The biggest day of your lives! The moment you all be waiting for: Boca Juniors v River Plate!
The annals of this great fixture reveal a who’s who of South American footballing legends. Diego Maradona, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Juan Román Riquelme, Gabriel Batistuta – they are but just a few of the great players to announce themselves in this illustrious rivalry. In the stadiums of La Bombonera and El Monumental in the thriving football city of Buenos Aires, football’s superstars are born.
Back in the days, in June 1968, 74 fans were killed at El Monumental when Boca fans caused panic by throwing burning paper onto the home fans beneath them.
More recently, in 1994, a busload of River fans was ambushed several miles away from the ground, resulting in two of them being shot dead. River had won the game 2-0 and for days afterwards, graffiti appeared around Buenos Aires reading “River 2 Boca 2.”
In 2000, Boca fans put posters all over the city that listed the names of bands who played at El Monumental, River's stadium. The message was that while Boca were winning trophies, River was watching concerts.
Speaking of music, River fans were recently inspired by an inflatable pig during a Roger Waters concert and created one that was dressed in Boca colours, floating it in front of the Boca fans.
Carlos Tevez, for instance, perhaps took it a touch too far when he scored in a 2004 Copa Libertadores match and celebrated with a chicken dance, mocking River’s so-called reputation for choking it in big matches. Tevez was sent off for deliberately sparking violence.
Their rivalry prompted outrageous scenes in 2011 when River was relegated to the second division for the first time in their 110-year history. Boca fans treated it like a kind of celebratory funeral procession, lining the streets hoisting paper maché coffins with River’s colours as they sang “up and down, up and down, just like a lift”. Boca’s fans revealed the dark undercurrents which permeate this rivalry, partly defined by the hardcore faction of fans known as the Barra Bravas.
The last great story about the match happened at Copa Libertadores 2015. Competing for a place in the quarterfinals for the most important tournament in South America, at La Bombonera, the game got was suspended after players from the River Plate were hit by pepper spray at the return of the break time, which left a suspenseful mood for over an hour until the refereeing trio stopped the match. Of course, Boca fans we the main responsible for that. In the same match, in the midst of all the confusion, a drone appeared flying over the field with a tease to the River, displaying a Series B ghost!
The Superclasico rivalry can even influence some of the most powerful companies. A widely-sold drink company had to agree to their logo being painted in black and white rather than red and white on the side of the Bombonera if they wanted to keep the sponsorship deal. The company LG had a similar problem.
In the matchday, our local hosts will meet you in the hotel and go together to the meeting point for the pre-match experience. We will have tons of food and drinks, be introduced to some local fans, learn how to sing some of the club’s music and be prepared to head to La Bombonera or El Monumental. Over there, we will pass the securities checkpoints and head to our section in the stadium. From this moment, you can enjoy one of the greatest sporting experiences ever!
JOHN CHARLES WILLIAM DAVIDSON
Trip of a Lifetime