Argentinos Juniors 0 Lanus 4
I’d like to be more positive about Argentine football. I realised looking back over recent posts that I’m starting to sound like a whingeing, whining local.
After several years here I noticed that the porteños are happiest when they’re complaining. In fact, having nothing to complain about often makes them uneasy. Certain inflexions in the regional accent even make them sound like they’re complaining when they’re not.
Here’s an example. I once approached a group of acquaintances waiting for their children outside the school gates. In true British fashion I entered the conversation with a less than profound observation on what a lovely spring morning it was.
Complaining? You bet we are!
“Oh, but weather like this brings all sorts of allergies with it,” replied one.
“So you suffer from allergies?” I said. “Hay fever perhaps?”
“No, not me,” she said. “But you know. It’s not nice.”
That’ll give you locals something to gripe about. “These bloody foreigners…they come to Buenos Aires, they marry our women, they buy our best players and then they have the audacity, the downright cheek to complain about the amount of dog shit on our pavements and our rising prices.”
Argentina, in very general terms, relatively speaking, if you look at the big picture is doing alright. It is politically and economically stable, at least if you compare it with how things have been here in recent years or with the turmoil being suffered in parts of Europe and North America. So not much to complain about there.
Boca Juniors are joint leaders of the top division after a 1-0 win over San Martin so normality reigns there too. It’s off the pitch where football is giving us plenty of concern, although there are signs of improvement.
The former leaders of the River Plate barra brava, Alan and William Schlenker, were sentenced to life in prison last week for ordering the killing in 2007 of rival River Plate fan, Gonzalo Acro. Until the sentences are confirmed and they’ve run the full gamut of appeals, they and three others are still roaming the streets professing their innocence.
It’s reassuring that measures are being taken against these thugs who previously enjoyed immunity and sometimes even the unashamed protection of the football and political authorities.
Crying? Of course I am!
I for one might even raise a whimper of protest if a Schlenker pushes in front of me in the hot dog queue.
That change in attitude only happens because the people, the fans demand it. Independiente supporters, the proper fans, are fighting back against their thuggish element. A whole bunch of them at a game last week moved to the other side of the ground to leave the barra brava isolated, so everyone could see who they were.
The team’s manager, Antonio Mohamed, had resigned after a bad run of results but saying that the barra brava forced him to go. The thuggish element reacted in the only way they know how, with violence – attacking those who had bravely dared to challenge them.
The off-field drama is obviously affecting the Independiente players who lost 2-0 to Belgrano. The tension is sprung tighter than the straps on AFA president Julio Grondona’s wallet. It’s a good old-fashioned battle between the forces of good and evil. May the good prevail! But not too much or we’ll have nothing to complain about.
Back on the pitch, Lanus nudged their buttocks onto the top chair alongside Boca after this 4-0 drubbing of Argentinos Juniors, I think the heaviest defeat I’ve seen the Bichos suffer, home or away, since I started watching them two years ago.
Permanent? I doubt it.
The home side weren’t that bad in the first half, ending it one-nil down. But everything they tried came to nothing, especially if it landed at the two left feet of our often lone attacker, JJ Morales. And the few times that Lanus deigned to put some effort into it and venture into Argentinos Juniors territory they came away with a bag of goodies.
The players and the president, Luis Segura, have expressed their support in his time of great difficulty for manager, Pedro Troglio, so I expect he’ll be clearing out his desk fairly soon. He has the team playing some attractive passing football but it nearly always comes to nothing, especially where it counts, in front of goal.
For that reason, I wouldn’t be sorry to see him take the 113 out of the La Paternal neighbourhood. And call me fickle and superficial if you like, but nineteen-seventies style perm hairdos have no place in the twenty-first century. “Troglio. Get your hair cut or get out!”
Racing continued their good form with a 1-0 win over Olimpo. Rafaela keep up the pressure on the top after a 0-0 draw against Newell’s and Colon looked impressive in a 3-1 pounding of the declining San Lorenzo. The result of the weekend was Godoy Cruz’s 6-1 drubbing of All Boys. Estudiantes continue to be one of the few teams performing worse than Argentinos Juniors – they lost 3-1 at home to Tigre.
Champions Velez, despite a constant pounding of the Union goal, lost 1-0 at home but it’s Banfield and their fans we should be feeling sorry for. They lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal to leave them after six games without a goal, without a point and without much hope.
