Football Stories - El Clasico De Avellenda - Six year send off

History

El Clasico de Avellanda is the second biggest Derby in Argentine domestic football behind River Plate and Boca Juniors in terms of support and recognition. But what it lacks in hype it undoubtedly makes up for with the feistiest rivalry in Argentine football.

Racing fans

The rivalry started because their grounds are only 300 meters apart in the once industrial heartland of Buenos Aires. The biannual fixture is surrounded in a history of violence, the most serious being in 2006 when the game was abandoned after fighting between the fans escalated out of control. Independiente were winning 2-0 when rioting broke out in the Racing stands in an attempt to get the game abandoned, resulting in a necessary replay. When Racing fans began to attack the police the game was eventually stopped. In the aftermath, drastic action was taken. All away fans were banned from the top four divisions of Argentine football and Racing fans were banned from their home ground. The win was eventually awarded to Independiente.

The violence is not limited to the fans, the players have been known to get involved. In the 1961 Clasico the referee was forced to suspend the game for 6 minutes due to fighting amongst the players. The referee eventually sent off 4 players from each team.

Racing V Independiente April 2011- Clausura

The atmosphere at Racing is like no other ground I have been to before due to the fans, but this day was unlike any I have ever experienced. The trip to a football ground in the UK is usually met with a few fans singing to each other and scarfs hanging outside the windows of cars. Racing fans took it a step further by holding blue and white flares while hanging outside buses jammed full of supporters.

Racing enter the pitch

We managed to get into the ground 25 minutes before kick-off. As we walked to our seats we passed twenty black bin bags in our section which I assumed were full of rubbish. How wrong could I be? The bags were full of paper to be thrown on to the pitch before kick-off. The endless amount of shredded paper and around thirty blue and white flares made for the most impressive entrance to a football game I have ever seen. There was so much smoke from the flares that I could not see the pitch from the second tier. Once Racing made their entrance a banner spanning half the circumference off the pitch was hung from the second tier. All this is to intimidate the Independiente fans and team which are left to watch this specular for 5 minutes before Racing have even stepped onto the pitch. The atmosphere had more in common with a rave than a football match.

This entrance is a tradition at Racing and in the past Racing have fans have thrown what must be a record of 15,000 toilet roles before the game.

15,000 toilet roles

The Independiente fans are known as the Amargos (translated as bitter in Argentina) to Racing because it is an expression given to fans that dont sing. Independiente are known as a crowd that would not follow their team as soon as they lost a couple of games - the exact opposite to Racing fans. 

http://racingclubexperience.blogspot.com/

In the past Racing have thrown lemons at Independiente showing their disgust, but this time they threw sugar sachets to cure there bitterness and their coach took one and started to eat it!

The spectacular entrance made up for the poor quality of football from two very nervous teams. Racing won 2-0 but if it had not been for poor finishing it would have been 5-0. However, no one cared because it was the first time Racing had won the Avellaneda derby in 11 attempts in a 6 year period. 

Just for good measure to keep the tradition of violence going in the fixture a Racing player clattered into his opposing number in the 90th minute. The raised two footed challenge was more reminiscent of a street fighter move on play station than a football tackle. The player was rightly given a straight red card.

Once the referee blew the final whistle the party began. Racing fans giving the Independiente fans a six year send-off. Racing fans kept singing in their home ground for the customary 30 minute period, before the police waited to let them leave the ground due to fears of crowd violence.

The Endangered Species of World Cup Giant Killings

The 2011 cricket world cup may have seen giant killings for the last time as the fourteen team world cup tournament is reduced to just ten teams in 2015. The decision; a result of ten test playing nations votes and ninety five other cricket nations not invited to the party.

The rational is wrapped up in the pretence to cut down the total number of games, but the figures don’t add up.  The 2007 world cup saw fifty one games played by sixteen teams, lasting forty six days, reminiscent of Groundhog Day. The 2011 world cup saw fourteen teams and forty nine games. Astonishingly, the proposed ten team 2015 world cup comprises of forty eight games, totalling forty five group games to decide who will play in the semi-finals.

The 2007 world cup became a commercial disaster when TV ratings crashed due to Pakistan and India failing to qualify for the second round, falling to Ireland and ex associate member Bangladesh. These upsets were the catalyst to disregard non-test playing nations in 2015. To guarantee broadcasting and advertising profits in 2015 a minimum of nine games with major cricketing nations are scheduled but carry the potential for viewer burnout.

Giant Killers - Ireland celebrating after putting out Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup.

For those who say there is no point having the minnows in the world cup...remember this; how would this year’s world cup have been if Ireland had not beaten England? It would have been a procession of meaningless games up to the last eight. But instead we had nail biting games in group A with England, India, Bangladesh and West Indies fighting to qualify. I can’t even remember what happened in group B it was so boring and not one game in the knock-out stages could have been described as an epic, even though the cricket was of the highest standard.  

Some may say it was a fluke that an associate caused an upset, but it was not. Bangladesh who secured a series win over New Zealand last year, lost to Ireland and the Netherlands last summer. England also only scraped home by three runs against Ireland in 2009. World cups have developed associate nations into test playing nations and associates have shown that they can beat the best. As well as Ireland’s heroics in the 2007 World Cup, Kenya crushed the West Indies in 1996 and in 2003 they beat Sri Lanka to reach the Semi Final.

Giant Killers - A game I witnessed at my old ground, Wantage Road - Northampton.
 Bangladesh beating Pakistan in the 1999 world cup.
At the time they were still an Associate member.

The results of Bangladesh beating Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup and Zimbabwe captained by Duncan Fletcher beating Australia in 1983, have not only brought romance to the world cup but have also been a spring board to achieving test status. Now Ireland are knocking on the door with a professional structure in place producing test players of their own but are sadly not invited in 2015. A whole generation of cricketers will be lost to Ireland, because they will quite rightly want to play the best cricket available to them - meaning qualifying for England.

Giant Killers - Former team mate Kevin Curran celebrating with Duncan Fletcher
after Zimbabwe, an associate nation at the time, beat Australia in the 1983 world Cup

Imagine if the number of teams in 2011 had not been cut from sixteen to fourteen, Afghanistan would have achieved successive promotions from world cricket league division 5 to the world cup. No matter how well associate sides do in the eight world cricket leagues they can’t reach the top of the pyramid any more. Associate teams who have ambitions to become test nations, of which world cup winners Sri Lanka used to be until 1982, have no hope of getting better if they are not getting exposed against better players.

Giant killers - Kenya doing a lap of honour after beating Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup. 

The blow to the ninety five non-test nations has been eased slightly with the T20 world cup increasing to sixteen teams in 2012, however the message is misleading. Top associate nations can only enhance their chances of becoming a test nation by having good 50 over displays, this has now gone. The objective of an associate nation is to develop and hopefully develop into a test playing nation, but the jump from T20 cricket to test cricket is impossible. Therefore, the only way to get to the top of the pyramid for associate nations is to produce good T20 players but this does not develop cricketers.

ICC officials said before the world cup that no final decision had been made on how the teams would be selected for the 2015 world cup and there may be a qualifying tournament. Now, hidden in the sub-continent euphoria of India winning the most scripted world cup in history we have the final decision of a ten team world cup with only test nations invited. But, why is test cricket being used to judge one day cricket? The rankings are different and the player personnel are different. The most glaringly obvious difference is that Ireland are ranked in the top ten in ODIs and Zimbabwe are 11^th.  This life line to non-test playing nations does not sound convincing.

We have lost the magic of the cup.