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River Plate vs Boca Juniors
Superclásico is the name used to describe the football match in Argentina between Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate.
It comes from the Spanish usage of "clásico" to mean derby, with the prefix "super" used as the two clubs are the most popular and successful clubs in Argentine football. According to some statistics, commandeering more than 70% of all Argentine football fans between them,with Boca claiming 40% and River 32%.
The Superclásico is known worldwide as one of the fiercest and most important derbies. In April 2004, the English newspaper The Observer put the Superclásico at the top of their list of "50 sporting things you must do before you die", saying that
"Derby day in Buenos Aires makes the Old Firm game look like a primary school kick-about."
The history
The two clubs both have origins in La Boca, the working class dockland area of Buenos Aires, with River being founded in 1901 and Boca in 1905. However, River moved to the affluent district of Núñez in the north of the city in 1925.
Since then Boca Juniors has been known as the club of Argentina's working class or the peoples club, with many Boca fans coming from the local Italian immigrant community.
By contrast, River Plate became known by the nickname, Los Millonarios (The Millionaires), with a supposedly upper-class support base. Boca fans meanwhile are known as Xeneizes (Genoese). Both clubs do though have supporters from all social classes.
The first ever recorded Superclásico was a friendly played on 2 August 1908, when Boca prevailed 2-1.
The first official match was played on 24 August 1913, with River winning 2-1.
The Superclásico is particularly noted for the passion of the fans, with what the BBC describe as "a sea of colourful flowing banners, screams and roars, chanting, dancing and never-ending fireworks."Both sets of supporters sing passionate chants aimed at their rivals, often based on popular Argentine rock band tunes.
Each stadium, Boca's La Bombonera and River's El Monumental are known to bounce with the simultaneous jumping of the fans. At times the matches have been known to end in fights between the violent factions on both sides or with the police.
Boca fans refer to River supporters as gallinas (chickens) claiming the lack of stomach of River fans and players. River fans call their Boca rivals los chanchitos (little pigs) because their stadium is located in a poorer Boca area and they claim that it smells most of the time. bosteros (manure collectors) a reference to the smell of the sewers and the polluted river in La Boca.
Another infamous slur, coined in the late 1990s over remarks of Boca's forward Diego Latorre, is to brand Boca Juniors as "The Cabaret", due to the alleged aspiration of some players to steal the limelight.
The rivalry between the two clubs can also affect players, particularly those who are transferred between the two clubs. Cataldo Spitale was the first to make the change, when he left Boca to sign for River in 1933.
Oscar Ruggeri, who moved to River from Boca in 1985 said, "It's not easy I can tell you. One side looks on you as a traitor and the other doesn't 
really trust you. You need time to adapt and a lot of character to win people over."
Some players have gone so far as to state that they would not play for the other club such as River's Uruguayan player Enzo Francescoli while Diego Maradona during his time playing for Argentinos Juniors, refused to even contemplate a move to El Monumental, stating that his dream was to play for Boca.
Puerta 12
On 23 June 1968 in El Monumental after a match between the two teams 71 fans were killed in a crush at gate 12 and 150 fans injured. The disaster was the worst football related incident in the history of Argentine football and the majority of the dead were teenagers and young adults. The average age of the victims was 19.
There are various claims as to what exactly happened that day. Some claim that the disaster happened after Boca Juniors fans threw burning River flags from the upper tiers of the stadium, causing a stampede of their own fans in the lower tier.
Others claim that it happened after River fans arrived at the Boca section, causing the stampede of the visiting fans. Yet others claim that gate 12 was locked, or would not open at the time, and that the fans at the back did not hear the ones at the front telling them to stop coming out. William Kent, River's former president, claimed that the police were the culprits, as they began repressing Boca fans after they had thrown urine at them from the stands. Some witnesses claim that the turnstiles to the exit were blocked by a huge iron pole.
After three years of investigation a government enquiry found no-one guilty, much to the disappointment of the families of the victims. Since the tragedy, the gates at El Monumental have been identified by letters instead of numbers.
At the end of the 1968 season the 68 football clubs in the Argentine Football Association collected 100,000 pesos for the families of the deceased.
