Thursday 04 February 2010, 15:00
For those who can’t get their heads around why another season is starting in Argentina, here’s a quick round-up of why the short-season format reigns. The theory goes like this: Smaller clubs have more...
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Friday 29 January 2010, 17:00
They’re fighting fit, lean, tanned, and raring to go. Gruelling double sessions over the summer have prepared Argentina’s players for the Clausura 2010. Diego Simeone, far from content with punishing his...
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Friday 22 January 2010, 16:30
Possible typos/factual errors/abnormally incoherent blog disclaimer: It’s late afternoon. A load of menacing-looking mettlers have just parked outside, opened up the boot to allow a stadium rock-sized...
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Wednesday 20 January 2010, 10:30
Astronaut. Brain surgeon. Formula 1 driver. Spy. FourFourTwo.com editor. Until Monday, commonly-held wisdom deemed (some of) these occupations amongst the hardest on the planet. But that was before Mauricio...
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Friday 15 January 2010, 17:00
Summer’s in full swing down south, which in Argentina means lots of things. First of all it means taking part in extensive, engrossed and gesticulatory conversations about the heat. ‘News’ channels, having...
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Friday 08 January 2010, 17:00
Because you are a mercenary. Because you were rubbish at Manchester United. Because you were rubbish at Chelsea. Because you can’t dribble round a lamp post. Because you are too old to keep playing. Because...
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Wednesday 06 January 2010, 11:00
Paternity is a big issue in Argentina, and it is not just to do with a dispute over the true identity of the children adopted by the nation’s largest media group owners . No, sticking to football, it is...
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Wednesday 30 December 2009, 12:00
Like a group of screaming, goading and bloodthirsty primary school kids, Argentina’s football fans tuned into The Bilardo Hour late on Monday night en masse. There was going to be a fight, and it was going...
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Thursday 24 December 2009, 10:00
Given that Catalunya have the same chance of competing at a World Cup as Tibet, Argentina losing 4-2 to Johan Cryuff’s side on Tuesday night needs to be considered more than just a blip. Granted, there...
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Monday 21 December 2009, 16:00
1) Estudiantes vs Barcelona Two minutes. That was how tantalisingly close Estudiantes came to writing the most glorious chapter in the club’s already-impressive history at the weekend. The Club World Cup...
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Wednesday 16 December 2009, 16:00
Clubs on strike, AFA unilaterally ripping up the long-standing contract for TV rights that had their signature on the dotted line, Fútbol para Todos broadcasting every single top flight match live on TV...
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Tuesday 15 December 2009, 15:00
When Martín Palermo scored the last-gasp goal against Peru in torrential rain at the Monumental, it was, according to the Argentine press, just one more episode in the remarkable career of Palermo that...
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Thursday 10 December 2009, 15:00
Given that Banfield are on the verge of winning their first league title in 113 years, you'd have thought that Julio César Falcioni would be in good spirits. The club may not be used to winning titles...
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Tuesday 08 December 2009, 10:30
Olé said it's the most politicised club in the world. They obviously don’t know how things work at Real Madrid, think Celtic wear green because it looks good, and would argue that there is no conflict...
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Thursday 03 December 2009, 11:30
As of Thursday night, school’s out for summer in La Plata. Estudiantes take on Chacarita on Thursday and in doing so, finish their commitment to the domestic league. Most, in fact all, other teams still...
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Monday 30 November 2009, 15:30
RESULTS: Rosario Central 1-1 Atlético Túcuman; Independiente 2-0 Huracán; Chacarita 2-1 Godoy Cruz; River 1-1 Estudiantes; San Lorenzo 3-0 Boca; Tigre 0-3 Vélez; Banfield 1-2 Racing Metallica are coming...
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Friday 27 November 2009, 15:00
Ángel Cappa Rather than an interview with one of the big sports channels, Ángel Cappa did it his own intimate way. Cappa announced he was leaving his post as Huracán coach on his modestly designed blogspot...
