Boca-River to the airport

Sometimes, as much as you like a team, you can be happy that football remains unpredictable and that arrogance is punished. As Boca Juniors went into the last round of the group stages in the Club World Cup they were to faced the unassuming Auckland FC, who had lost their first two matches 10-0 and 6-0 against Bayern Munich and Benfica respectively. Boca Juniors entered the match full of arrogant expectation, where they should rather have been hoping to play well against an amateur side.

Boca's awful arrogance was punished when the PE teacher, Christian Grey, equalised Boca's first half lead and gave the Kiwis an unexpected and delightful 1-1 and a rightful elimination of the Argentine giants, who appear to have forgotten that humility is the first step to greatness.

All in all a bad tournament for both Argentine clubs, as River Plate were also eliminated after losing 0-2 to Inter Milan, falling without grace against a far superior side. Two River players received red cards and just like Boca, River will not be missed in the Club World Cup.

Instead of meeting on the pitch, the two Argentine clubs will be in the airport. 

Apache: the Life of Carlos Tevez

Another Netflix show with a football theme is the Argentinean series of 8 episodes about the life of Carlos Tevez. The show includes short interviews with Tevez himself at the start of every episode which chronicle Carlos Tevez' childhood in the poor Argentinean neighbourhood of Fort Apache, and in particular his family's and friends' struggles amid poverty and violence. 

While the story follows Carlos Tevez early life, some episodes and characters have been changed, most notably the story of his friend Danilo Sanchez, "Uruguayo": in the show he is Tevez' best friend and a very talented footballer who is chosen ahead of Tevez to play on the youth side "Liniers", but ends up as a drug addict and dies in a shoot-out. The character is based on a friend of Tevez, Dario Coronel, and in the show represent a sad contrast to how life goes for Tevez, but also to the struggle that young people, footballers or not, have in the most marginalised places in Latin America. It is admirable that Tevez made it with his immense talent, but there are thousands of sad destinies as well.

The show ends with Tevez getting his debut for Boca Juniors as a 17-year old, with his family and friends watching proudly (and his admirable parents, who are not his biological parents, Segundo and Adriana). We all know what happened after in Tevez career: success in Cruzeiro, West Ham, Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus. At times full with controversy that led him to being an unpopular man in Manchester (because of the way he left both clubs), but also proof that Tevez is his own man, with strong roots in the place where he grew up, and an unconditional love and loyalty to his friends and family.

The show far exceeded my expectations, so I would recommend watching it.

Brazilian final

Yesterday Santos and Boca Juniors faced one another for the second final spot in the 2020 Copa America. Just as River Plate was unlucky against Palmeiras, Boca Juniors were poor as they never really rose to the occasion against an efficient and well-playing Santos side who won 3-0 on goals by Diego Pituca, Yeferson Soteldo and Lucas Braga. I was particularly impressed by the young Venezuelan, Soteldo, who scored a fantastic second goal, but all in all appeared as a fantastic player. It was the first time I saw him play, and hope to see him again.

With the all-Brazilian final we will at least be without the chaos of a River-Boca final as in 2018. After having watched both semifinals I see Santos as the favourites to take the title, which they took last time in 2011. Palmeiras are in their first final since 2000 (which they lost to Boca Juniors), and could take their first title since 1999.

The final will be played on January 30th on Maracana stadium.

The Copa Libertadores final of hate

The Copa Libertadores Final in Buenos Aires between arch-rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors had to be postponed today because of River Plates' fans vicious attack against the Boca Juniors bus, which not only left Boca players with minor injuries, but worse, very scared.
Nobody deserves to be in such a situation.
The whole thing was a disgrace not only to Argentina, but also to the rest of South America.
The match has been lauded as one of the most awaited matches of the century as the rivalry is perhaps the most intense in world football. I am sorry to say this, but Boca-River is not a question of friendly competition (not a single fan of either team understands this concept), even for people who outside football would be friends, family or lovers.
Following the cancellation the club presidents were quick accusing 10-15 "impresentables" who were to blame for the whole incident. Besides the fact that you can see much more than 15 guys on the TV pictures, this is not really true!
I do not feel sorry for a single of the 65000 fans inside the stadium who were unable to see the match. They were as guilty as the millions of River and Boca fans who are in fact intellectual authors of the crime; the vast majority of fans may not throw the stones, but were surely applauding.
The problem is football itself which creates these divisions!
Argentina is not the only place this happens, but today's events are just an extreme example. And football managers have no interest in solving it! They are the ones benefiting from this! They will say that football is "peace and friendly competition" but will at the same time be pouring gasoline on the fire of fierce rivalry, because it benefits them, and also takes the view away from society's wider problems.
"Blame society. We have nothing to do with it".
Football is hate. Prove me wrong.

Riquelme and Maradona

It seems strange to me that Boca Juniors fans seem to have taken on their former idol, Maradona, now national coach of Argentina, in a very strange controversy with Boca captain Juan Román Riquelme. Apparently Maradona, in an interview, said that if Riquelme didn't play quicker, he couldn't use him on the Argentinean national team. Apparently this was too much for Mr. Riquelme, who promptly announced that he would not return to the Argentinean national team, and refused to take Maradona's phone calls as he was trying to reach him to reconsider. At a later club-match in Boca, Boca-fans turned against the national coach.

