Episode 5: El Superclasico (and how Messi is so good)

Many of you will know what a football looks like. Most of you will have some faint affilitation to one team or another. Of these, the majority would probably only watch your team (or country) playing on TV - with the exception of other select matches that may take your interest. For example, I made a point yesterday of waking up slightly early to watch Everton vs Liverpool, one of the biggest derbies (local rivalries) in the UK. Coincidentally, there was another big match in the UK yesterday - Chelsea vs Manchester United, a derby by magnitude if not by location. Both matches ended up being a joy to watch, with some of the worlds best current players showcasing their skills and a total of 9 goals in the two matches. However, despite the Premier League being very popular here both matches went almost completely unnoticed out in Buenos Aires. Why? Because yesterday was the day of the Superclasico.

Buenos Aires currently holds the title of the most professional football teams in one city. The count is over 20 teams - but in reality, Boca Juniors and River Plate are by far the biggest. Due to the fact two seasons ago River were relegated, yesterday was the first competitive meeting between them for 2 years; below are a few things I picked up (for those not interested in football, miss out the parts in italics):

-Much is made in the UK of things being thrown on the pitch. Whilst I obviously do not approve of this, I think the Daily Mail et al perhaps need to look to the superclasico where after kick off you can barely see the green grass:










Right then.

- As it transpired, River were playing at home and scored after only 2 minutes. I was expecting an explosion of noise to eminate from my television, but it turned out to be quieter than i thought. Why, you ask? The television crew zoomed in on large sections of the crowd literally CRYING with joy that their team was winning, and therefore couldnt cheer. Amazing stuff.

-Fast forward to the end of the match and River were winning 2-1 when Boca equalised with the actual last kick of the game. Now cue the noise explosion, but not from the television - people in apartments around me were screaming and shouting, with many running outside to their cars just so they could beep their horns.

-Now to the match itself. It was quite a drab affair, with overall team quality really lacking. This was something I noticed in my couple of matches playing with the locals - pretty much everyone out here can dribble with the ball, but many lack a 'footballing brain'. What I mean by that is they barely ever pass and certainly can't defend. This, then, was the theme of the superclasico - two teams and many players with outstanding individual ability, but so little practice is dedicated to passing that a lot of them were misplaced during the match. On a national level, this is why Argentina lack a good defence and will struggle to win the world cup as when the come up against a team who will put their back line under pressure (spain, for example) they will not be able to utilise players like Messi or Aguero because they´ll be too busy conceeding goals. OK, thats over simplified but you get the point...

-On that note, though, HOW exactly is Messi so good? To answer this we should look not at the philosophy of Argentinian football, but that of Spain (where he moved at a young age). Spain will retain the vast majority of possession every match, but rarely try and dribble or shoot from range. Therefore, take a player with magical feet (Messi) and teach him how to pass and move - and you end up with a pintsized goalscoring machine.


Episode 6: Racism and Luis Suarez.

p.s. this was actually also covered on the bbc sports website today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/timvickery/2012/10/river_plate_v_boca_juniors_-_w.html