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Monday 23 November 2009, 15:00
RESULTS: Estudiantes 3-1 Tigre, Lanús 3-0 Colón, Huracán 0-2 San Lorenzo, Atlético Tucumán 2-1 Chacarita, Independiente 1-2 Banfield, Newell’s 2-2 Central, Boca 4-0 Gimnasia, Godoy Cruz 1-1 River A total...
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Friday 20 November 2009, 15:00
With its poles, its silicone, and its thongs, Marcelo Tinelli’s Bailando por un sueño – Dancing for a Dream – is, for some obscure reason, a particularly successful TV show in Argentina. But when Tinelli...
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Monday 16 November 2009, 15:30
In normal circumstances – i.e. a football match in which the referee applies the laws of the game – England would have ended the match against Brazil without Ben Foster after he brought down Nilmar in...
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Friday 13 November 2009, 13:00
INVASION ALERT! With Spain facing Argentina in a friendly, La Liga Loca blogger Tim Stannard has his say on Spanish attitudes to the 'South American' side... Technically speaking, Spain should...
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Monday 09 November 2009, 13:00
RESULTS Fri Nov 6: Argentinos Juniors 1-1 Rosario Central Sat Nov 7: Atlético Tucumán 4-2 Tigre , Godoy Cruz 3-1 Racing Club , Independiente 1-0 Gimnasia La Plata , Lanús 0-3 Chacarita Juniors , Newell's...
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Friday 06 November 2009, 16:00
As readers (or perhaps that should be ‘the reader’) of this blog will know, Argie Bargy isn’t the biggest fan of the Sudamericana. It’s a bit like a pre-season friendly, or a supercup, or its European...
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Wednesday 04 November 2009, 14:00
George Bush senior wanted him silenced – his vocal support of the Cuban Revolution was an embarrassment to the yanquis . The Italian government wanted him silenced – his criticism of the Pope was causing...
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Monday 02 November 2009, 16:00
WEEKEND(ish) RESULTS: Sunday Nov 01: Gimnasia La Plata 2-2 San Lorenzo, Chacarita Juniors 2-2 Argentinos Juniors, River Plate 0-1 Lanús, Rosario Central 2-1 Boca Juniors, Arsenal 1-0 Independiente. Saturday...
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Friday 30 October 2009, 17:00
Yesterday it was the underground drivers. The day before it was the teachers. Today it’s the footballers. Unlike their compadres, however, football isn’t on strike. There was no service on the tube because...
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Wednesday 28 October 2009, 15:30
"God is everywhere, but his office is in Buenos Aires," goes the popular porteño phrase used by locals to proudly point out the capital’s regional and national supremacy. Perhaps it is with this...
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Monday 26 October 2009, 15:00
When all was said and done – and Olé considered there was enough saying and doing to fill 39 pages of its Monday edition on the subject – the River-Boca Superclásico was what we all expected. There was...
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Friday 23 October 2009, 14:00
Forget the glaciers in Patagonia, the waterfalls at Iguazú, the Andes, sipping on mate , trying your hand at tango or just sitting down to enjoy a XXL steak and bottle of Malbec in Buenos Aires. When it...
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Monday 19 October 2009, 14:00
NEW! South America fixtures & results It is said to be a major flaw in the constitution of the male of the species that he is incapable of multitasking. If that is the case, then the Argentine media...
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Friday 16 October 2009, 15:00
‘Pssst. What did he just say?’ The European journalist, sent over to South America to cover Argentina’s final two World Cup qualifiers, clearly hadn’t brushed up on the leisure activities unit of his Spanish...
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Wednesday 14 October 2009, 12:00
Security checks: two Attire: no club colours Plastic bottles: prohibited Flags: allowed, but no poles Mate: permitted So reads the official information for home fans ahead of the battle of the River Plate...
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Tuesday 13 October 2009, 10:00
Monday was Columbus Day, meaning a bank holiday. Five hundred and seventeen years ago to the day, the Americas were "discovered" [sic] by Christopher Columbus. To avoid infantile jokes about...
