the Tigre backline.  It would take another brilliant play by Ariel Ortega and former Dallas FC youth player Gabriel Funes Mori headed the ball home.  There was a dose of controversy as Tigre coach Ricardo Caruso Lombardi  was sent off after he was arguing about the fact that Ortega supposedly fouled a player en route to the game-winner. 

Boca Juniors would debut on the road and would fall behind early on in Mendoza against Godoy Cruz, but Lucas Viatri would equalize in the 21st minute.  This match was probably one of the more exciting ones of the weekend.  Omar Asad once again had to be looked at as a coach that fielded yet another competitive squad and looks to be in the running or will at least make lots of the noise in the Apertura.

Claudio Borghi's side looked rusty at first but after the Viatri goal the team did a good job to gel and create opportunities in the end.  In the final minutes, Boca suffered and Godoy Cruz had chances hit off the post and miss by inches. 

Friday
Arsenal 1-2 Lanús

Saturday
Quilmes 1-1 Colón

Argentinos Juniors 1-2 Huracán

Newell's Old Boys 0-1 Estudiantes

Racing Club 1-0 All Boys

Sunday
Banfield 2-1 Olimpo

River Plate 1-0 Tigre

Gimnasia LP 0-0 San Lorenzo

Vélez Sarsfield 1-0 Independiente

Godoy Cruz 1-1 Boca Juniors

Vélez shows style, River suffer as Apertura kicks off

Buenos Aires, Argentina - Martin Palermo,36, known by many as "El Titan" or "The optimistic" recently announced his retirement from professional football just days after he signed a 1 year contract extension with Boca Juniors.

Palermo has scored 220 goals with Boca Juniors, becoming the maximum scorer for the club. He was also the protagonist of a special world cup goal against Greece, a goal that every Argentine celebrated.

His personal record:

8 League championships (1994,1995,1998,1999,2000,2005,2006,2008)
2 Copa Libertadores (2000,2007)
2 Copa Sudamericanas (2004, 2005)
3 Recopa Sudamericanas (2005,2006, 2008)
1 Copa Intercontinental (2000)

Top scorer torneo apertura 1998 (20 goals in 19 games)
South American player of the year (1998)
MVP Copa Intercontinental (2000)
Top scorer torneo clausura 2007
South American golden boot 2008 (24 goals)

It is often said his life can be compared to a movie. His last scene has not been filmed yet, and we can expect a great conclusion.

Martin Palermo announces his retirement from football

The Argentine football league will officially begin on August 8th, with three new teams competing in the first division (All Boys, Olimpo and Quilmes). Everyone has been busy in the market, but two clubs that have really gone all out are Boca Juniors and River Plate. It’s not uncommon to see this, considering both teams are going under really tough times.
Boca Juniors rebuilt their whole back line, starting with the goalkeeper Christian Luchetti, and defenders Insaurralde, Caruso and Cellay. River did the same thing, bringing back Juan Pablo Carrizo, and signing central defender Jonathan Maidana (former Boca Juniors) and Arano.
The team that has suffered the most from the transfer market is Velez Sarsfield, who lost a lost of players to other clubs, something to consider when they have to face two tournaments, Sudamericana and Apertura.

Club Atlético All Boys

Acquisitions:
Cristian Fabbiani(free – on loan), Nicolás Cambiasso (renewal), Eduardo Dominguez (Huracan), Sebastian Grazzini (Racing), Hugo Barrientos (Newell´s), Carlos Casteglione (Panionos GRECIA), Matías Giordano (Talleres Cba), Lucas Rimoldi (Irakis - Greece), Sebastián Ereros (Cerro Porteño)

Departures:
Pablo Solchaga (Los Andes), Fernando Fayart (Patronato), Mariano Campodónico (Belgrano Cba), Martín Perelman (free), Leonel Coudannes, Juan Pablo Rial, Cristian Poizón, Emiliano Díaz, Marcos Giménez, José Luis Goméz , Mauro Matos

Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors

Acquisitions:
Sergio Escudeo (Corinthians), Gonzalo Vargas (Atlas Mexico), Pedro Troglio (DT) (Cerro Porteño)