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Head to Head
Match record as of April 19, 2009
Championship |
Played |
Boca |
Draws |
River |
National League |
184 |
67 |
56 |
61 |
Amateur Matches |
12 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
International Competitions |
24 |
10 |
8 |
6 |
Friendlies & other |
103 |
38 |
33 |
32 |
Total |
323 |
118 |
101 |
104 |
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Highest scoring games
Result |
Date |
River 5-4 Boca |
15 October 1972 |
River 5-3 Boca |
24 November 1957 |
Boca 5-2 River |
27 June 1973 |
Boca 5-2 River |
3 February 1974 |
Boca 2-5 River |
2 March 1980 |
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Players who have played for both Boca and River
- Abel Balbo
- Carlos Barisio
- Gabriel Batistuta
- Sergio Berti
- Fernando Cáceres
- Julio César Cáceres
- Claudio Caniggia
- Gabriel Cedrés
- Victorio Cocco
- Rubén da Silva
- --------------------------------------------------
- Luciano Figueroa
- Rubén Horacio Galletti
- Fernando Gamboa
- Ricardo Gareca
- Hugo Gatti
- Jorge Higuaín
- Juan Francisco Lombardo
- Juan José López
- Ernesto Mastrángelo
- Milton Melgar
- Norberto Menéndez
- José Manuel Moreno
- ---------------------------------------------------
- Carlos Manuel Morete
- Julio Olarticoechea
- Juan José Pizzuti
- Sebastián Rambert
- Gerardo Reinoso
- Jorge Rinaldi
- Oscar Ruggeri
- Francisco Sá
- Carlos Daniel Tapia
- Alberto Tarantini
- Julio César Toresani
- Nelson Vivas
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DIE KLASSIEKER
This rivalry involves Holland’s two most popular clubs which are from Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The game is similar to that of Barcelona and Real Madrid in that it represents two cities of very different cultures.
Previously named Feijenoord, after the Feijenoord district of south Rotterdam the club internationalised its name in 1973 to be known as Feyenoord Rotterdam.
"Amsterdam to party, Den Hague to live, Rotterdam to work"
Feyenoord supporters are known as 'Het Legion'which is Dutch for 'The Legion'. 
They are proud of their working class and down to earth values and see the work they produce through their port as a representation of true original Holland. You add this to the historicaly Jewish minority mentality kept by some of the Ajax supporters and this makes an unfortunate dangerous mix. Ironically it is Rotterdam which has the minorities.
It has the highest population of non-western foreigners, made up of people from Turkey, Morocco, Suriname and Cape Verde. Approximately half the population of Rotterdam has at least one parent of foreign birth.
Rotterdam also has two other professional football clubs in Sparta and Excelsior both of which are good teams but are unlike Feyenoord, who are one of the big 3 along with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. The motto 'Genn Woorden Maar Daden' matches the mentality of the hard working labourers who founded the club.
“No words but Deeds”
Before the second world war there was a large middle class Jewish population, based around the old Ajax stadium in East Amsterdam. This relationship with the Jewish community has survived through the years andeven though the reasons may have become distorted the loyalty remains.
This loyalty becomes stronger especially when Feyenoord hooligans shout anti-Jewish songs and words of hatred.
"They've forgotten to gas you!"
Some of the Ajax supporters wave huge Israeli or Star of David flags screaming “Joden! Joden” (“Jews! Jews!”) in support of their club.
Most of the 140,000 or so Jews that lived close to the old stadium were killed during the holocaust, something which is never forgotten by Ajax fans.
As with Rotterdam let us also look at the city of Amsterdam. Popular the world over for its cannabis cafes and the love of the bicycle Amsterdam has played important roles in the history of the Netherlands. Developed around a dam in the Amstel river during the 12th century the city has had major changes to its development in its time.
Feyenoord fans though, do argue that government money is ploughed into Amsterdam’s various museums and attractions unlike any other Dutch city. The people of Amsterdam are generally more liberal compared to the rest of the country.
There is the Red light district, the canals and The Leidseplein are all places of attraction to the world but to the people of Rotterdam places of distain.
The football club is also the king of recruitment. It is known that they do not have to look for talent as much as other clubs do, as every boy wants to playfor Ajax. Their history is also superb.
They are one of 5 teams who have been given the European Cup, which they won between 1971-1973. Other than Juventus and Bayern Munchen they have also won all 3 of the major European trophies.
Then there are the players that have played for the club and more importantly been brought through the world leading Ajax academy.
So it comes down as most observers say to one thing. A clash between the liberal artists of Amsterdam against the hard working and tough Rotterdam citizens, culminating in the clash of Beverwijk 1997 when Ajax supporter Carlo Piconie was murdered.
There may be trouble ahead.."
Hate
This violence does not just rest with the senior teams of the two clubs. As the police become more sophisticated in stopping the violence around the two stadiums this has not deterred hooligans from ‘meeting’ away from the stadium to fight each other and police.(photo amsterdam arena)
I love technically blessed players. One of my favourites being Dutch Arsenal forward Robin Van Persie. However the first time I heard of him was not because of his football skills....