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Thursday 08 October 2009, 08:00
‘¿Qué es Arrrrrgie Barrrrrgy?’ a friend here in Argentina recently asked. After a quick explanation, the conversation then veered into potentially troublesome waters when the amigo pointed out that naming...
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Monday 05 October 2009, 11:00
River Plate have won 23 of the last 35 competitions. In the tournaments they didn’t win, they either ended second, or plummeted to the unheard depths of a disgraceful third place. The last five trophies...
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Friday 02 October 2009, 15:00
"In Argentina, people only talk about football and sex," says Argentinos Juniors coach Claudo ‘Bichi’ Borghi. "And they think they are good at it." "Good at it" could refer...
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Wednesday 30 September 2009, 17:08
The Ten is angry with Big Nose and The Boss for scheming behind his back. The Boss knows that The Ten is impossible to control, but puts up with him because he is, after all, The Ten. The people love him...
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Monday 28 September 2009, 15:00
A fortnight ago, rumour spread that AFA were going to make Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola an offer he couldn’t refuse – to take over the Argentina national team. Señor Guardiola is, apparently, the only...
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Friday 25 September 2009, 11:48
“There was a talk held in Montevideo last week,” explains Huracán coach Ángel Cappa. “They invited the coach from La U in Chile and Nacional in Uruguay, as they had both won the league title. And they...
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Wednesday 23 September 2009, 16:00
Argentine sports presenters are always on the phone. This isn't information gleaned from rubbing shoulders with them in mixed zones, nor from trying to hold a conversation with one of them, nor is...
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Tuesday 22 September 2009, 10:59
If you’re tired of the EPL's Big Four, or whether it’ll be Barcelona or Real Madrid, or whether Inter will win the scudetto again, fear not, there is hope. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez has a dream...
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Friday 18 September 2009, 09:48
Get some exercise, detox, cut out the carbs, avoid mindless eating, eat slower, eat less, try old favourites like stapling your stomach , or steal a trick from (Brazilian) Ronaldo and get some liposuction...
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Thursday 17 September 2009, 09:30
It's the week everyone’s been waiting for. Glitzy, glamorous and guaranteeing gazillions of Euros, the world’s top club championship got going. A mouth-watering Inter-Barcelona in week one, Ronaldo...
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Tuesday 15 September 2009, 09:30
More than ever, Argentina has become a nation of football managers. After the national team’s debacle in the World Cup qualifiers, there’s not a taxi driver, aunt or random acquaintance on the tube who...
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Thursday 10 September 2009, 12:00
Wednesday night was business as usual for the Albiceleste against Paraguay. Another game, another defeat, another woeful performance, another team celebrating qualifying for the World Cup at their expense...
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Monday 07 September 2009, 17:00
To avoid the possibility of accidentally forwarding them to local friends, Argie Bargy spent most of Monday morning deleting the deluge of emails that, with varying degrees of abuse and humour, poked fun...
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Friday 04 September 2009, 11:00
I NVASION ALERT! Ahead of the crucial Clasico qualifier between Argentina and Brazil, Celso de Campos Jr – writer of FourFourTwo.com blog The Noise From Brazil – gives his view from the other side. Including...
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Thursday 03 September 2009, 12:00
It’s the victors who get to write history, or so the saying goes. That certainly seems to be the case when it comes to internationals between Argentina and Brazil. The clásico is just around the corner...
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Tuesday 01 September 2009, 16:00
With a punctuality that would make AFA proud, Argie Bargy is up and running once again. The season is barely two weeks old but already shaping up nicely – an open title race, lots of goals and plenty of...
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Sunday 31 May 2009, 12:00
River Plate may have been getting all the attention recently for their poor plight, but even further down the table lie their arch rivals Boca Juniors. The Argentine media, never ones to hold back an opinion...
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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...
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Saturday 09 May 2009, 12:00
Now that’s service... Usually, service in the Argentine capital can be a little brusque. Steaks, stunning though they are, are usually dumped before you by a 130-year-old waiter in a dirty tux, and wine...