Departures:
Facundo Coria (Villareal - Spain), Claudio Borghi (Coach – Boca Juniors), Jose Luis Calderón (Retired), Matias Caruzzo (Boca Juniors), Santiago Raymonda (Quilmes), Ismael Sosa (Independiente), Nicolás Peric, Nicolas Pavlovich (Necaxa Mexico), Ignacio Canuto (Maccabi Haifa Israel)

Possible Acquisitions:
Santiago Gentilletti (Renewal), Facundo Castillon (Tiro Federal)

Arsenal de Sarandí

Acquisitions:

Ignacio Boggino (Rosario Central), Lisandro Lopez (Chacarita), Jorge Ortiz (Aik SUECIA), Mariano Trípodi (Bolmenau - Brasil), Matías Alustiza (Xerez – Spain), Pablo Aguilar (San Luis - Mexico), Cristian Leiva (San Lorenzo), Gaston Esmerado, Juan Krupoviesa (Boca Juniors), Andres Franzoia.

Departures:
Mariano Martinez (Huracan), Dario Espinola (Def y Justicia), Franco Jara (Benfica - Portugal), Nicolás Domingo (his loan finished, returned to River Plate), Anibal Matellán (Mexico), Javier Yacuzzi (Tijuana - Mexico)

Club Atlético Banfield

Acquisitions:
Pablo Santillo (Racing)

Departures:
James Rodriguez (Porto), Roberto Battión (Independiente), Jose Shaffer (end of loan), Julio Marchant, Luis Salmerón, Cristian Luchetti (Boca Juniors), Matías Cardaccio (Atlas – Mexico), Maximiliano Laso (Chipre), Jhonatan Maidana (River Plate), Guido Di Vanni (Gimnasia Jujuy).

Club Atlético Boca Juniors

Acquisitions:
Claudio Borghi (Coach - Argentinos Juniors), Christian Cellay (Estudiantes LP), Cristian Luchetti (Banfield), Juan Insaurralde (Newell´s), Matías Caruzzo (Argentinos Jrs), Gonzalo Fierro (Flamengo - Brasil), Damián Escudero (Villareal - Spain)

Departures:
Gabriel Paletta (Parma - Italy), Facundo Roncaglia (Estudiantes LP), Federico Insúa (Bursaspor - Turkey), Morel Rodriguez (free), Nicolás Gaitán (Benfica - Portugal), Sebastian Prediguer, Adrian Gunino (free), Juan Krupoviesa (Arsenal), Hugo Ibarra, Guilermo Marino.

Possible Acquisitions:
Martín Palermo (contract renewal pending), Juan Román Riquelme (contract renewal pending).

Club Atlético Colón de Santa Fe

Acquisitions:
Federico Higuaín (Godoy Cruz), Ronald Raldés (Maccabi Tel-Aviv - Israel) Juan Quiroga (Newell´s), Damián Diaz (U Católica - Chile), Cristian Ledesma (Olympiakos - Greece).

Departures:
Facundo Bertoglio (Dynamo de Kiev - Russia), Cristian Pellerano (Independiente), Alejandro Capurro, Pablo de Miranda (Tigre), Jossimar Mosquera, Mauricio Mansilla, Nicolás Torres, Federico Nieto, Andrés Ríos.

Argentine League: Transfer Market

Boca Juniors made it official on Monday they they would open their first OFFICIAL football school in the United States.

Boca Juniors school director Andrés Lillini was excited about the school's opening in Miami. "It is a great moment for Boca Juniors. Our mission is to help support this club with the resources as well as with the ideology behind the club," said Lillini.

The on the field training will be in supervised by none other than former Colombian international Luis Carlos Perea. The two-time World Cup participant was a selected due to his experience in the world football scene as well as his connections over the past decade to the soccer community here in South Florida.

"For me it is an honor to be able to be associated with this club. Although I did not play there, I had teammates (Oscar Córdoba, Mauricio Serna, and Jorge Bermúdez) that played for this team, so I do feel linked to the club indirectly," said Perea.

