Argie Bargy : Lanus

Power of the Jonas Brothers stretches Argentina's weekend

Joel Richards — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:25:00 GMT

In the world of Fútbol Para Todos, where all first division games are broadcast live on national TV, we are used to ‘weekends’ stretching into the working week in order to fit in all the games.

Kicking off on Friday night and finishing on Monday has, so far, been the longest ‘weekend’ of football. But this weekend, we enter new territory.

Round 14 will start on Friday night, and end late on Tuesday.

It should be the superclásico weekend, but there was a hitch. First of all, the president’s husband, and former president Néstor Kirchner passed away. Given the relationship with AFA, as looked at in this blog, plus the reaction within Argentina to Kirchner’s death, it was probably the correct move to cancel football.

In fact, next season will be called the Néstor Kirchner Clausura, in tribute to the ex-president. In the meantime, the fixtures were all pushed back a week.

This is where the hitch occured. In recent weeks, Núñez has been over run with leather, as Bon Jovi were in town. Then just this week, Sir Paul McCartney has delighted the locals with his 60s repertoire. The very presence of SPM has produced an outbreak of highly gratuitous references to Beatles’ classics in the press, but clearly computers here don’t have an English-language spell check. ‘Help. A need somebody’ is the worst offender so far.

Anyway, joining the Bon Jovi/SPM roll call to play the River Plate stadium this weekend are the Jonas Brothers.

But, it’s also River v Boca.

So it is that the superclásico, after much toing and froing which amounted to a contest between the two supergrandes proving who has the grandest one, will be played on Tuesday night.

This is what the Jonas Brothers look like, if you wondered/cared/own a gun

The pitch needs time to recover after all those thousands of teenyboppers, you see.

In the meantime, the rest of the sides will get on with business.

First up is Huracán – Colón, where the home fans will be split over how to receive Joaquin Larrivey. Should they a) cheer his every touch after he scored around 40 goals in the second division, helping the side win promotion to top flight. Or should they b), throw the most vile and heinous abuse at the striker whose foul on keeper Monzón went unpunished in the title play-off a year ago between Huracán and Vélez, and from which Vélez scored the winner and logically, won the title. We all know which it will be.

The other game to watch for is Quilmes against Godoy Cruz, although you’ll have to do so on TV. The game is being played at Banfield’s ground and behind closed doors.

Quilmes, 13 games without a win, were subjected to attack by their own ‘fans’ last week after another defeat. The team bus was stoned, while players had their windscreens smashed and scratched as they tried to leave the ground.

Quilmes vice-president, Aníbal Fernández, who also happens to be the government cabinet chief, admitted this week that he knows who the aggressors are. ‘They are two idiots and I hope they are put away for 70 years, and I know one of them very well, he’s a neighbour.’ That what we want to hear! Justice!

Criminals put behind bars! No such luck. Fernández continued: ‘the issue is that nobody will report them to the police.’ Despite his role at the club, despite his role with the government and despite admitting he knows who they are, Fernández himself will not act. Perhaps the large banner held by the Quilmes barra brava which carries the name of his political group has something to do with this. Perhaps not.

Politics aside, Quilmes are in freefall. Godoy Cruz are one of the best sides in the country. There’ll either be a goal-fest, or a historic win for the Brewers.
Fixtures

FIXTURES Friday 12th Nov Huracán v Colón, Banfield v Gimnasia Saturday 13th Nov Arsenal v All Boys, Tigre v Estudiantes Sunday 14th Nov Argentinos v San Lorenzo, Quilmes v Godoy Cruz, Independiente v Olimpo, Vélez v Lanús, Newell’s v Racing Tuesday 16th Nov River v Boca.

Godoy Cruz win battle of 'The Others'

Joel Richards — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:55:00 GMT

Far, far away from River Plate, Boca Juniors, Diego Maradona and Leo Messi, there are other teams, other legends, and other players in Argentina.

This little known fact is often ignored by those in the know, making it difficult for those not in the know to find out. Argentine football’s national and international audience tends treat these other supporting-role characters much like The Others in Lost.

Not so on this blog - well, not always...

There are two glorious idiosyncrasies of Argentina football which prove how The Others can have their day. It doesn’t matter if most coverage of remarkable achievements is given a patronising 15-minute pat on the head, well done and now-go-back-to-where-you-came-from-and-let-the-adults-get-on-with-things. The point is they can have their day.

First up is the law of averages. The extent to which everybody prefers to talk about River or Boca, or even The Big Five, is irrelevant. It all averages out. The three-year league table – the one that decides who goes down - also serves us up with a clear idea of who the best team over the past three years has been.

Boca? River? Please. Racing, Independiente, San Lorenzo? Come on. Estudiantes? Vélez? Close, but no. Step forward Lanús.

Back in 2007, Lanús won the Apertura – the first league title in the club’s history. Banfield’s local rival may struggle to bring in crowds in excess of 20,000, but are one of the best-organised clubs in the country.

They don’t sack coaches every three months, they have a productive youth system and then sell well. Since the 2007 title triumph, the club may not have won any silverware but it has been the most consistent side in the country, putting them top of the three-year table.

As well as three-year averages, there is another particularity to the Argentine league. There’s no Big Four, or Barcelona-Real Madrid-Hércules title race here. The last eight championships have produced eight different title-winners.

Current champions Argentinos Juniors are not having the best time of it this term, but they were pushed right to the final whistle by Godoy Cruz of Mendoza en route to their title win.

It is difficult to overstate the scale of Godoy Cruz’ achievement. The club only made it into top flight in 2005. Consolidating a place in the first division is difficult – all three of the sides promoted this season are all in the relegation-bound bottom-four. Although they went down again, the club bounced back up immediately.

At the beginning of last season, the side was battling against relegation, once again, and risked their fate by appointing a debutant coach – Omar Asad. Despite only having coached youth teams at Vélez, despite the pressure and despite the limited transfer budget, Asad took the team to third.

And so, last season’s success story took on the three-year champions this weekend.

Lanús hit the woodwork twice with the game at 1-1, but the Tomba proceeded to brush past their hosts. David Ramírez had hit the first, taking his season tally to four and putting him alongside Vélez’ Santiago Silva, Boca’s Lucas Viatri and River’s Gabriel Funes Mori as the league’s top scorer.

Former Colombian international Jairo Castillo added the third after a rocket from Ariel Rojas, Diego Villar added the final flourish with ten minutes to go, making the final score 4-1.

The win put Godoy Cruz within two points of the top of the table – if they maintain this form and challenge for honours once again it will be an extraordinary achievement. Lanús, meanwhile, will no doubt pick themselves up from this blip – their first defeat of the season. Just don’t expect to hear too much about either side.

Matchday 6 Results
Tigre 2-0 Gimnasia
Colón 1-1 All Boys
Huracán 2-2 Banfield
San Lorenzo 0-0 Vélez
Lanús 1-4 Godoy Gruz
Estudiantes 2-0 Racing
Argentinos 1-2 Newell’s
River 1-0 Arsenal
Independiente 0-0 Quilmes
Olimpo 1-3 Boca

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