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Thursday 23 April 2009, 16:00
Yes I know I say it a lot, but there really is no league in the world quite like the Argentine Primera. Why? Well, lets take a peek at San Lorenzo, one of the most supported teams in the country. After...
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Tuesday 21 April 2009, 12:00
As the taxi drivers huddled around bar windows, deftly ignoring anyone wanting to go anywhere, they watched as the cheers went up, firstly, for those in blue and yellow and then red and white. However...
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Thursday 16 April 2009, 15:00
It appeared for a while that River Plate would bounce back from the horrors of last season's pathetic performance. After finishing bottom of the Apertura last time out, they started the new campaign...
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Friday 10 April 2009, 12:00
Argentine football is a distressingly uncaring rollercoaster of a ride. The ups are up and the downs are subterranean. And if you are an Argentine, who are not generally known for their reserve and stiff...
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Monday 09 March 2009, 11:00
Style, that’s what Argentine football players do well. Oodles of style. They may struggle as a team, but Argentine football has never been about the team, more individual brilliance. So here are a selection...
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Thursday 05 March 2009, 12:00
Unlike many national rivalries, England vs Germany, Turkey vs Greece, USA vs Iran, there is little history between Argentina and Brazil that goes beyond football. The Portuguese-speaking Brazilians and...
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Wednesday 04 March 2009, 10:00
History has an ugly habit of rearing its head in football. Diego Maradona is fond of stating that the Mano de Dios (Hand of God) was revenge for the Falklands/Malvinas war. And as an Englishman living...
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Sunday 22 February 2009, 12:00
It's in the big games where heroes and legends are born, and Saturday was Lucas Pusineri's day. The 32 year old played the game of his life to help Independiente beat bitter rivals Racing 2-0,...
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Thursday 19 February 2009, 13:00
The new season's underway in Argentina, with last weekend seeing the second round of fixtures completed and a few surprise names topping the table. Newell's Old Boys lead the way, while Huracan...
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Tuesday 10 February 2009, 15:00
Before Wednesday night's game in France, Diego, sporting greased back mullet and half of Sierra Leone's diamond deposits in his ears, relaxed on the Med. He told Ole , Argentina's daily sports...
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Monday 02 February 2009, 14:00
With only seven days to go until the beginning of the season, it's surely time to hit the big red panic button on the River Plate chairman's desk. Morale in the camp is at an all-time low. Having...
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Thursday 22 January 2009, 15:00
Having occupied antipodean places in last year's Apertura league table, Boca and River appear miles apart. But, in fact, their plights are far more similar than it may appear. River all but imploded...
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Thursday 15 January 2009, 10:00
OK, so it's only a win in the summer tournament. But when you've had a couple of seasons like Racing, any win is a glorious one or at least an extreme relief, especially when it is against San...
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Tuesday 13 January 2009, 10:00
The Argentinian Football Association don't believe in giving their players much of a break. No sooner have they hit the beaches of Uruguay after driving across with their model girlfriends in their...
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Wednesday 07 January 2009, 16:00
It's a time for reflection in Argentina. The season has ended and now is the time to uproot, leave the stinkingly hot city and head to the beaches of Uruguay. Entire football clubs decamp to Argentine...
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Monday 22 December 2008, 08:00
And so the plot thickens. Boca Juniors beat San Lorenzo in the second game of the three-way play-off. Lowly Tigre remain in third place, and now play Boca Juniors on Wednesday with a win, draw or even...
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Friday 19 December 2008, 15:00
"Why use two words when you can use 20?" someone once said, I think, probably a politician. But the point was there. Sometimes overcomplicating things is good, more exciting. Argentine football...
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Thursday 11 December 2008, 12:00
Three teams tied on 36 points and one game to play. Welcome to the most eagerly anticipated final day in Argentine footballing history. San Lorenzo, arguably the country's fifth biggest team, lead...
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Tuesday 02 December 2008, 10:30
This has been, undoubtedly, River Plate's worst ever season. Out of 17 of the season's games (leaving three left to play), the Millionarios have won only two. To say it is a crisis is perhaps an...