Its aims are to help promote the game as well as the team brand in South Florida as well as throughout the United States.  This will be able to gather the interest within the Latino community.  Boca also plan on gradually growing and eventually bringing in teams from other areas as well as establishing exchange programs with some players.  These programs would also include sending players to Argentina in order to get a better understanding of what the training regiment would be at the Xeneize youth academies in Buenos Aires.  They would also get a glimpse at life in Casa Amarilla.

What it does not aim to do is to "take players to play for Boca".  This is not part of their plan although if there is a player that has the potential to be a player for Boca, the opportunity does lie there.  The tone was more for developing players and not trying to reinforce their squads for the future.

The other issue was that they were making sure that the Miami academy is going to be an official school run by Club Atlético Boca Juniors and it was not an affiliate.

Miami Strike Force has also been linked with Italian Serie A side Cagliari. There have been well over 26 prospects that have headed to Italy including none other than South Florida native Fabrice-Jean Picault.

Boca announce first official school in US

We had a chance to speak to former Colombian international Luis Carlos Perea after the press conference that officially opened the first official Boca Juniors in the United States.

Interview with Luis Carlos Perea

Executives from Argentine side Boca Juniors will be in Miami next week to announce their first US-based academy that is scheduled to open in the coming days. The Argentine giants will be making their partnership with Miami Strike Force official on Monday .

Boca already has academies in place throughout Central, South America, and Mexico, but this is a groundbreaking moment for the Xeneize stateside.

"The goal is to create similar associations in cities with important Hispanic population,"said Boca's US representative Juan Carlos Mojica. "Not only do we want to expand our fanbase internationally, but also be able to teach and promote the sport to children. Especially the children of Hispanic parents here in the United States so they can better follow the game."

The players that are part of the academy will be trained under the tutelage of former Colombian international Luis Carlos Perea. Perea was the anchor in the middle of the Colombian national team in the late 80's and mid 90's. He was also part of the Atlético Nacional side that won the Copa Libertadores back in 1989.

The official announcement will be made at a press conference on Monday over at The Knife Restaurant at Bayside.

Boca Juniors are the most successful side at the international level (alongside AC Milan) as they have won 18 international titles. They have also won 23 domestic titles in Argentina.

Boca Juniors to open their first US academy in the US

It hasn’t been even 4 days since Claudio Borghi won the Argentine League with Argentinos Juniors, today it was confirmed he will succeed Tito Pompei in one of the most popular and succesful clubs in South America, Boca Juniors.

Borghi met with Boca Junior’s president Amor Ameal, and they agreed on a one-year contract, his salary will be around U$750,000, making him one of the higest paid coaches in the Argentine league behind Ramon Diaz (San Lorenzo) and Miguel Angel Russo (Racing).

Besides his contract, they discussed the arrival of new signings, which will include Clemente Rodriguez (His contract with Estudiantes expires and he will not renew), Juan Mercier (Argentinos Juniors), Insaurralde (Newell’s) and Matias Caruzzo(Argentinos Juniors).

The best of luck for Claudio Borghi, friend of We Are Futbol and simply futbol. Borghi is currently back home in Chile, once he returns to Buenos Aires we will have a exclusive interview and possibly some giveaways for our readers.

Claudio Borghi will continue his career in Boca Juniors

Boca Juniors u-18 squad will travel to Madrid on may 23rd to take part of the 5th annual u-18 club world cup.

The tournament hosts some of the most prestigious teams in the world including Boca Juniors, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

List of winners:

2005 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)
2006 - Boca Juniors (Argentina)
2007 - Sao Paulo (Brazil)
2008 - Sao Paulo (Brazil)
2009 - Real Madrid (Spain)

This year's tournament will feature 12 teams, divided into 4 groups:

Group 1: Real Madrid, Corinthians, Ton Jing
Group 2: Atlético Madrid, Lazio, Mamelodi
Group 3: Boca Juniors, Getafe, Manchester City
Group 4: Rayo Vallecano, Valencia, Chivas

The finals will take place on May 30th.

