5) River Plater vs Boca Juniors
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European football has never matched the flair and flamboyance of Latin American football. Latin Americans bring to us the game in its pristine and most beautiful form. For them football, be it played in the streets of Rosario or the Maracanã stadium of Rio di Janeiro, is the best medium for expression.
In Buenos Aires when River Plate go against Boca Juniors the entire nation witnesses one of the most expressive, vocal and historical rivalries in football- The Superclasico.The origin of the rivalry dates back to the early 20th century. River Plate and Boca Juniors were originally formed in La Boca, the working class dockland area of Buenos Aires, in 1901 and 1905 respectively.
Joel Richards, in his book Superclásico: Inside The Ultimate Derby, says “This derby is often pitched as the tale of two cities, the aristocratic River Plate from the north against the people's team, Boca Juniors, in the south. In fact, the rivalry started as a turf war in the port area of La Boca in Buenos Aires -- both were founded by the children of immigrants; both had difficulty finding land in the area for their ground; both chose to have some English in their name to add some perceived glamour to their club.
It started out as a local rivalry before it grew to be the battle to find out which is the biggest club in the country.”
In 1925, River moved to the prosperous district of Nunez in the north. River started generating an upper-class fan base and this gave them the nickname of Los Millonarios. Boca stayed behind and became the club of the working class.
The support came from the local Italian immigrant community. So they came to be known as Xeneizes (Genoese), a name which refers to Genoa of Italy. But now the club has fan base all over Argentina with more than 70% of the Argentine football fans believed to be either a Boca or a River supporter.
The Boca supporters hated River for the fact that they deserted La Boca for the riches. They started claiming La Boca belonged to them. They also started calling River as gallinas (chickens) for they believed River players and fans lacked courage.Though they initially belonged to La Boca, River retaliated to the abuses by referring to Boca as Los chanchitos (little pigs) because they claimed the area smelled bad.
Everytime Boca and River clash, it is a blend of class, tradition and football. It is a portrayal of the history and culture of the city of Buenos Aires. Cherished by likes of Diego Maradona, Juan Riquelme, Radamel Falcao and Carlos Tevez, this will always be a rivalry that has big place in the minds of great players.