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Tuesday 18 November 2008, 16:00
Kick-off in Diego Maradona's first ever game as coach of the Argentine Seleccion is growing ever nearer, but in the meantime here's a little treat for you... the best, sorry worst, goalkeeping...
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Monday 17 November 2008, 09:00
Remember the Peanuts character Pig-Pen? Wherever he went, the poor kid always had a ring of dust and dirt surrounding him. Similarly, Diego Maradona has a ring of muck the size of Saturn's spinning...
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Wednesday 29 October 2008, 11:00
At the moment it seems a very God-like coup. It was a perfectly executed piece of political manoeuvring that even the snakelike Argentine president Christina Kirschner would have admired. Speaking in Tblisi...
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Thursday 23 October 2008, 16:00
Blogs always run the risk of blurring the boundaries between fact and opinion... and Argie Bargy is no different. A nugget of information here, a misguided prediction there (I recently saw a quote of mine...
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Monday 13 October 2008, 09:00
Argentine spectators left the Monumental stadium on Saturday again feeling exasperated by another mediocre performance by their national team, but more-so worried about playing Chile on Wednesday without...
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Friday 10 October 2008, 11:00
Uruguay is a relatively small patch of country that borders both behemoths Brazil and Argentina. Derided as a province by most Argentines, it is often said that Uruguayans have a bit of a chip on their...
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Wednesday 08 October 2008, 15:00
Well it's that time again folks... when tales of the 'World's Greatest Derby' rear their head ahead of Boca Juniors vs River Plate. The clash of the titans of Argentine football return...
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Friday 03 October 2008, 16:30
There are few fans in the world quite as high profile as Diego Maradona. Forever in his blue and yellow shirt, the former player follows his team around the world and is often spotted hanging over an executive...
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Wednesday 01 October 2008, 17:00
It was another clasico, another local derby. This time it was the 'millionaires' of River playing the league's paupers Racing (who recently held a prize draw among the players to win a PlayStation...
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Tuesday 16 September 2008, 10:00
Red cards, handballs, good goals not given... ah yes, Argentine football at its best. Argie Bargy has long said the fascination of Argentine football may not necessarily be its quality but its sheer entertainment...
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Friday 12 September 2008, 18:00
Diego's mouth has been uncharacteristically quiet (full of pizza?) for a quite a while now. But it is with a heavy sigh that we return to our irregular God Watch feature for all things Maradona. Yep...
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Monday 08 September 2008, 22:00
If it happens again, you could almost say it is becoming a habit. And while there is no way we could ever prefix the words 'Carlos Tevez' with 'Bad boy' (he is such a nice lad) another...
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Monday 01 September 2008, 15:00
Boca Juniors, it could be argued, are moving into a new era. No Riquelme, no Palacio and no Palermo. None of Boca's big three were available on Sunday to play Huracan, but the chicos ran away with...
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Monday 25 August 2008, 13:00
Argentina's Olympic squad retained their gold medal in a close encounter with Nigeria. Beating the African rivals 1-0, Argentina finished off a convincing campaign that saw them fend off fierce rivals...
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Saturday 23 August 2008, 09:00
In the August 2008 issue of FourFourTwo magazine, Argie Bargy reported on the intense rivalry between Independiente and Racing. At the end of last season Racing were a goal away from being relegated, but...
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Wednesday 20 August 2008, 12:30
In Argentina there is only one thing that is sweeter than beating England... thrashing Brazil. Long the poorer siblings to the Brazilian behemoth, Argentina finally got one over their bitter rivals with...
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Wednesday 13 August 2008, 17:00
Another game, another win for the Argentine Olympic squad and with it qualification to the next round. The game could easily be picked apart and was, again, far from convincing, but it was an overall solid...
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Sunday 10 August 2008, 23:07
Stood amongst the spectacular fireworks of the Olympic opening ceremony was one Lionel Messi. After weeks of wrangling that involved FIFA, the highest levels of the clubs and a sports arbitration board...