Boca Juniors' roster:

ATTALIA Joaquín
CICHELLO Nicolás Javier
AGUIRRE Alan Maximiliano
MEZA Lucas Maximiliano
PAJUREK Pablo Alejandro
SILVA Javier Alejandro
ORFANO Esteban Gabriel
ALVAREZ Cristian Marcelo
BAIMA Leonardo
GONZÁLEZ Nicolás Antonio
MEDORI MARTÍNEZ Manuel Moisés
GENARO Kevin Luis
AUBONE CABRAL Mauricio Alfredo
FURTADO Martín Ezequiel
GUAYCOCHEA Luciano
PALACIOS Sebastián Alberto
MONTENEGRO Julián Ariel
ERCORECA Facundo

Boca Juniors U-18 travels to Madrid

Boca Juniors midfielder Nicolás Gaitán was transferred to Portuguese side Benfica for the sum of €8.4 million.

Portuguese media are reporting that the Argentine international has signed on with Benfica for the next five seasons.  Gaitán played in 78 matches for Boca where he scored on 13 occasions.

According to many, he will be Ángel Di María's replacement as the former Rosario Central phenom is linked to an eventual move to Real Madrid next season.
Gaitán has also earned three caps in his young international career with Diego Maradona's Albiceleste.  He has a style very similar to Di María- lefty, skillful, and extremely versatile. 

This story confirms that the Argentine will join fellow compatriots Pablo Aimar and Javier Saviola, who are about to help O Aguilaearn their 32nd league title.

Gaitán heads to Benfica

Racism in football is nothing new; it’s something real and something that needs to be addressed. The latest victim of a racial attack in football is the Colombian defender Breyner Bonilla, who plays for Boca Juniors (Argentina).

Racism is the belief that people who have a different skin colour, nationality or culture are inferior. Racism has been used to justify the means of oppressing groups all around the world. Racism can be displayed in many different ways; the most common are verbal abuse and physical attacks. It is wrong to judge a person and their capabilities based on their background.

Last weekend, when Boca Juniors visited Colon in Santa Fe, Bonilla was sent off after he brought down midfielder Facundo Bertoglio with a studs-up tackle. Soon after the foul, the defender found himself surrounded by veteran striker Esteban Fuertes, German Rivarola and Eduardo Coudet as well as other players from Colon’s squad.
During a television interview with local television station TyC Sports, Bonilla made a serious announcement that compromised veteran striker Estaban Fuertes. The allegation was based upon a racist remark that Fuertes made after Bonilla was sent off. Fuertes allegedly said “ I’m going to break your bones you black shit, go back to Africa”.Fuertes said the following on his defense “I’m surprised by all this, with Bonilla we clashed and exchanged words during the match, but at no time I did call him ‘black’ ”.

During the interview the 23 year old defender broke down in tears and said “One feels impotence when people say you want to hurt an adversary. We’re all South American and I came here to work, not to rob someone”. He continued to mention how he felt, he expressed that it was hard to understand because according to his knowledge Colombians are much respected in Argentina.
Bonilla was sanctioned with 2 games after his red card. The Argentine Football Association has yet to make a statement on the matter, and whether or not they will sanction Fuertes.

I had the chance to meet Breyner before he made his debut on the first team. That morning we had visited Abel Alves, at that time the reserves coach. Alves said to us “Breyner is a loyal defender, but what stands out about him is his charisma, his character. He is a very good team player, and has earned the respect of his peers”.

Racism in football is wrong, Racism in any sort is wrong and we need to advocate against it. We are in 2010, a modern era; we need to stop with this. We are all people, we have the same capabilities, the only difference is how we look.

FIFA claims, ‘Racism has no place in football. FIFA is deploying all the means at its disposal to eliminate this form of discrimination.’ And there’s more: Racism is banned under Article 6 of FIFA’s Ethics code. A message to Mr. Blatter, do something about this, because our fellow Colombian is going through a tough time, and this issue needs to be addressed.

To all of our International readers, I assure you this takes me by surprise. Argentina is not known for racism, actually the league holds players from all backgrounds, including Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil, and racist acts are very uncommon.

