La Boca

I went to the final match of the Argentinian football league yesterday. It was Boca Juniors v. Los Estudiantes. Boca Juniors was supposed to win this past Sunday, but in a sudden turn of a events, they lost and Los Estudiantes won a different match, putting the two teams head to head. This match was an added final match, so the stakes were even higher. To give you a sense of how important the match was to everyone, they only sold the stadium to about 80% capacity, in case of riots breaking out.

They also labored over the locale - it was finally decided to have the match a bit farther outside the city at a "neutral" stadium. La Boca originated in the area of Buenos Aires called, you guessed it, La Boca. It's a poor neighborhood, so the Boca team is generally touted as the team of the common man, where as some other teams are viewed as the teams of the elite. I'm honestly not sure where Los Estudiantes lies in this spectrum...

If there were a word that meant manic to the point of inspiring both the purest feelings of love and the purest feelings of violence, it would have originated in Argentina at a soccer game. These people are fanatics. I had read about it, I had seen it on tv, I had heard about it from friends - but nothing is quite like being in the stands AMONGST them. I was sitting on La Boca Juniors side, the team that was supposed to have won on Sunday. Half the country hates them, half would have their babies - and name them Boca, Jr.

We had to get there a few hours early because the crowds can get quite nuts. And nuts they were. As I was stood by the gates, waiting to be let in, Estudiantes fans in cars driving on a bridge above would shout at the Boca fans, and the Boca fans would rally like their lives depended on it. Hands making sex gestures, fingers in holes and the like, the continual refrain of the word "puta," and crotch-grabbing were all standard fare. I learned many very bad words.

Inside, there were lots and lots of men. Shirtless, hairy-backed, chubby men. The Boca colors are blue and yellow, so in addition to waving their own special Boca Juniors flag, they were also waving the flag of the Kingdom of SWEDEN, because it, too, is blue and yellow. Likewise, Los Estudiantes fans waved the flags of Poland and Denmark, which are red and white - and those were just the ones I could recognize from the opposite side of the stadium.

I'm guessing that most teams have a song. The Boca fans had, like, 10. There was one for when something good happened, one for when something bad happened, and another one just for fun. The crowd was in complete unison, in every way - their songs, gestures, cries...Boca didn't play too well - one goal scored in the first twenty minutes of the game, and no serious attempts afterwards - but the fans were amazingly supportive. They even had a sort of "buck up" song, for times when they felt the team was in need of emotional support. Lots of belly-grabbing, arm-flailing, song-singing, and "la concha de tu madre"-yelling.

La Boca lost, and I couldn't help feeling for the side of the stadium I had spent the last five hours with. Many, many tears were shed (see above picture). The Los Estudiantes side was aflame with fireworks, red and white smoke, and Japanese flags.

But I had spent so many hours sitting in the stadium in the sun, that I came home and crashed. It was very much an all-day event.