BUENOS AIRES—Thanks to Argentine superstars Maradona and Messi, soccer is more than a religion in the South American nation. Streets display graffiti of larger-than-life Maradona reading “God exists”—and this is a highly Catholic country.
Soccer is embedded in every aspect of life in Argentina, including politics. For instance, the newly elected president, Mauricio Macri, was the head of Boca Juniors, one of the two most important soccer clubs in the country, from 1996 to 2008.
A matter of life or death—sometimes quite literally—it is key for expats to understand the unspoken rules of soccer: How to speak about it, to whom, and what to expect in a soccer stadium.
PICK A TEAM
“In his life, a man can change his woman, his political party or his religion, but he cannot change his soccer team,” said Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano. This is key to understanding the sport in South America.
Expats should know that supporting a team in Argentina is not about the players: It is all about where you come from and who your family cheer for. Expats will be asked which team they support even if they are new to the country.
Although today, fans of the two main clubs, Club Atlético Boca Juniors andClub Atlético River Plate, come from all walks of life, economic class has traditionally played a role.
La Bombonera, the blue-and-gold stadium of Boca Juniors, is in La Boca, a working-class neighborhood in the south of Buenos Aires. Monumental, the red and white River Plate stadium, is in the upscale neighborhood of Núñez, in the north of the capital. Its supporters call the team “The Millionaires.”
While Argentina is home to many well-known clubs such as Racing, Independent, San Lorenzo de Almagro and the pope’s favorite, Newell’s Old Boys, Boca Juniors and River Plate offer one of the most spectacular rivalries in the history of soccer: a superclásicoencounter.
In Argentina, “soccer rivals have turned into enemies and people enjoy the rival team’s defeat increasingly in a confrontational way,” says Diego Murzi, vice president of the Buenos Aires-based NGO Salvemos Al Fútbol (“Let’s Save Soccer”). The association seeks to end violence in the sport.
HOLD YOUR BREATH
Expats should not be surprised by how vulgar soccer fans are when they make jokes about rival players.
The first time I covered a soccer game in Argentina—a superclásico in La Bombonera—I saw a male spectator having to put his hands on the shoulder of his 22-year old daughter to try to calm her as she yelled: “Are you playing with your hands, dumb-ass? Are you damn stupid?” Forward Carlos Tevez was infuriating her. “Stand up and play like a real man,” shouted the young woman, who had driven 60 kilometers (37 miles) from her town of Pilar to watch the game.
Despite the widespread offensive comments—much worse than the example above—Argentine parents often bring their children to see a soccer game. Many couples also spend date nights in a stadium.
UNITE
Hearing and seeing 65,000 passionate soccer devotees singing in unison and jumping together will give anyone goosebumps. It is part of the game to arrive one to two hours early to see this show, which can sometimes include a display of fireworks and color “smoke” bombs.
To really fit in, expats should know a few popular slogans soccer fans chant. With their fists held high, Boca Juniors aficionados sing: “Boca, my good friend, we’ll be with you this season, we encourage you with our heart, we are your fans who want you to see you champions. It doesn’t matter to us what others say I will follow you anywhere. Every time I love you more.”
The most popular River Plate song is: “We are the crazy Millionaire group. I follow River everywhere. I follow River because I hold it in my heart. Millionaire, I want to see you champions.”
WATCH OUT
There is plenty of violence in Argentine soccer—more than in most countries. Car drivers park far away from the stadiums, but arrive early to allow time to get through several police checkpoints—although these do not stop clashes at the door. The police will use tear gas.
Argentina is one of the few countries where the government has stopped supporters of rival teams sitting in the same stadium. In 2013, the Argentina Football Association (or AFA) and the Ministry of Security banned visiting fans from games: Only home fans can watch. This ban applies to all divisions of soccer in the country.
In the past decade, 93 fans have been killed because of soccer-related violence, according to a survey conducted by Salvemos Al Fútbol.
Much of the disruption in the stadiums stems from the barra brava: On the one hand, members of the barra brava will legitimately be parking cars, and then on the other, be scalping tickets or selling drugs, says Julián Mansilla, head of sports news at TN, a major Argentine news channel.
UNMISSABLE
Still, watching soccer on the whole remains an experience not to be missed because of how passionate fans are in Argentina—even when they lose.
When the country lost the 2014 World Cup final to Germany, Argentines nevertheless gathered at El Obelisco, the famous obelisk in the center of Buenos Aires, to celebrate. With a great sense of humor, fans carried a fake trophy and sang songs mocking the opposing side and their performance.
This article was published in Wall Street Journal on February 25, 2016. Click here to read it.