The game between the Ajax and Feyenoord’s youth teams is known as the Beloftencompetitie ( talent competition ). On April 15th 2004 the two clubs met at De Toekomst where Ajax youth play in front of approximately 4,000 people. Jorge Acuna and Robin Van Persie two of Feyenoord’s best players were savagely attacked by Ajax hooligans, who stormed the field after the final whistle.
The Feyenoord coach Mario Been was threatened with a knife, Jorge Acuna was hospitalised with severeinjuriesto his face and stomach and the most ironic was Van Persie’s situation.
Being the best player on the field he was a prime target and hooligans produced baseball bats to damage Van Persie. Ajax youth team coach Marco Van Basten came to Van Persie’s rescue until riot police arrived.
“This was chaos. Hell broke loose. Players were lying everywhere and had to rescued by John van Schip and De Ridder. Ajax and the police have failed”
Feyenoord youth coach Mario Been
"Immediately after the final whistle the pitch was invaded. We didn't know where to go. I saw Robin ( Van Persie ) and Kike ( Acuña, ) receive heavy blows and I got punched in the face myself, too. Kike was groggy. We had to run, as there were at least 200 supporters around us. It makes me deeply sad that anything like this is possible in this country."
Feyenoord defender Gérard de Nooijer
This was not the first time violence had occurred at the ‘talent competition’ match. The same had happened at Varkenoord the Feyenoord youth complex. The difference this time was the pure scale of the violence.
The next day deputy mayor Mark van der Horst of Amsterdam announced that if the senior team won the national Eredivisie title then there would be no official ceremony in Leidseplein. ( photo below AND above from ajaxf-side.com )
"I can not reward fan behaviour of this kind", said Mr Van der Horst on AT5 TV
Ajax’s hardcore supporters known as the F-Side issued a statement showing their disapprovalof the incident.
The F-Side strongly disapproves of the incidents after the game between Young Ajax and Young Feyenoord. The F-Side feels strongly about the code that players are left alone, both around matches and as individuals. Unfortunately and apparently this code is no longer respected by other factions. The F-Side regrets this. Breaking this code is inappropriate and causes damage to innocent persons. This should not have happened. We will, if possible, approach the persons involved in order to bring our viewpoint across.
Feyenoord players have unjustly become the victims of the hatred between factions of the respective clubs' supporters. It has been the other way round on several occasions in the past.
This hatred was stirred up by Feyenoord and the Rotterdam city council last Sunday. However, this does not legitimize this kind of excesses.
The F-Side.
So where does it end all this violence between the two teams. I truly have no answer as it seems to be getting worse especially with both teams not playing well in Europe.This will give more importance to league and cup games in Holland thus adding more pressure to police, players ad stadium officials.
There seems to be hatred between the two clubs and the city officials seem to be targeted especially if there are government legislations which favour one city more than another.
The story continues.
"After the game Van Persie congratulated me on our win and I told him he'd played well. As we were walking off the pitch we noticed that people were running onto the pitch. They abused Van Persie, pushed him and as he was staggering he was punched in the neck and on the jaw. My instinctive reaction was to grab him and to press his face to my chest. The coach [John van 't Schip] was walking behind me and thusly we escorted Robin inside. I was not afraid myself."- Daniël de Ridder, scorer of two goals for Ajax and good friend of Robin van Persie's.
"I reacted in a whirl. All kinds of thoughts haunted me last night. I hope that this feeling will disappear soon. This is the worst thing I have ever experienced when it comes to supporter violence."
- John van 't Schip, Ajax youth coach.
"On moments like this you seriously consider calling it quits. This way there is no joy, and you wonder what you're all doing it for. You think of the fear the Feyenoord players must have felt, and you think of your own club, that has been discredited. This is a black page action will cause reaction. I don't know where this will end, but it's getting dangerous.
Personal safety has become a very difficult now and that frightens you. Some of my players were there at De Toekomst. This has made a tremendous impression. I don't feel like talking about football myself, either. You can no longer play in unguarded places. This is a tragedy."
- Ronald Koeman, Ajax coach, at the game at De Toekomst.
"What happened here is a disgrace. It would be utterly inappropriate to celebrate a party in Leidseplein now, paid for by the Amsterdammers. Of all people the supporters with whom we've been talking for a long time, about how to make it a great party, were involved in the disturbances on Thursday night. This behaviour will not be rewarded with a party."
- Mark van der Horst, deputy mayor of Amsterdam
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