I don't believe that what Maradona said was awful: it has been heard before that coaches use the press in order to push players to play better. And as elegant a player Riquelme is, he is certainly not quick, something that may not fit with the style Maradona may be wanting to play on the national team, using the speed and technique of small quick offensive players - Mr. Riquelme in my view does not fit in there. And since Mr. Riquelme seems to be so arrogant and self-centered that he could create split on the Argentinean national side, I thin Maradona would do best by not calling this guy any longer, but just use the many better Argentinean players for the World Cup qualifiers.

República de la Boca

I took a walk in the beautiful picturesque neighborhood of La Boca, in Buenos Aires, today. Besides its art and atmosphere, it is yet another place where football has an important place in life: Blue and yellow colours dominate, being the colours of the local team, the great Boca Juniors, one of the greatest teams in the world, bound with traditions, and whose stadium, "La Bombonera" overlooks the neighborhood like a cathedral.
It is indeed an inspiring place, and my only regret was that I was not there to go to a match to experience the passion. Nevertheless, got some pictures:

My best teams 2007

Happy new year!!!! As all pass the hangovers, we must reflect back on the year gone in football. I must personally admit, that for me this has been a bad football year: I have not been able to follow much, had difficulty updating my site, and so on.
Still, looking back, I must attempt to do a list of what I considered the ten most important/best teams of the year 2007.
Note, it is a very personal list, as is more based on my personal impressions and thoughts on the year gone, and not as objective as I would like it to be. And well, surely some surprises for those who know me!

10. Arsenal: I am in awe at what Arsene Wenger is creating with this team of youngsters. They are very young, and have been on top of the Premier League and on in the Champions League. Surely this is a team heading towards great victories.
9. FC Barcelona: They still play beautiful, but have been unable to win anything this year: Real Madrid took the Spanish title ahead of them.
8. Argentina: Argentina´s national team only lost two games the entire year, and ended top of the FIFA world ranking ever. With some amazing players, they will be a team to watch up to the 2010 World Cup!
7. Boca Juniors: Winners of the Copa Libertadores.
6. Sevilla: Won the UEFA cup, ended top in the Spanish League, and have been playing wonderfully in their first Champions League.
5. Brazil: Any list without Brazil...? While not top on the FIFA World ranking, they managed to win the Copa América defeating the top ranked team, Argentina.
4. Real Madrid: Under Fabio Capello the team was stabilized and won the Spanish title for the first time for many years. Under Bernd Schuster the team has started to play beautiful as well, and they may be on the way of finding their former greatness, not from huge investment but as a team.
3. Liverpool: While not winning, they were again able to surprise in the Champions League, pulling some really intense and entertaining matches.
2. AC Milan: Deserved winners of the Champions League, they have slipped in the second half of 2007, but with a wonderful Kaká and a team of very experienced players still won the Club World Championship in December.
1. Brazil (women): This will surprise many... A women's team as my most important team of 2007!? And for that a team that didn´t win the World Cup? (They lost to Germany). But why I put them here, is that because of them, I think Women's football has become much more entertaining and interesting to watch.

Top 10 Best teams of 2005

I have already made my list of the top 10 best players of 2005. Something I have found much more difficult, was to make my list of best teams of 2005. There have truly been some remarkable team performances in 2005. My final (and as always, very personal list) is as follows:

• 10) Ghana: The "Black Stars" this year qualified for their first World Cup ever. This was a tremendous achievement for a country that has produced so many great players. I was personally delighted, living in Ghana, and will look forward to seeing them in Germany 2006.

• 9) Mexico U-17: The Mexican side for the U-17 World Cup in Peru destroyed the defending Champions of Brazil in the final, to give Mexico their first World title in football ever.

• 8) Argentina U-21: Led by a marvelous Lionel Messi, the Argentinian U-21 won their 5th World Cup title in the Netherlands this summer.

• 7) Olympique Lyon: The French side has won the French league and been very strong in the Champions League. They are one of the teams to watch next year.

• 6) Brazil: It is difficult to make a list like this without Brazil Although starting the year with some problems, they had an excellent performance winning the 2005 Confederations Cup, and later qualifying for the World Cup. With the many star players on the team, they must be considered favourites to win the World Cup title.

• 5) Boca Juniors: The legendary Argentinian side is among the top teams in the World. This year they finished greatly by winning the Argentinian tournament, as well as the South American Cup after a dramatic match against UNAM Pumas from Mexico.
  

• 4) Chelsea: In 2005 the London club with the many stars won their first Premier League title in decades. Still the club is far more ambitious, and the Champions League is their targets. The team has started the new season strongly, and they are heading straight for a new Premier League title.

• 3) Barcelona: The Catalan side has played entertaining and attacking football, and their stars are shining brightly. Most of all Ronaldinho. The team took a deserved Spanish title, and they have taken a strong lead in the Spanish league. They also won their group in the Champions League, and we will be witnessing a clash of champions between Barcelona and Chelsea in February.

• 2) Liverpool: Liverpool lived up to their history. And they gave us the most memorable game of the year, and one of the most dramatic finals in history. I will never forget their victory in the Champions League in Istambul, coming back from being behind 3-0 against AC Milan, and finally winning on penalties. I thank Liverpool for such a great football-experience!

• 1) Sao Paulo: The Brazilian side won the Copa Libertadores in June by defeating Atlético Paranaense over two matches. In December, they won the FIFA Club World Championship, defeating Liverpool in the final.
  

The top five positions have been especially difficult to place. In the end I gave Sao Paulo the top spot for having won two of the most prestigious international titles, as compared to Liverpool, who only won one. Also, the only reason I ranked Barcelona above Chelsea, is that I like Barcelona better...