The most famous soccer team in Argentina, and one of the most successful club teams in the world is the Club Atlético Boca Juniors. They are also renowned for having the most rabid fans anywhere. When we found out that they were going to be playing at home during our visit to Buenos Aires, we decided to attend. Mostly as a cultural experience, since neither of us really likes soccer.
The stadium holds somewhere between 49,000 and 57,000, depending on who you talk to. Every game is completely sold out to season ticket holders, who are all club members. The only way to get a ticket is to buy one from a scalper (which is almost guaranteed to be counterfeit), or to get one from one of the reputable tour companies that specialize in this. They have deals with season ticket holders to buy their membership cards, which they then loan to clients like us at about a 50,000% markup.
Anyway, we got tickets to a Boca Juniors home game at La Bombonera stadium. It included pickup and dropoff, as well as a chaperone in and out of the stadium and also in the stands. Needless to say, the La Boca area is not the nicest, especially after dark. The process worked pretty well and we never felt ill at ease. It wasn't perfect, but more about that later.
We got to the game about an hour before kickoff, which was good, because we got a good look at the stadium and the pre-game activities.
The real experience started about 30 minutes before kickoff. At one end of the stadium is an area where the most rabid fans are. Once the area is just about full, in come the real crazies and the fun begins. There are about 200 of them in full attire, complete with flags, capes and a band.
The band starts to play, the fans start to sing and chant and the whole stadium joins in. And they don't stop. Ever. They keep going for the entire game, except for halftime. And it gets LOUD - REALLY LOUD. They all wave their arms in unison, take their shirts off and wave their shirts. All game long. These are true fans.
The unsettling part is when they do one of their chants/songs where everyone bounces in unison. The entire stadium bounces. I'm not kidding. Solid concrete bouncing up and down.
It's really hard to describe the feeling. We were sitting with a guy from England, and he'd never seen anything like it.
But it was fun. A lot of fun. Really glad we did it.
And they do all of this with no alcohol. The stadium is alcohol-free. There are also no away team supporters allowed at any Argentina league games. Too much violence in the past.
Final score was 1-1, but we weren't there to watch soccer. We were there to watch people.
Remember when I said the process wasn't perfect? We're ready to leave after the game and our group has re-formed (we didn't all sit together), but there's one missing. This guy looked for all the world like Malcolm McDowell in a Hawaiian shirt. And he's missing. In the nastiest area in the whole city and there isn't a cab that will come within 20 blocks after a game because of the traffic. I figure he's dead, for sure. And our leader's reaction? "Looks like I lost one.". Seriously?
So we start our walk back to our shuttle bus which is about 10 or 12 blocks away, and after about 8 blocks in this crowd of 50,000 people, we spot this Hawaiian shirt. It's Malcolm McDowell, waiting at a red light. The odds of us finding him are incalculable, but there he is, alive and well.
So we all make it back home, and all had a great time. Quite an experience.
Michele has promised to write a final summary from the airport tomorrow.
One more sleep.
P.S. The food in Buenos Aires is excellent.
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