In a few days, the Argentine fan has gone through the glory of traveling abroad with the exchange rate favorable to the disappointment of seeing his team to be defeated earlier than expected.
The cheapest dollar seemed an invitation for thousands of fans of the two largest clubs in the country, Boca Juniors and River Plate, coloring blue and yellow, and red and white, beaches, parks and especially stores in the United States.
The rehearsed songs, the screams in the stands, and the confidence in seeing the two clubs advanced in the table took the American stadiums. But the adventure of Argentine football representatives at the Club World Cup ended early. On Wednesday (25), one day after Boca’s farewell, in an unexpected draw with Auckland City, River was eliminated by Inter Milan.
Boca Juniors striker Edinson Cavani (Center), comforts Miguel Merentiel after a draw with New Zealand’s Auckland City.
The fall of Boca Juniors in the group stage of the Club World Cup, after 1-1, triggered a wave of criticism in both Argentina and around the world, with comparisons between the club’s trajectory and that of the modest amateur team of New Zealand.
The press estimates that 50,000 Boca fans traveled to accompany the club.
“Shameful, they do not learn the lesson,” said the Argentine newspaper Olé. “World disaster,” said AS, from Spain. “A dream crowd is not enough,” said Spanish Sport. The Argentine press stressed that the team was, within minutes, the flirting with the classification of the inability to beat a team “formed by teachers, metallurgists, hairdressers, among other offices, which in their spare time play ball,” according to Olé.
In addition to having to win, the team depended on a Bayern Munich victory against Benfica to dream of the round of 16 – which did not happen.
Less than a month ago in charge of Boca, Miguel Ángel Russo admitted, after the disqualification, that the team left a “bad image” in the tournament. He said the suspension of the match, because of a storm, disrupted the performance, because the team had to play already knowing the result between Bayern and Benfica.
Absent in the draw with Benfica and the defeat to Bayern, due to the recovery of an injury, Uruguayan Edinson Cavani could not avoid the elimination of mouth. “Today’s match, despite having ended in a draw, was not so disappointing,” he said after the game – a statement that bothered the crowd.
Part of the Argentine fans and specialized press returned his criticism of the president of Boca, former player Juan Román Riquelme. “The panorama is as follows: No Copa Libertadores, after being eliminated at home by Alianza Lima, from Peru; without South American; and without the round of 16 of the Club World Cup, in which he left unable to win even amateur Auckland City,” said the Ovación portal.
Rival of Riquelme in Boca, former Argentine president Mauricio Macri, who has also directed the club, blamed him for the defeat. “It’s the saddest stage in our history, we are on a bad way,” he said.
Partner of a themed bar near Lezama Park, on the border with the Boca da Boca, in Buenos Aires, Ariel Stein was disappointed with the early farewell. “Besides the personal side, being a team fan, it’s bad for the business. We wanted to see it here crowded on games days,” he said. “But cheering for Boca is that.”
This Thursday (26), the fans of Boca had a relief with the news that the return of midfielder Leandro Paredes to the club is practically confirmed, leaving only the execution of Roma’s departure clause.
The disenchantment was not only greater because the club’s main opponent would fall a day later, with River being defeated by Inter Milan 2-0 in Seattle.
“A slap in the face,” says the cover of Olé, about the elimination of the River. Criticism was only less intense because it is a defeat to a European team. “The more than 40,000 people who crowded the Field Lumen in Seattle didn’t deserve River to leave the club World Cup so fast. The club probably didn’t deserve it either,” the newspaper said.
“Let’s make an assessment of what we need to jump. We have to jump when the team has to go forward. We have to be very accurate when planning the second half of this year,” said River coach Marcelo Gallardo.
The Argentine press took the opportunity to compare the performance of the local duo with that of the Brazilian teams that continue in the tournament (Palmeiras, Botafogo, Flamengo and Fluminense). “Brazil is going through the biggest crisis in its history in terms of selection, but at club level, it is overwhelming,” said Clarín.
The defeats of the two teams exceeded the field. President Javier Milei took advantage of the results to insist again on his main flag in the sports world – turning clubs into corporations – and spoke of “failure”, another chapter of his war against AFA (Argentine Football Association).
