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Published: October 5th 2007
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Yo Soy Albo
It was great to be amongst fans wearing blue and white stripes again. Russ misses watching Brighton! Forget Boca Juniors and River Plate, this is Salta. There are three teams in the city and Russ has chosen to support the one which last year performed worse than the others!
Gimnasia y Tiro play in Argentino B, the fourth tier of football in Argentina. Last year they were nearly relegated to Argentino C, the minor regional leagues. That disaster was averted only in a play-off, which they drew, and survival was assured in a penalty shoot-out.
The other sides in Salta are Juventud Antoniana, playing in Argentino A, the third tier, and Central Norte who were relegated last year to join Gimnasia in Argentino B. It’s quite a complex system of promotion and relegation as the lower leagues are split into regional mini-leagues with play-offs for promotion and relegation occurring at the end of a long season. Last season, Central Norte conspired to influence the outcome of a game and prevent rivals Juventud from reaching the play-offs. They were already relegated and begin this season with a 6 point deduction. Juventud were allowed into the play-offs after a messy court battle which saw the other guilty side stripped of their play-off place.
The season began with the “classico”,
The Giant Flag
Imagine your view of the game from underneath that. Mind you, in this game the view was probably better! or derby in English, where Gimnasia played away to Central Norte. Central’s stadium is far from suitable to host such a game, or any league games for that matter, and so they use the city’s municipal stadium, the
Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena. We went there with our landlord Roberto, who is a Central Norte supporter. He was horrified we were going to support Gimnasia!! We were horrified at the price of the tickets, more than twice what we paid to stand in the
general when we went to watch Boca Juniors last year.
The stadium was nice and modern (and we didn’t even have to queue for the toilets at half time or after the game!!) and the atmosphere was electric. Unfortunately the enthusiasm didn’t transfer onto the pitch. We were treated to 90 minutes of dire football with a dreadfully low skill level. Gimnasia had two players sent off showing that at least there was passion! Sadly, Central Norte won the game 1-0 and in reality the margin of victory should have been much higher.
Russ is a sucker for punishment though, and a week later he was in the Estadio Gigante del Norte to watch a much improved Gimnasia
Balloon Boys
At Brighton one of our best friends often brings hundreds of blue and white ballons to launch as the game begins. Here it is the responsibility of a group of kids! beat Central Cordoba convincingly (1-0!). He says he will be back for more!!!
Aside from the Salta teams, Boca Juniors were supposed to come to Salta to play Brazilian side San Pablo (Sao Paolo) in the Copa Sudamerica. There was a big fuss made as the Governor signed a contract with Boca to bring the games to Salta. Who knows what financial incentive was offered. It didn't quite work out that way though. Nobody gave a thought to the cost which would be incurred by the Brazilians, and as nobody was prepared to pay their extra travelling costs, the game was eventually played at the Bombonera in Buenos Aires. Boca lost the tie over two games and so Salta will have to wait another year to see some quality football played in the city.
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