I want to finish this article using a quote from Samuel Eto’o: “Racism is something created and anything that is created can be undone”.

Breyner Bonilla victim of a racist remark

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Boca fans are not accustomed to seeing times as bad as these recent few months. The squad is a far cry from the SuperClásico win that seems like it happened a generation ago. That win is now just an overvalued trophy with absolutely no personal or symbolic weight in overall perception of this Clausura tournament.

Martín Palermo said it best when he said after Sunday's loss against Rosario Central that the team had never been so low. Yet he is one of those very few that have been on scholarship from the angry Boca mobs.

If there is a player that should have been forgiven it was Juan Román Riquelme, but his antics after Rosario Central's second goal wreaked bail out. He earned a direct red card for "verbal abuse" and there could be some other repercussions by the club. 

The commentator of the match on Argentine television mentioned that the sending off was an obvious attempt to bail out on his team in a dark situation. For many he was already on the way out as the team is looking for some type of change of players from the pitch. 

As many know Riquelme is a brilliant player, but much like any other maestro, his temperament is one that does not allow him to be friends with many people. Riquelme bailed out on his team and everyone knows it. He went to look for trouble and looked for the red card.  What was the worst of all, he left the pitch in the moment his team needed him most.  There was still time to equalize- and almost did on a Palermo header that went wide- but the writing was on the wall.

Was it Riquelme's fault Boca lost?  Probably not.  The team as a whole was not functioning, so we would need lots of fingers to appropriately distribute the blame.  

Riquelme's "premeditated action" was a microcosm of the uncontrollable tailspin that Boca are experiencing as a team and as an entity.  Javi  García could be forgiven for his terrible gaffe.  Gaitan could be forgiven for his poor finishing.  The defense COULD BE forgiven for allowing the two scores.  

But Riquelme getting sent off the way he did symbolized everything that goes against Boca's principles of sweating the jersey and going down fighting. The proverbial rotten cherry on top.  The Xeneize playing in helter skelter fashion and they paid for it in a match that they should have handily won against Rosario Central.

It was officially "rock bottom" for players like Martín Palermo.  The last time that Los Canallas last won at La Bombonera, Gary Medel was two years old.  It was a place that evoked fear in the hearts of opponents.  It was an intimidating venue to go to.  Now it seems like it is a place where a group of friends gather on Sundays and play a pickup game.   Riquelme's sending off was the thump that officially brought the last few Boca fans to reality after that surreal free fall.  


Riquelme, as a player might have a brilliant legacy, but as a teammate he is probably one of the worst to have around. Boca fans embrace him in moments of brilliance, but when he is not on people know that he has 1,000 other places he wants to be.

That is why "Riquelme is motivated" are the three most feared words in Argentine football. Let's face it, his talent has the potential to turn games around and can make magic in the smallest of spaces.  Unfortunately his character has truly come to light in situations where his team needed him the most.  That's what really comes to tell what a player is made of.

For fans of his game, it has been the ultimate downer.  For followers of Boca Juniors, we now know why Martín Palermo is the captain of the team and why Riquelme will leave much, much sooner rather than later and that would be for the best.  Because like any good captain Palermo is going down with the ship.  And like any good passenger on a sinking ship, he was the first one to jump out. 

Related Articles

• South American Futbol: Boca lose again, Independiente still top 
  
• Soccernet: Godoy Cruz makes history, Riquelme sees red 
• La Gaceta de Tucumán: Boca suffer humiliation after humiliation (ESP)
  

Riquelme bails out on Boca

Boca star Martín Palermo upset with Abel Alves over substitution in second half against Chacarita Juniors (Olé)

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After all the talk about Boca finally getting their act together in the Superclásico and beating their eternal rivals at home, Boca stink it up against relegation-compromised Chacarita losing in embarrasing fashion 4-1.

Boca dominated in the first half jumping on top 1-0 but their inability to finish off their opponent was evident after they missed significant opportunities to score in the first half including a Martín Palermo header that hit the crossbar.

