"You’re going home in a Buenos Aires ambulance..."
Thursday 21 May 2009 09:00
It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as some of it's English equivalents on the terraces (especially given the woeful healthcare service – but that’s another story), but it still isn’t a pleasant sentiment.
Yet Argentinian fans, as you would expect from the home of the tango, wax a more lyrical insult – my particular favourite being "Tu hermana en tanga," translated as "Your sister in the G-string."
River Plate fans have become a bitter lot in recent years, but the boiling point I predicted a month or so ago appears to be steaming at least, with the head of chairman Jose Maria Aguilar still to fall.
Tickets for the upper-tier were snapped up in seconds...
Now the fans are also turning on the players, with these choice insults heard in recent weeks:
"Que se vayan todos, que no queda uno solo" – "That everyone goes, and no one is left."
"Se va acabar, esta dictadura de Aguilar" – "It’s going to end, this dictatorship of Aguilar."
However, the one that is really sending the shivers through the River changing rooms is:
"Jugadores, si los vemos en un boliche, los mandamos al hospital" - "Players, if we see you in a nightclub, we are going to send you to hospital."
Empty threats? Well, considering members of River’s violent barra brava have been killed in the past, if I were a player I’d be spending more nights at home.
And why the vitriol? River are currently seventh, and sinking quickly. They are already out of the Copa Libertadores – the most important competition in South America – after crashing out in the first round, winning only one game.
They then they lost 4-0 to Huracan last weekend.
Huracan! I am now a Huracan supporter. They have always fitted in neatly with my other team, Scunthorpe, in terms of division yo-yoing. So to beat River 4-0... wow.
Huracan celebrate humping River
It was the shock of the weekend, even in a particularly high scoring couple of days.
Results:
Argentinos 2-4 Godoy Cruz
Lanús 2-1 Rosario Central
Huracán 4-0 River
Newell`s 1-1 Banfield
Gimnasia 3-1 Vélez
Tigre 2-1 Colón
Boca 2-1 Arsenal
Racing 1-2 San Martín (T)
Independiente 1-5 Estudiantes
Gimnasia (J) 0-3 San Lorenzo
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