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Game Seven: v Estudiantes

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Estudiantes  4  Argentinos Juniors  3

I did say last week that well into the twenty-first century no-one in the public eye should be allowed to sport a haircut like that displayed by the Argentinos Juniors manager,  Pedro Troglio. And so it has come to pass.

I guess poor results didn’t help either. This was the third game in a row in which the Bichos shipped four goals. So in a very dignified manner,  shortly after this defeat to bottom club Estudiantes in La Plata,  he closed his eyes,  held his nose between his forefinger and thumb and jumped off the plank.

I was not sorry to see him go since he’s not been able to mould a half-decent squad of players into a team. He seemed to find ways of suppressing their talent.

What does concern me is that the manager before last,  the man who took them to last place in the table in the 2009 Clausura season before going on to abject disaster at River Plate,  a man with an even worse unreformed nineteen-seventies mullet hairdo than Troglio – could it be they frequent the same barber? — is being talked about as the possible replacement.

Gorosito. Get yer haircut!

Please,  stay where you are,  Nestor Gorosito. Far more to my liking is the possibility that geriatric goalscorer,  Jose Luis Calderon,  who was wrenched from his rocking chair to lead the Bichos to Apertura 2010 championship glory,  will nibble at the insect being dangled before him.

I got to three stadiums this weekend but none of them were hosting the less than silky skills of Argentinos Juniors.

On Friday at the decidedly un-football friendly hour of five pm,  I hopped on a train to Retiro,  then ran the length of the Linea C underground line to Constitucion,  then took another train to Avellaneda to see Independiente host Colon.

This was the first game for the new Red Devil’s manager,  Ramón Díaz,  and it soon became apparent that he’s got a lot of work to do. Independiente were woeful and probably lucky to escape with a 1-0 defeat.

Their players showed occasional hints of talent but didn’t seem to connect to one another,  almost as though some were playing football while others were thinking basketball and volleyball.

A shame really because this is a club with a fine history and a pleasant ground which will be even better when it’s finished. I said that last time I visited nearly two years ago and it’s still not complete. Or are cement mixers and half-installed seats part of the design?

Independiente - be nice when it's finished.

The 5pm kickoff meant that supporters rushed to the ground straight from work – men in suits,  telephone engineers and cable TV installers with small boxes,  nurses with stethoscopes around their necks,  airline pilots with headphones on,  prison guards jangling keys. I’m getting carried away here but you get the picture.

Avellaneda is a whole different experience. I’d earlier been dining in Palermo Hollywood,  so-named for its preponderance of film studios. Palermo Hollywood is arty,  international and possibly even a little twee. Avellaneda is tenser,  dirtier and industrial. Some might just call it poorer.

A heavy cloud of marijuana hung in the air and many of those walking to the ground were gulping frothy liquids from plastic Coke bottles which didn’t look to me like it was anything you’d want your children to be drinking at their birthday party.

Argentinos Juniors’ arch rivals,  Platense, are currently lurking in the regional third division. My sons were playing handball there – an interesting game which seems to combine football and basketball. A-ha! Maybe that’s what Independiente were playing!

The odd thing about Platense is that they play in brown. It’s the team my wife’s family grew up with and in a none-too subtle attempt to endear myself to them,  I once took my kids there to see a game. “Shirts are like shit – they play like shit,” said my eldest son,  then a precocious but astute ten-year-old.

Flea on bass guitar...

We adopted Argentinos Juniors instead and now test our food before eating when we visit the in-laws. I’ve not spoken to the brother-in-law since.

And then to probably the best second division ground in the world – River Plate’s Monumental stadium. Again a strong strain of marijuana in the air but not a football in sight. River Plate were playing away,  struggling to a 0-0 draw against humble Deportivo Merlo.

The visitors were the Red Hot Chili Peppers,  completely dominating the goal furthest from us with a spectacular light show and Flea sublime on bass guitar.

The great thing about the Chili Peppers is that they’re my age yet they’re still hip and trendy among the youth of Buenos Aires. So I could take my boys,  aged 14 and 11,  without them living in fear of a class mate seeing them with me,  as long as I promised to subdue my shadow guitar playing and didn’t wear a leather waistcoat.

* Boca Juniors seem to have found their stride,  beating rivals Lanus 2-1 away to clinch the top spot. Atletico de Rafaela are breathing down their necks after an impressive 3-1 win at San Lorenzo. Belgrano beat fellow newcomers San Martin 1-0 at their place while Olimpo and Godoy Cruz and Tigre and Arsenal all drew 2-2.

Newell’s and Velez and Union and Racing all drew 1-1 but a special mention must go to Banfield who scored their first and only goal of the season to record their opening win – a 1-0 at All Boys. They’re still bottom of the pile but Argentinos Juniors are just a place above them,  now the only team in the division without a win after seven games.


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