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Thursday 07 August 2008, 10:00
With Argentina making their final preparations for the opening game against the Ivory Coast in the Olympics, the wrangle of Messi shows no sign of abating. Barcelona at first refused to allow the forward...
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Friday 01 August 2008, 11:48
Did you feel that slight breeze at around 2pm yesterday? That was the collective sigh of relief from 35 million Argentinians as Lionel Messi was freed by Barcelona for the national Olympic squad. Slight...
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Wednesday 30 July 2008, 12:30
While the weather may have disrupted the first Argentinian friendly warm up in Tokyo yesterday, the storm continues over Lionel 'the Flea' Messi. The ongoing dispute between Barcelona and the AFA...
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Thursday 17 July 2008, 12:42
When this blogger lived in Argentina in 2001, the rush for European passports was immense. As the country teetered on the brink of collapse – which came, sure enough – hundreds of thousands of residents...
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Wednesday 16 July 2008, 18:00
Well this blog might not have too much to do with football, but what is happening in Argentina today is quite unlike anything I have ever seen. My office is located on a wide Parisian avenue that connects...
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Thursday 10 July 2008, 14:15
Can you remember how incensed you were when all-seater stadiums became law? "It's going to lose the atmosphere of the terrace!" they shouted. And well, I think it has. So as FIFA demand that...
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Friday 04 July 2008, 12:29
So now we are in the off-season and have six weeks to enjoy idle gossip about transfers until the first game of the new season on August 8. Thankfully, this blog won't be filled with such meaningless...
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Monday 30 June 2008, 18:04
Well all the praying to the virgin and various other, slightly non-authorised saints seems to have worked as Racing stayed in the Primera thanks to a horrendous miss by Belgrano. Not that anything should...
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Friday 27 June 2008, 11:32
"I've been hassling the Virgin Mary a lot," Racing's manager Juan Llop told the press before the first leg of the playoffs to determine whether his side stays up. 24 later Llop was back...
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Thursday 26 June 2008, 11:34
It's the last game of the season and Argie Bargy drags itself down to La Republica de Boca. It was all in the name of spreading the word about football. Yep, there are actually people who have not...
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Wednesday 18 June 2008, 15:10
There may have been no wars and no sneaky handballs. But for Argentines, the 'clasicó' against Brazil is more important than any game against England. There has been little trouble between the...
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Wednesday 18 June 2008, 07:00
Argie Bargy recently braved a freezing Buenos Aires evening - is it always four degrees colder on a football terrace? - to watch the national side take on Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier; the sold out...
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Monday 09 June 2008, 14:37
The presumptuous barra brava had the fireworks ready. And with 10 minutes to go, River Plate's jam-packed Monumental stadium erupted in flame. In the penultimate game of the season the Millionarios...
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Tuesday 03 June 2008, 14:30
River Plate have extended their lead over Estudiantes after a comfortable home win against mid-table Colon , despite playing most of the game with 10 men. River are now two points clear with two more games...
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Thursday 29 May 2008, 17:00
With two games to go the domestic league is wide open, with six teams within six points of each other. But however important it is to Argentine football fans for their team to win the championship, each...
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Thursday 22 May 2008, 11:57
Even in Argentina the Champions League final threatened to push Boca's quarter-final win over Mexico's Atlas off the city's café screens... but not quite. Anyway, for those not flicking through...
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Wednesday 21 May 2008, 14:00
Argentina is an undeniably macho society. Men wolf-whistle, stare and call out comments at pretty much any female passing. Women generally stay at home - granted this is changing, but we are still looking...
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Friday 16 May 2008, 18:15
Just take a look at this . There are few bloopers that may have such lasting effects. In the first - and home - leg of San Lorenzo's Copa Libertadores quarter final, the team from the Almagro neighbourhood...
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Wednesday 14 May 2008, 15:20
'He wore the Argentina flag, he wore the Argentina flag,' was a phrase that I think, with only a little bit of exaggeration, was what every one of my Argentine friends said to me on Monday morning...