In the second half, the conflicted Boca emerged. The one that was a defensive nightmare. That same Boca that was frightening to watch. This is when a team with the potential of Chacarita was able to take advantage of the situation and take off.

Facundo Parra dashed Boca defense and equalized in the 49th minute and what seemed to be an improbable route was on. Nicolás Ramírez would score off a header ten minutes later and what seemed to be the mighty Boca of old fell down like a house of cards.

Sebastián Sciorilli and then Parra's second goal of the match would make it 4-1 our unanswered goals were the damage and Boca's old wounds that seemed to be healing were gashed wide open once again.

After losing 2-1 coach Abel Alves took out Martín Palermo much to the displeasure of the club's all-time leading scorer.

"Why did you take me out? We're losing."

That was the angry clamor made by Palermo to his coach.

"I took him out because he was tired. He played midweek," said Alves defending his controversial move in the second half. A move that could have sealed his fate on the Boca bench.

Now Boca face yet another tough week as their virtually lame duck coaching staff try to hold the ship together.

Related Articles

• ESPN Soccernet: Independiente stumble, Boca smashed
  


• Soccerway: Superclásico was just an optical illusion for Boca
  


• South American Futbol: Chacarita crush Boca Juniors
  


• Cancha Llena: Alves "I did not hear Palermo"(ESP)
  

The honeymoon ends quickly for Boca

Diego Maradona returned to “La Bombonera” after his problems with Juan Roman Riquelme last year. The midfielder resigned to the National team after a series of declarations that were made by Maradona on national TV. Boca supported Riquelme, and they showed their opinion by placing flags against Diego. In today’s match the whole stadium chanted “Para Riquelme la seleccion”, in support of the midfielder and requesting his presence on the National squad.

Albes was forced to make changes on the team after both Hugo Ibarra and Morel Rodriguez were sided with injuries. The youngsters Munoz and Monzon replaced the experienced vets, and what looked like a problem at first became a solution in defense for Boca Juniors. They both played a crucial role on the match, especially Monzon who assisted Medel on the second goal.

In the start of the match, River came out really aggressive with both Oscar Ahumada and Matias Almeyda pressuring on the midfield, creating spaces for Paulo Ferrari to join the attack. The first couple of chances for River came from Ferrari, with two early crosses, one did not connect with Funes Mori the other one ended with Gallardo falling and asking for an inexistent penalty kick.

Alves recognized the tactical set up of River Plate, and moved his pieces. He pushed Matias Gimenez higher into the mid, and dropped Riquelme into his back, this stopped the progress of Ferrari who had to stay and defend. Alves neutralized Gallardo by sending both Jesus Mendez and Gary Medel to pressure his zone. Boca slowly began to control the game by using Monzon and Medel on the flanks, added to this the playmaking ability of Riquelme and the speed of Nicolas Gaitan in the front. Medel was yellow carded for an aggressive foul (take note into this), to show that the tempers of both teams were high.

The first goal of the match came from an innocents foul committed by Oscar Ahumada, after he missed to clear the ball he took down Gimenez for a foul right near the edge of the box. El Maestro, Juan Roman Riquelme, placed the ball right through the wall and found Gary Medel, who tapped the ball into the net with no opposition. The Chilean international, who already had a yellow, climbed the fence and celebrated with the fans, this excessive celebration should have been punished with a yellow card, and in such case Medel would have been sent off.

Minutes after the goal, Marcelo Gallardo broke the defense with a through ball leave Funes Mori one on one with Javier Garcia. The 19 year striker of River Plate took a weak shot that was easily controlled By Javier Garcia; this was one of the two clear chances the youngster wasted. This goal would have made a big difference in the game.

Boca began to control the match, with little to no opposition. In the second half, River displayed no attitude. In my opinion, the team looked more like they were trying to avoid more goals instead of equalizing the match.

The second goal was probably one of the best goals this week, a collective play. Mendez carried the ball to Riquelme into the midfield, Riquelme put a through ball into the left wing to find Monzon (left back), the defender made his way into the attacking third and nut megged Paulo Ferrari, put a low cross into Nico Gaitan, who opened his legs to let the ball through allowing Medel to find the ball in front of him, the shot, with violent force, ended in the back of the net to seal the game.

