TDH returns to La Bombonera!
On Sunday morning, two of TDH's friends arrived in Buenos Aires from the US. As it happened, Sunday was the only day during their trip that they'd be in Buenos Aires while a local not-River team was playing at home. So TDH made a call, and within an hour tickets were delivered to the football-hungry trio, who were having lunch at a sidewalk table outside a local restaurant.
To La Bombonera they went. It was a perfect day that made a pretty good setting for playing football (TDH prefers gray and cool to warm and bright). The trio took their seats in Sector K; of course, down here in Argentina, everyone's in Sector K. Sitting directly above La Doce - and thus not being able to observe their madness - was mitigated by shade from the intense sun, as well as a prime view of Diego's box.
In the second half, there he was, leaning out above the pitch and smacking the glass wall in rhythm with the supporters' chants. He's putting on weight again, and his beard's a little gray. By that time, it was already 4-0 Boca. Gimnasia La Plata were caught flat-footed with three goals in the first 10 minutes, then the pace slowed a bit as the fourth - and Martin "El Loco" Palermo's third - came in the 15th.
That eight-minute hat trick must have been one of the fastest in league history. Palermo netted a fourth in the second half, poaching from a teammate's miss just minutes after failing to finish an easier chance. Overall, he was deadly inside the box, but the knock on him was all too true - whenever he had the ball at his feet outside the box, whenever he had to pass, it was a disaster.
The opposite was true of Riquelme, Riquelme, RIQUELME, RIQUELME!!! whose tally of sweet moves handily exceeded that of the other 21 players on the pitch put together. Every time Boca went forward, he got the ball. Every goal, therefore, went through him. When he tried a run into the box, of course, it had to end in tears.
On the way out, a few blocks from the stadium, traffic stopped and a few guys jumped out of their car to knock on the window of the sleek black Mini in front of their clunker. "Diego, Diego, una firma!" they shouted, and indeed the ostentatious silver chains of the maestro could be seen gleaming through the dark tint. On the next block, the window actually came down - but then the Mini and its two decoy doubles split up and raced away.
Lately, TDH's friends have been saying that supporting Independiente is intolerable, and TDH must change to Boca. Riquelme, they say, is reason enough. But TDH glibly responds, "Rolfi [Montenegro] es mi Riquelme." And when Rolfi races into the area, he's not just having a laugh....
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Oh yeah, and there was some other football on Sunday... not worth mentioning.
To La Bombonera they went. It was a perfect day that made a pretty good setting for playing football (TDH prefers gray and cool to warm and bright). The trio took their seats in Sector K; of course, down here in Argentina, everyone's in Sector K. Sitting directly above La Doce - and thus not being able to observe their madness - was mitigated by shade from the intense sun, as well as a prime view of Diego's box.
In the second half, there he was, leaning out above the pitch and smacking the glass wall in rhythm with the supporters' chants. He's putting on weight again, and his beard's a little gray. By that time, it was already 4-0 Boca. Gimnasia La Plata were caught flat-footed with three goals in the first 10 minutes, then the pace slowed a bit as the fourth - and Martin "El Loco" Palermo's third - came in the 15th.
That eight-minute hat trick must have been one of the fastest in league history. Palermo netted a fourth in the second half, poaching from a teammate's miss just minutes after failing to finish an easier chance. Overall, he was deadly inside the box, but the knock on him was all too true - whenever he had the ball at his feet outside the box, whenever he had to pass, it was a disaster.
The opposite was true of Riquelme, Riquelme, RIQUELME, RIQUELME!!! whose tally of sweet moves handily exceeded that of the other 21 players on the pitch put together. Every time Boca went forward, he got the ball. Every goal, therefore, went through him. When he tried a run into the box, of course, it had to end in tears.
On the way out, a few blocks from the stadium, traffic stopped and a few guys jumped out of their car to knock on the window of the sleek black Mini in front of their clunker. "Diego, Diego, una firma!" they shouted, and indeed the ostentatious silver chains of the maestro could be seen gleaming through the dark tint. On the next block, the window actually came down - but then the Mini and its two decoy doubles split up and raced away.
Lately, TDH's friends have been saying that supporting Independiente is intolerable, and TDH must change to Boca. Riquelme, they say, is reason enough. But TDH glibly responds, "Rolfi [Montenegro] es mi Riquelme." And when Rolfi races into the area, he's not just having a laugh....
---
Oh yeah, and there was some other football on Sunday... not worth mentioning.
posted by Daniel Altman at 4:10 AM
