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. 

VARi-Final

In the Copa Libertadores Semifinal second leg Palmeiras tonight faced River Plate in Sao Paulo. After River Plate had lost 0-3 at home in the first left, I did not have not big expectations to the match as I sat down and watched after a long day. But I was wrong as Marcelo Gallardo's side played a magnificent match and were ahead 0-2 at half-time, and continued attacking mercilessly against a Palmeiras side that at times seemed to be praying.

Palmeiras held, and made it to the final, after 10 minutes of added time and huge chances for River Plate. Despite of it being such an intense match, one left with the feeling that VAR had contributed negatively to its intensity as much of the added time was due to this. 

Gonzalo Montiel scored an excellent goal for River Plate to go ahead 0-3, but after a long time the referee cancelled the goal. For a long time it was impossible to see what happened (the commentators kept saying they could not see anything), but it appeared to be a very tight offside, two plays before the goal, where the ball appeared to be tackled into a player that was coming from an off-side position. Even after watching it five times, I had a hard time seeing the foul, and in the end VAR has helped nothing but Palmeiras and time-wasting.

A second situation was a penalty call for River Plate. For a long time they were ready to kick, until the referee decided to consult VAR, and then cancelled the penalty. This decision appeared less controversial, as the River player does appear to dive, but it is not definite, as there is a challenge. But the referee decision did not stand. In the last minute, another penalty situation (this time it was not given by the referee) could have gone River's way. Add to all this an extremely harsh red card for Robert Rojas, and one has the feeling that River Plate did not have bad luck, but rather VAR luck.

It is a pity, but I do not think that the leaders of football are using VAR the right way; in the end it just becomes another layer to controversy...

Palmeiras will face either Santos or Boca Juniors, who will face one another tomorrow in Sao Paulo, after 0-0 in the first leg.

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.

Flamengo without atmosphere

The Copa Libertadores has started and tonight it was a classic clash between Flamengo and River Plate. A good match that ended 2-2, with River twice coming back from behind in an away match. But it did not feel much like an away match as Flamengo played at home without spectators after being punished for fan incidents in the Copa Sudamericana final (that they lost to Independiente), so it was indeed a strange match to watch.
But Copa Libertadores is on and it is bound to be exciting to follow.

Top 10 Best Football Teams of 2015

There have been many great football teams in 2015. The following is what I consider the ten best teams of 2015:

10) Australia: Although not heard much about, Australia took the Asian football championship at home this year.
9) Sevilla: Again the south Spaniards took the Europa League title. They are among the best in Spain, although far from contesting the title. In the Champions League they ended trailing behind Manchester City and Juventus, but that means they will be defending their Europa League title in 2016.
8) Bayern Munich: The south Germans continue to be among the best in the world, leading in the Bundesliga and favourites to go all the way in the Champions League.
7) Juventus: They dominated in Italy in the first half of the year, and upset Real Madrid to make it to the Champions League final, where only mighty Barcelona stood on the way. They have been weaker after the great Andrea Pirlo left for the USA, but continue fighting for the Italian title and the Champions League title.
6)  River Plate: The winners of the Copa Libertadores also made it to the final of the Club World Cup, where Barcelona defeated them. That said, they showed that they have some of the best fans in the world!
5) Serbia U-20: The Serbian youths were surprise winners of the 2015 u-20 World Cup in New Zealand, defeating Brazil in the final. It augurs well for the future of Serbian football!
4) Cote d'Ivoire: The Ivorians finally won the Africa Cup of Nations that has been eluding them for many years in a final against Ghana.
3) Chile: Chile hosted a highly competitive Copa America and for the first time ever took the title in a final against their Argentine neighbours.
2) FC Barcelona: The Catalonians have only become better in 2016, winning everything in Spain, the Champions League, and lastly the World Club Cup. They are leading the Spanish league at the end of 2016 with a scoring record of 40 goals, 35 of which have been scored by their attacking trio of Suarez, Neymar and Messi.
1) USA: With a fantastic World Cup in Canada women's football showed that it is fully at the level of Men's football when it comes to national team football (there may be more differences at Club level). The tournament was at least as good as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, culminating in a splendid final between USA and Japan. USA were amazing, winning 5-2, and in particular Carly Lloyd's performance should pass into World Cup History. With this, USA's Women's side is in my view, the best football team of 2015!

The real champions of the world

There was nothing unexpected in Barcelona destroying River Plate 0-3, with little effort, in the final of the Club World Championship in Japan. This is really the most irrelevant tournament in the world, since European dominance is so massive: there is not a single team in the Champions League that would not be better than the rest of the world teams.
That said, there is something where River Plate has nothing to envy any European club: their fans were absolutely amazing. Even down 0-3 they kept singing and supporting their side. This is something arrogant Barcelona fans (or arrogant fans from most clubs in Europe) would never do. The River Plate fans retain that heart and passion that is the reason for football being what it is, and today at the final, they showed that they do not need to win a title to be world champions!

This cannot be!

I am not a fan of the team, but know about football, so: How in the world can it be that River Plate, RIVER PLATE, has been relegated!?!?!!? After some meager years, this last tie 1-1 against Belgrano sealed the Argentinean giants' darkest chapter.
River Plate is one of the most legendary clubs in the world. Like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Ajax Amsterdam, one cannot imagine the national league without such top teams.
How can this be!?!?!?!?