Superclásico
. Left: River vs Boca at El Monumental Right: Boca vs River at La Bombonera |
|
| City or region | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
|---|---|
| First contested | August 24, 1913 |
| Teams involved | Boca Juniors, River Plate |
| Most wins | Boca Juniors (126 wins) |
| Most player appearances | Reinaldo Merlo (42 matches) |
The Superclásico is known worldwide as one of the fiercest and most important derbies.[2] In April 2004, the English newspaper The Observer put the Superclásico at the top of their list of "50 sporting things you must do before you die", saying that "Derby day in Buenos Aires makes the Old Firm game look like a primary school kick-about."[3]
Origins and background
The two clubs both have origins in La Boca, the working class dockland area of Buenos Aires, with River being founded in 1901 and Boca in 1905. However, River moved to the affluent district of Núñez in the north of the city in 1925. Since then Boca Juniors has been known as the club of Argentina's working class or the people's club, with many Boca fans coming from the local Italian immigrant community. Boca fans are actually known as Xeneizes (Genoese).[4] By contrast, River Plate became known by the nickname, Los Millonarios (The Millionaires), with a supposedly upper-class support base.[2] Both clubs do though have supporters from all social classes.[4]The first ever recorded Superclásico was a friendly played on August 2, 1908, when Boca prevailed 2–1. The first official match was played on August 24, 1913, with River winning 2–1.[5]
Boca fans refer to River supporters as gallinas (chickens) claiming the lack of guts of River players. Despite the fact that their club traces back its roots to La Boca, River fans refer to their Boca rivals as los chanchitos (little pigs) because they claim their stadium, located in the less affluent La Boca area, smells most of the time,[2] as well as bosteros (manure collectors) a reference to the smell of a polluted river in La Boca.[4] Another infamous slur, coined in the late 1990s over remarks of Boca's forward Diego Latorre, is to brand Boca Juniors as "The Cabaret", due to the alleged aspiration of some players to steal the limelight.[7]
The rivalry between the two clubs can also affect players, particularly those who are transferred between the two clubs. Cataldo Spitale was the first to make the change, when he left Boca to sign for River in 1933. Oscar Ruggeri, who moved to River from Boca in 1985 said, "It's not easy I can tell you. One side looks on you as a traitor and the other doesn't really trust you. You need time to adapt and a lot of character to win people over." Some players have gone so far as to state that they would not play for the other club such as River's Uruguayan player Enzo Francescoli while Diego Maradona during his time playing for Argentinos Juniors, refused to even consider a move to El Monumental, stating that his dream was to play for Boca.[8]
Recently, on March 21 in the Clausura 2010 tournament, the two teams started playing in La Bombonera. At the 9' the match was suspended because of heavy rainfall in Buenos Aires. The pitch was practically flooded, but in spite of this, the referee, Héctor Baldassi, stated that the match could be played.[9] In the course of the match, the two teams were unable to keep possession, because the ball became repeatedly bogged down. The match restarted on Thursday, March 25, 2010 and was played with two halves of 41 minutes.[9] This was the first Superclásico suspended in history.[10]
June 26, 2011 will forever be an historical date for this match, because of the relegation of River Plate, event that will make the 2011–12 Argentine Primera División season the first that does not have any Superclásico matches.
Puerta 12 tragedy
There are various claims as to what exactly happened that day. Some claim that the disaster happened after Boca Juniors fans threw burning River flags from the upper tiers of the stadium, causing a stampede of their own fans in the lower tier.[11]
Others claim that it happened after River fans arrived at the Boca section, causing the stampede of the visiting fans. Yet others claim that gate 12 was locked, or would not open at the time, and that the fans at the back did not hear the ones at the front telling them to stop coming in. William Kent, River's former president, claimed that the police were the culprits, as they began repressing Boca fans after they had thrown urine at them from the stands. Some witnesses claim that the turnstiles to the exit were blocked by a huge iron pole.[12]
After three years of investigation a government enquiry found no-one guilty, much to the disappointment of the families of the victims. Since the tragedy, the gates at El Monumental have been identified by letters instead of numbers.[13]
At the end of the 1968 season the 68 football clubs in the Argentine Football Association collected 100,000 pesos for the families of the deceased.
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