It’s quite a trek to reach the southern suburb of Lanus. First I had to take the 113 bus to the Argentinos Juniors ground in La Paternal to buy my away ticket, then a half an hour walk to La Paternal station for the train to Retiro, one of the main terminals in Buenos Aires, then the whole length of Line C on the underground to Plaza Constitucion and from there four stops to Lanus. I then had a another half hour walk to the ground and arrived about two minutes before the kick-off.

After twelve minutes, I was wondering why I’d bothered. Lanus were two up and Argentinos Juniors were struggling to string two passes together. I don’t know about the team, but I was missing the nippy, little attacker Gabriel Hauche and the goalkeeper Sebastian Torrico, both of whom were sold during the close season. Torrico was always hesitant coming off his line but was a quality ball-stopper.

But if ever there was a day when football, pure, quality passing, skilful football had to win the day, then this was it. And Argentinos Juniors delivered with a couple of goals before half-time to level the score and then four in the second half, including a penalty from my favourite player, Nestor Ortigoza and a peach from the Chilean, Emilio Hernandez. For the record, Nicolas Pavlovich scored two, there was an own goal from Rodrigo Erramuspe and one from Ismael Sosa.

Pavlovich nets two

That quality football was necessary to help disperse the dark cloud hanging over the Argentine game. Just a few hours earlier the 244^th victim of football violence in Argentina died in hospital in the city of Rosario.

Fourteen-year-old Newell’s Old Boys fan, Walter Caceres, had been shot on his way home from a mid-week game in Buenos Aires. The bus he was travelling in was, it seems, ambushed by a rival faction from the same club.

They managed to puncture the tyres and while the passengers waited for a replacement bus in the early hours of the morning, the vehicle was sprayed with machine-gun bullets. Walter took three bullets in his head and one in his back. Two other fans were wounded but are likely to recover. The nation watched and waited. The police announced that the young fan had died then said: “Oops, sorry! He’s still alive.” But he died a day later. As I write this, no-one has been detained in connection with the murder.

Before the Lanus game, the players and crowd were asked to observe a minute’s silence which was not respected by a contingent of home fans who bashed their drums throughout. A hefty defeat for their team was the least they deserved.

But the Lanus fans’ behaviour was not the most sickening aspect of this tragedy. That accolade might be given to the president of Newell’s Old Boys, Guillermo Lorente, who was quick to tell the media that “this incident in no way stains Newell’s but is related to a problem beyond the club and has to do with all the problems of insecurity suffered in Argentina. Newell’s is the obvious reference point in this case but Newell’s has nothing to do with it.”

Thanks for your sympathy, Mr Lorente. The dead boy’s father, Carlos, had a different point of view. “These people, the police, the bosses, the judges, know perfectly well who was responsible. They’ve all washed their hands and are looking the other way.”

In 2003, two Newell’s fans died after a clash with River Plate fans involving guns and stones on a main road to the north of Buenos Aires. In 2005 a 21-year-old Newell’s fan, Gonzalo Ferraro, died after receiving a bullet in the belly in the local derby with Rosario Central. Last year, Newell’s fans Martin Gomez and Maximiliano Sanchez died in an internal club feud. Nothing whatsoever to do with Newell’s Old Boys, eh, Mr Lorente?

Pancho Varallo - a goalscorer and a gentleman

But the club owners throughout Argentina work with local politicians who work with the barra brava, or organised hard-core fans, who collaborate with the police. They’re all in it together, lining their own pockets at the expense of the loyal fans and are rarely brought to account, except on the handful of occasions each season when fans are killed. And there are a handful of occasions each season when fans are killed and I suspect that won’t change until Argentina suffers a tragedy of Heysel or Hillsborough-like proportions.

You have to wonder what Francisco ‘Pancho’ Varallo makes of it all, although I’ve no doubt he would have revelled in the game I’ve just seen. He is the last survivor of the first ever World Cup final played in 1930 in which Uruguay beat Argentina to lift the trophy. Mr Varallo was on the losing side on that occasion but went on to win plenty of other silverware, including three Argentine championships with Boca Juniors (1931/34/35) and the South American nations cup, the Copa America, with Argentina in 1937. He was a ruthless goalscorer, netting 181 times in 210 games for Boca, but always was and still is a gentleman.

Last week he celebrated his 100^th birthday, telling the local media that that 1930 defeat to Uruguay still hurts.

Walter Caceres only lived fourteen years and he missed his team’s thumping 4-2 victory over Boca Juniors. Newell’s Old Boys next game is against Argentinos Juniors on Monday. I suspect several fans will stay away. All we can hope is that it’s a game played how Mr Varallo would have played it and not in the spirit encouraged by the likes of Mr Lorente.