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AIK Stockholm vs. Djurgardens IF
Stockholm, Sweden
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Rivals, The Offbeat Guide To The 92 League Clubs, is one of the best derby books available.
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| River Plate - Boca Juniors (2-0) |
| Apertura, 07 Oktober 2007 |
| Stadium : El Monumental |
| Attendance : 60.000 |
El SuperClassico!
I arranged my ticket through my hostel in Buenos Aires, for 270 pesos. This was including transportation to and from the stadium, fixed seats (Platea Centenario Media) and a guide.
The kickoff was at 2 pm, we were picked up at 11.30 am. The closer we got to the stadium, the busier the streets got. Buses full of River fans, some of them even hanging out of the windows and doors, singing, shouting, waving their flags and scarves. Watching and hearing all this made me realize that this was going to be a very special football afternoon. Being a born Feyenoord Rotterdam fan, I have had my share of rivalry matches throughout the years, e.g. when Feyenoord plays the scum of Amsterdam, but I was told that this match was "the Mother of all rivalry matches in the world"!
What struck me the most was that, not too far from the stadium, a large group of Boca’s La Doce was standing outside a pub, almost without any police in sight. Too bad our guide told the bus driver not to stop, I would have loved to watch the scene and perhaps get into the mix of it.
We got out of the (school)bus a couple of hundred meters from the entrance. We walked en groupe to the stadium, through a sea of red and white. Lots of singing and some fireworks accompanied us on our way in. After a strip-search by the cops our guide brought us to our seats. This was in Sector K, behind the goal and below the away section. The view to the pitch was ok, I was able to see the other goal. But the view to the rest of the stadium was sh#t, the lower edge of the second tier took away most of the view to the other stands.
We got in an hour before kickoff, and the stadium was already filled for 75%. Everybody was very excited, lots of songs passed, and I could tell they were really sung from the heart. People jumped up and down and sung all kinds of pro-River and anti-Boca songs. This following song passed many times, our guide told me that it meant something like all Boca fans (Bosteros according to the River fans) are born out of putas:
"ES PARA VOS, (whistle-whistle)
ES PARA VOS, (whistle-whistle)
BOSTERO PUTO, LA PUTA QUE TE PARIO!"
Only sad thing was that I couldn't hear the Boca fans, even though they sat right above us. So that's two thumbs down for the acoustics!
River Plate scored the two goals in the first half, each goal was cheered at with a big wave of sound. You even could feel the stadium bouncing up and down!
And to make things even worse for the Boca fans, one Boca defender got sent off with a red card. So the second half, I almost couldn't see the game anymore, as the Boca fans were tearing up their end and were throwing lots of plastic seats down. The lower section of River fans was as good as empty the whole second half.
Other than this, nothing serious happened, so the police had finally learned their lesson from the previous years, which saw lots of Argentinean games called off because of violence on the terraces.
I left the stadium a little bit disappointed though, even though the atmosphere was brilliant. Fans kept on singing for 90 minutes and there was a large tifo show by Los Burrachos del Tablon just before kickoff and before the start of the second half. (large red and white paper rolls, lots of confetti, big flags)
I had expected the match to be more intense. Later our guide told me that when this match is played at La Bombonera, Boca's ground, the atmosphere there is more violent and intense. A bit similar to Holland, the atmosphere at Feyenoord's De Kuip is way better than in amsterdam.
But still, I was a live witness of El SuperClassico, a match that every true football fan has to experience once in his life!
Report added : 20 November 2007
Report by : BackPackMaluku
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