" Porque yo.... soy hincha del CICLON... te quiero ver campeón dar la vuelta otra vez... quiero ganar esa Copa Libertadores... y demostrarles porque somos MATADORES... por que yo te quiero de verdad... te sigo adonde vas... adonde quieras ir....el sentimiento no se compra ni se vende... yo nací CUERVO y seré CUERVO hasta la muerte..... "
"Because I...I am a fan of the CYCLONE...I want to see the champions return another time...I want to win this Copa Libertadores... and show them why we are KILLERS...because I really want you to... I follow wherever you go...wherever you want to go...the feeling that you cannot buy or sell...I was born a CROW and will be a CROW until the death..."
San Lorenzo fan song
For Dad’s last weekend in town, we decided to experience an Argentinean futbol match. Originally, we wanted to purchase tickets and make our own way to a game but after long consideration of the logistical and safety difficulties of this plan, we purchased tickets with a tourist company to see the Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo play on Sunday. We were quite excited about the game because both teams were doing well in the rankings and Boca Jrs is an extremely famous futbol club.
The game was an all day affair. Although the kick-off wasn’t until 4 20, we were picked up from our apartment shortly after 1 pm. We sat in the van while it circled through the one way streets of the neighbourhood picking up other tourists. The people on our tour were primarily English speakers. Eight months ago when I took a similar tour, to the far less important match of Racings vs Newell’s Old Boys, I was the only anglophone.
Dad and I had been under the impression that we would be attending the match in the famous Bonbonera (or candy box) stadium of the Boca Juniors but instead we found ourselves turning away from the neighbourhood of La Boca and heading out into the suburbs of Buenos Aires that don’t make it on to the tourist maps. Short, run down buildings appeared and the sidewalks became unpaved. The San Lorenzo property, which contained much more than just the stadium, was a huge complex covering several blocks. The futbol teams here function as giant social and recreational clubs for the community. Each club has junior teams, picnic areas, and even a school for promising young players.
The traffic around the stadium was pandemonium. The San Lorenzo stadium was too far out of the city centre to be easily accessible by public transit and the low-density nature of the neighbourhood and the size of the San Lorenzo complex limited the number of people who could easily walk to the game, forcing people to drive. Parking was available inside the heavily fortified official parking lot but many people decided to pay less to park on the grassy medians and verges outside the stadium. The result of this verge parking and a general lack of respect for basic traffic laws meant that there was general gridlock for several blocks surrounding the stadium. Our van parked in the official parking lot and we walked to the stadium. At the entrance gate we were patted down (and our bags were searched) before being admitted into the stadium through a turn style. Our seats were just right of centre field and quite high up. However, the steep angle of the stadium meant that even so high up we were quite close to the action. When we arrived, the San Lorenzo portion of the stadium already had a sizeable crowd. In the standing room (the section directly behind each team’s goal, which is generally reserved for the real fanatics) the fans were busily erecting ribbons and banners which seemed illogically large for easy viewing of the game. The stadium was much less fortified than the stadium at Racings but it did still have a high barbed wire fence surrounding the field and separating different sections of the crowd.
We watched the reserve teams (the players not playing in the premier game) were play the second half of their match. As they played, the stadium filled more and more. Rolls of paper similar to cash register tape were distributed to the crowd and vendors walked through the crowd with trays of coca cola, peanuts, hamburgers, and popsicles. The one item that was conspicuously not for sale was alcohol, a wise strategy in crowd control. We had been at the stadium for an hour and a half when the crowd in the now almost entirely full San Lorenzo section began screaming and booing. We looked over to see the Boca Jrs fans arriving with drums, flags, and banners. The fans filled up the Boca Juniors standing section and began erecting their own banners and ribbons. Both sides began to sing their team songs loudly. Right before the game began, when it appeared as if the San Lorenzo standing room would not be able to hold another person, the hard-core San Lorenzo fans arrived. They entered like the Boca fans with drums and flags but the crowd greeted them as if they were rock stars. Once this group had squeezed themselves between the rest of the fans and the fence the game could begin.
When the players finally took to the field the stadium went wild. All of the paper rolls, which had been distributed, were thrown down to the field, fireworks went off, and the stadium shook from the general fervour of the crowd as they sang, jumped and cheered their team into the stadium. Not surprisingly the Boca Juniors players were booed strongly as they came on to the field. The game began and San Lorenzo scored quickly. The crowd was extremely happy and remained active, jumping up and down, screaming, chanting, and singing, the entire game. San Lorenzo won 1-0 and after the game the Boca Jrs fans were let out of the stadium almost half an hour before the gates opened on our section.
If it was possible there was even more pandemonium in the traffic on the way out of the stadium than there was on the way in. In the parking lot there were no people employed to direct the traffic. Cars turned whichever way they wanted and mixed with the happy revellers returning to their own cars. It was a parking lot in which it was an advantage to have an old dented car, but then again that holds true in the entire city. The experience of an Argentinean soccer match is far removed from any other sporting event that I have ever attended and well worth the effort if you are ever in Buenos Aires.
This week is an especially important week for futbol here in Argentina. Several big games in the South American tournament Copa Libertadores have been played and this Sunday a super classic game between (arguably) the two most important teams in Argentina Boca Jrs and River Plate will be played. This is a game promises to empty the streets of Buenos Aires. Tickets are practically impossible to come by and the game has been hyped on almost every TV channel.
On Wednesday, dad left to return to Canada. I remained here but I will not be far behind him. I return to Canada myself in only 10 days. Until I leave I will be continuing with my Spanish lessons. Many of my friends here in Buenos Aires have left to return home and I think that I might just finally ready to follow them.
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