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Friday 09 May 2008, 15:54
It was billed as the battle of the season and, judging by the scuffles on and off the pitch, it lived up to its name. Nine-man San Lorenzo came from 2-0 down against River Plate to draw 2-2 and progress...
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Thursday 08 May 2008, 14:14
It's turning out to be a pretty good week for Boca Juniors. On Sunday they beat title favourites and local rivals River in the superclasicó . And last night, they took on Cruzeiro in Brazil and won...
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Tuesday 06 May 2008, 10:26
There were fireworks, enough ticker to cover parading liberators of all the wars put together and odd bombs that spurted blue and gold smoke. It was the closing season's superclasicó and it was the...
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Friday 02 May 2008, 10:45
Well what a week for football. Champions League antics maybe dominating the European scene, but in this small corner at the end of the world it's one hell of a weekend for football. Buenos Aires giants...
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Tuesday 29 April 2008, 09:30
Boca's season is not on fire. Scraping through to the final 16 in the Libertadores, Sunday's defeat by San Lorenzo and struggling (for Boca) in third place in the league – all after this blogger...
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Friday 25 April 2008, 16:17
Peronism. Argentina's dominant political movement is about as easy to understand as geothermal physics. There are Peronists and then there are Peronists. And they hate each other. Named after Juan...
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Wednesday 23 April 2008, 15:05
River fans call Boca 'swines'. Last night they became lucky swines, qualifying for the last 16 of Latin America's holy grail: the Copa Libertadores. They went into the game needing a five-goal...
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Friday 18 April 2008, 14:32
Cough, cough, splutter, splutter... as Buenos Aires is enveloped in a soup of acrid smoke from farmers burning land (I can see less than 100 metres across the roofs of the city; see it here River Plate...
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Thursday 17 April 2008, 14:36
Managers come and go, but one always remains a fan of the team. It's the law. And no matter how much you hate the gaffer, you wish the team well. Maradona, never one to hide his rancor, hates Boca...
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Wednesday 16 April 2008, 10:55
For Independiente, the unthinkable has happened. The rivalry between Racing and Independiente is one of the most intense in Argentina. It's difficult to express how much they hate each other. And yet...
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Friday 11 April 2008, 10:31
The Boca wibble-wobble Boca Juniors' wobble continued during a bizarre Copa Libertadores match against Mexicans Atlas on Tuesday, courtesy of what might be the worst miss in the history of football...
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Monday 07 April 2008, 14:23
Well, finally, cause for celebration: A violence free weekend. OK, last time I hailed a few days like this it was followed by all sorts of trouble. But, nevertheless, lets take this opportunity to talk...
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Wednesday 02 April 2008, 17:12
An email arrived in my inbox this morning from a fellow Argy football fan with the title F.*.*.K.I.N.G M.U.P.P.E.T. Half expecting an amateur YouTube clip of Miss Piggy in an inappropriate clinch with...
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Wednesday 02 April 2008, 10:04
First there was fear and loathing, now we have chaos and violence. It has been one of the saddest couple of weeks in Argentine football for years. At the best of times, Argentina feels like a society hanging...
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Tuesday 25 March 2008, 09:27
After a weekend of horrendous violence, leaving two dead , the Easter weekend games were peaceful and mostly sober affairs. At the Vélez game against a resurgent River, fans packed the stand and held up...
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Wednesday 19 March 2008, 16:38
In the wake of two deaths related to football violence, a new fight amongt the highly orgaanised Boca Juniors barra brava 'El Doce' has broken out, resulting in the non-fatal stabbing of a 44 year...
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Wednesday 19 March 2008, 10:20
Two young fans killed in seperate incidents, bringing the total number of football violence related deaths to 224. This has been a sad, sad weekend for Argentinian football. Yet again, football, a sport...
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Friday 14 March 2008, 14:40
It features in every '646 things to do before you become worm food' list. It is on the itinerary of every visit to Latin America. Machu Piccu. Tick. Guinea pig for lunch. Tick. Football game in...