Medel was having a dream match with two goals against no other than the eternal rivals, River Plate. He had a contest with Marcelo Gallardo; Gallardo head butted and bit Medel, who just pushed him back. But minutes later, Medel would hit Matias Almeyda from behind and receive the red card. That did not stop Medel from receiving a big applause from the local crowd.

Boca Juniors defeated River Plate 2-0 and came out of the bottom of the table. After the match there was a big hug between Riquelme and Alves, to prove that their relationship is ok. Diego Maradona also spoke to the radio and said “Riquelme was phenomenal”.

Boca got three really important point, but most important a moral result. Alves seems to have found his team. He will not be able to repeat the teams against Chacarita on Sunday because he reached his 5^th yellow card.

On the other side, River looked lost, with no attitude. The best player for River was Marcelo Gallardo, who tried but could not break the defense. River has a lot to fix before Monday’s match against Argentinos Juniors.

Medel gives Boca a victory against River Plate

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Boca Juniors head coach Abel Alves will not be able to bring back the same starting XI on Thursday for the remainder of El Superclasico. The game was postponed 8 minutes into the match due to inclement weather.

During a formal football practice on Monday, Alves suffered two important injuries on the squad, Ibarra and Morel, both outside defenders. In Ibarra's case it s most likely he will miss the match, he has a problem on his right leg and this is a re-occurring injury. In Morel's case he may be able to make the match if he is not pushed during the week.

This means trouble for Alves, who does not have a wide back to replace them either. Alves will most likely move Monzon into the wing, and place the Colombian defender, Bonilla as the center defender. If Morel is not able to make the match,then he will probably drop Gary Medel, and move Chavez into the wing.

More problems for Boca Juniors, a flooded field. Bring the crickets and this may come like the Bible story in which the great empire falls.. FLOOD, INJURIES, AND INTERNAL PROBLEMS, Boca is one step away from falling.

More problems for Alves and Boca Juniors

El Superclasico will be re-scheduled for Thursday March 25th. 82 minutes will be played, with two halves of 41 minutes each plus the additional time the referee may assign. This match has had us waiting, and we will have to wait until thursday to see the outcome.

El Superclasico has a new date

9 minutes was enough for Hector Baldassi to postpone the match. The ball was not flowing naturally, players were making mistakes and Boca almost gave up a goal when Luiz Alberto failed to clear a ball stuck in the water. This was enough for Hector Baldassi to say enough, and postpone the match. And what a decision he made, to postpone the biggest and most important match of the week without hesitating. There is a reason why he is going to the world cup.

Both captains (Palermo and Gallardo) tried to convince the ref of doing otherwise,but it was in vane. We could read into Gallardo's lips "If you end this now, there is going to be trouble", Palermo said "We can play this", but the decision remained put.

We will have to wait until a decision is made in regards to the date of the match, and all fans will have to wait until then to celebrate. It was the perfect atmosphere for the battle, and to have one fallen, but this time the one who fell was not Boca nor River, it was the ball, that sits floating on a puddle in the center of the field.

El Superclasico postponed due to weather

El Superclasico : Boca Juniors vs. River Plate preview

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Buenos Aires, Argentina - March 20, 2010

Lineups

Boca: Garcia, Ibarra, Luiz Alberto, Munoz, Morel Rodriguez, Medel, Mendez, Gimenez, Riquelme, Palermo, Gaitan

River: Vega, Ferrari, Ferrero, Cabral, Diaz, Rojas, Ahumada, Almeyda, Gallardo, Funes Mori, Canales

Preview

This has been a rough week for Boca Juniors, as previously stated on my last article "A week from Hell for Boca Juniors" . And things got even worse during the week when a group from "La 12" showed up to training and threatened players with heave consequences if they did not win the match. Added to this, we had the cross declarations between Riquelme and Abel Alves. Riquelme held a press conference denying what was said in the press, however, he stated this could be his last season with Boca Juniors. Riquelme has a poor relationship with the management, and the number 1 candidate to be head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto does not get along with him, and said that he would not return to the club while Riquelme is still there.

