BLOG4: Soccer Identity

Getting back to futbol, our group recently witnessed a Boca match; as such, I’d like to briefly discuss the history & accomplishment of this premier organization. Boca Juniors was founded in 1905 by Italian immigrants in the Argentine neighborhood of La Boca (the British name of the club is due to the British railway workers whom introduced futbol to Latin America). The first jersey used was pink; legend has it that in 1906, Boca played another team with the same color & the winner of the match would get to keep the color; evidently Boca lost & they decided to use the colors of the 1st ship to sail into La Boca, which happened to be a Swedish ship & so, blue & yellow were adopted. As for the team emblem or badge, laurel leaves are used to represent the club’s 50th anniversary; also, in 2007, the number of stars was changed to 3 to symbolize each Intercontinental Cup (aka "Club World Title"). As for fan support, Boca is traditionally supported by the working class & its rival, River Plate, is typically supported by the wealthy portenos. As stated by Wikipedia: “Boca Juniors has won a record 18 international titles,[1] equal to A.C. Milan. Their haul includes six Copa Libertadores, four Recopa Sudamericana, three world club titles (Intercontinental Cup), two Copa Sudamericana, one Copa Oro, one Supercopa Sudamericana, and one Supercopa Masters. Domestically, the club has won 23 national championships, second only to River Plate (33)”. My classmates & I recently watched the 2nd leg of the “group of 16” match for the Copa Libertadors of Boca Juniors vs Defendors from Uruguay. We departed the hotel around 4:30 pm & the match commenced at almost 8 pm. We took a private tour bus & arrived to the magnificent stadium two hours early; the environment was spectacular! To prevent any potential conflicts, match attendees are required to pass through two lines of security. Upon getting through security, hoards of fans funneled into the stadium and the game began with an incredible display of fireworks, local club chants, & lots of passion filled the arena. Boca managed a 2 - 2 tie in Uruguay thereby in order for Boca to advance to the next round, all that was needed was either a victory, a tie of 1-1, or a tie of 0-0. However, for whatever reason, Boca appeared to be playing sub-par & quite lazily; consequently, Uruguay capitalized early in the match & never looked back; Uruguay’s 1-0 victory was the first time that a Uruguayan team had eliminated Boca from the “group of 16” stage. Nonetheless, rumor has it that the team & fans are not impressed with the current coach & Boca’s sub-par performance might be attributed to the players’ desire to have a new coach which is expected to be granted next season.

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