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Tuesday 11 March 2008, 16:13
Buenos Aires is a wonderful city. I, personally, would say it is one of the greatest and most vibrant cites in the world. Of course I'm biased, but ask anyone who has been to Argentina's capital...
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Friday 07 March 2008, 11:46
Nausea, malaise, swelling of hands and feet (sometimes the brain), shortness of breath, occasionally fatal. Not symptoms you would necessarily want to be characteristic of your football team. This is what...
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Thursday 06 March 2008, 13:30
To say it has been a pretty bad couple of weeks for Racing Club is like saying the year 1939 was a bit of a bummer for international peace. Without so much as a win in weeks, the fans of Racing, marched...
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Monday 03 March 2008, 16:19
El Loco reaches record, San Lorenzo break goal drought, the rain, the rain... Half of Buenos Aires currently lies under a metre of water, and I can barely hear myself type, let alone catch what's being...
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Thursday 28 February 2008, 09:10
I was once talking to some sort of delegate of the European Union. He was from Slovenia, I from Britain, so we were discussing how our national characteristics affect our debating skills. "Each country...
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Tuesday 26 February 2008, 10:00
Trust River to wait until a big one to start winning. Disciplined, practical and no longer running around like kids in an Easter egg hunt, Simeone's team thoroughly overcame their past problems, by...
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Friday 22 February 2008, 11:25
Hugs and relief for Riquelme's Boca As fellow Four Four Two blogger Celso de campos Jr wrote in his excellent post yesterday the Copa Libertadores is a hugely important title for any Latin American...
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Tuesday 19 February 2008, 09:50
Boca blitz Argentinos La Bombonera, the Chocolate Box, is one of the most intimidating stadiums in the world. Its vertiginously sided terrace, that jut steeply into a sky the colour of Argentina's...
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Friday 15 February 2008, 17:31
Lanús win Libertadores game Lanús, a small team from the southern suburbs, firstly shocked the Argentine footballing world by winning their first ever championship last year. They are now the only Argentine...
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Tuesday 12 February 2008, 09:40
Today: Two reportedly stabbed at River game, small teams continue to shine, full weekend results, and an amazing goal of the weekend. Violence continues at River After a well-deserved break (they were...
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Sunday 10 February 2008, 19:47
Today: Boca to win new season, San Lorenzo in surprise loss, Estudiantes score two in eight minutes, Argentina beat Guatamala 5-0. Boca to win title At the risk of turning this blog into a Mystic Meg/Russell...
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Friday 08 February 2008, 16:13
Today: D'Alessandro returns, admission prices "From the First World", and the rest of the opening fixtures. D'Alessandro arrives to celebrations Andrés D'Alessandro landed in Ezeiza...
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Thursday 07 February 2008, 11:02
Today: The season kicks off, a goal makes up for love tiff, and Maradona gets the insults out It's here!!! Yay!!!! Pah-Pah!!! Toot toot! The football season has arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!! No more of the...
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Wednesday 06 February 2008, 08:35
Featuring: Arsenal (no not that one), football players to scared to practice, River Plate copy Manchester United, Little teams, Big Cup. El *** in the Libertadores The Copa Libertadores, the greatest competition...
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Friday 01 February 2008, 09:46
Well, finally 'God' has apologised, sort of. In an interview with The Sun , Maradona said with customary modesty, 'If I could apologise and go back and change history I would do. But the goal...
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Tuesday 29 January 2008, 20:47
Featuring: A not very clásico clásico; Monkey man goal referred to FIFA; God watch: Look who Maradona has upset now; Team focus: Independiente; Sporty girls in very short skirts A not very classic clásico...
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Monday 28 January 2008, 10:16
Boca Juniors versus River Plate. The Superclasico. Perhaps the most fiercely fought derby game in the entire world. Yesterday these two teams clashed in the five-team 'Summer tournament' in the...
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Tuesday 22 January 2008, 21:11
Hola, y benvenido to the first ever blog for Four Four Two solely dedicated to everything related to Argentine football, directly from, a frankly sweltering, Buenos Aires. One thing's for sure, we're...
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