While in Boca Juniors everything is trouble and controversy, River Plate is going through smooth times. Leonardo Astrada confirmed the squad midweek, with only one substitution, Gustavo Cabral (re appears after a knee injury) for Nicolas Sanchez. Astrada arrives into this match with confidence, he knows both clubs are hurt, but believes in his team and wants to take advantage of the defensive problems of Boca Juniors.

Facts

Several players will make their official debut in the Superclasico: Luiz Alberto, Medel, Mendez, Gimenez, Ferrero, Diaz, Rojas, Funes Mori and Canales.

The match will be reffed by Hector Baldassi (representative of Argentina in the World Cup in South Africa 2010).

In case Boca is defeated, they will not fall into the last position, because Estudiantes defeated Atletico Tucuman, however they will only be 3 points away, and they will need to face the needy Chacarita Juniors next match.

The away tickets for River Plate were sold out in 2 minutes (4,000 tickets) through ticketek, a new record in Argentina.

The game will have a serious police check, with more than 3,000 officials at the game.

This is a promising match, and no matter what the result is, it will most likely affect one squad. Stay tuned for more information.

• A week from Hell for Boca Juniors


• Memorable Superclasico Goals: Maradona makes his mark

• Memorable Superclasico Goals: Rojas buries Boca


• Memorable Superclasico Goals: Palermo Returns

El Superclasico: Preview

Boca Juniors legend Diego Maradona (Wikimedia)

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There are instances that change a rivalry. There are goals that mark a generation. There are players that make history. Whether you like of dislike Diego Maradona there is one thing you cannot deny- he was a player for the ages.

Whether it was that innocent little boy on video telling people how his dream was to win the World Cup or that obese man that could barely catch his breath at La Bombonera during his tribute match, he always made headlines. What he did with his left foot and right hand or what came out of his mouth, he was always in the radar and tended to change the rules of the game as he went.

The early 80's saw Boca and River in similar situations. While River Plate won titles at home Boca won abroad. The turn of the decade saw the Xeneizes in economic problems and they began to tail off by the

In the months and weeks leading to the beginning of the season, both River and Boca found themselves in a dogfight over the young Argentinos Juniors star. River had the money but Maradona had the desire to go to Boca regardless of their economic perils. So in the end Maradona went to Boca on a loan spell with an option to buy and he would make history with the side he so dearly loved.

Maradona coming into the match was recovering from a muscle strain that had been affecting him for weeks. The club remedied the problem by injecting him in order to keep him functioning during the time. The injection would not be enough as he would be forced out of action for three weeks, but would be ready for the Superclásico a few days later.

If you look at the stat sheet for the game, and people would say that Miguel Ángel Brindisi was the star of the match as he scored a brace. In the end it was Maradona whow took all the accolades because he set up the play and was the primary reason why Brindisi was so successful in that match.

Despite this performance, the goal that changed the game and marked an era at Boca was Maradona's goal. It was sort of symbolic as he faced the nucleus of the 1978 World Cup-winning side, a side he was left off by national team coach César Luis Menotti. River was the national team's nucleus during that World Cup run. River had players like Ubaldo Fillol, René Houseman, Norberto Alonso, Américo Gallego, Daniel Passarella, and Mario Kempes. It was his way of showing his worthiness as well as the rest his team's. One has to remember that Menotti used the nucleus of River Plate.

So for him to receive the ball in the box, juke Fillol and leaving him on the ground sprawling. Alberto Tarantini would come back in vain as he, too, would be left on the ground and Maradona netted the ball for the final nail in the River coffin. His goal was a message to Menotti stating that he was still (to this day) bitter about that exclusion.

He would nail Fillol once again to the back of the net with an incredible goal off a free kick at El Monumental. He would last a few more months with Boca after they crash out of the Nacional tournament and then had to report for national team duty. Prior to the World Cup, he would sign with Barcelona and the rest is history.

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Memorable Superclásico goals: Maradona makes his mark