Argentine Primera División 2013-14: What You Need To Know (Part 2)
So, you’ve read part 1 of The Bubble’s 2013-14 Argentine Primera preview, and you’re eager to know something about 20 teams who’ll be fighting for the Torneo Inicial title between now and early December? You’re in luck! Here, in part 2, I’ll be running the rule over the top 10 from the Torneo Final (the championship that took place between February and June of this year), and assessing how I think they’ll do over the next four-and-a-bit months. Okay, it’s actually the top 11, since one of the top 10, San Martín de San Juan, were relegated so don’t appear here.
If you’re a tourist and just want to read about Boca Juniors and nothing else, there are two things to say to you: the first is that you’re, like, so predictable; the second is that you’ll have to wait another day or so; they finished in the bottom half of the Torneo Final, and as such will be appearing in part 3, along with the others who finished in the bottom 10, and the three newly-promoted clubs.
Newell’s Old Boys (colours: red and black halves)
Where did they finish in the Torneo Final?
First. Don’t you pay any attention to me?
Who founded them, when, and where?
A good old-fashioned English gentleman called Isaac Newell founded a school in Rosario called the Colegio Comercial Anglicano Argentino, in 1884. in 1900, after falling ill, he left the directorship of the school to his son, Claudio, and Claudio’s wife Katie. In 1903, Claudio was part of a group who founded a football club for the school’s teachers, students and ex-students, and in homage to his dad (who might have been a bit miffed, as he still wasn’t dead) the decision was taken to call the club Newell’s Old Boys. See, they really are what they say on the tin. Or were.
In short, then: they were founded in 1903 in Rosario, because a headmaster’s son wanted to have a kickabout. They still play in Rosario now, in a stadium situated in the city’s Parque Independencia, named after their legendary manager and world football hipster icon Marcelo Bielsa.
Have there been any major changes to their squad over the winter break?
Oh boy, yes. They were eliminated from the Copa Libertadores in the semi-finals, after which their manager Gerardo Martino left the club (he’s since been installed as manager of Barcelona), as did striker Ignacio Scocco. Although he’s their only big playing loss, he is a major one; he was probably the best outfield player in the league during both halves of the 2012-13 season.
Alfredo Berti, who was managing the reserves previously and as a result knows the club inside out, is Martino’s replacement. David Trezeguet, the World Cup-winning French forward who grew up in Buenos Aires and was recently released by River Plate, has come in, and even if his fitness is a problem, the fact that the club have held on to Maxi Urruti, Scocco’s understudy last season, means they should still have plenty of threat going forward. Damián Manso, who arrives from Deportivo Cuenca in Ecuador, could prove a fantastic signing.
How will they do in the Torneo Inicial?
They might take a few matches to get going—the Libertadores semi-finals were only a few weeks ago and as a result the AFA have allowed Newell’s to delay their first two matches to have a bit more time to prepare for the new season—but whilst a second straight title would be asking a lot of them, they’ve kept the core of the team together and ought to challenge again. I think they’ll finish in the top 5, maybe even on the podium.
Why might they appeal to me as a club to support?
If you like Lionel Messi, or Barcelona as a whole, Newell’s could be your club. They play attractive football, and are the club Messi himself supports. They’re also, as I said above, the club who’ve just given Barcelona their new manager.
River Plate (white with red sash)
Final 2013 finish?
Second, three points behind Newell’s.
Who, when, where?
They were founded as a merger between two clubs, Santa Rosa and La Rosales. The official date of foundation is given as the 25th May 1901, but some football historians, including the very good indeed Alejandro Fabbri, reckon it was actually a year or two later. And the place was La Boca. Yes! La Boca. You thought there was only one club from there, didn’t you? After a few years, it became apparent that the barrio wasn’t big enough for the both of ’em, and River spent a couple of decades playing in other locales in the city, before winding up in their current location: the Estadio Monumental, also home to the Argentine national team.
The Monumental is just inside the barrio of Belgrano, but absolutely everyone refers to it as if it’s in Núñez. Fun fact: the closest other club are Defensores de Belgrano. Whose stadium is… just across the official dividing line, a hundred metres or so inside Núñez. These crazy porteños, hey? I don’t know.
Squad changes?
Apart from letting Trezeguet go (see Newell’s), various players have gone back to Europe after loan spells ended, and still others have been loaned out or—in the case of the Funes Mori twins—are the subject of desperate attempts by the club to sell them (their contracts run out next year, so River want a fee for them while they can still get one. Also, striker Rogelio is rubbish).
River have done fantastically in terms of players in, though. Carlos Carbonero, one of the best midfielders in the league, arrives from Arsenal de Sarandí; former player Osmar Ferreyra returns from Independiente; playmaker Jonathan Fabbro, the best player in the Paraguayan league in the last few years, has joined, and Teo Gutiérrez, a nutjob striker who provided all of us with plenty of headlines during his spell at Racing a couple of years ago, has also come in.
How will they do?
If the signings click and the kids step up, I’ll whisper it, but it really wouldn’t surprise me to see them win the league. At any rate, the very least they should expect is to challenge for the title, and hopefully to play some slightly more cohesive football than they managed last season.
Support them if you like:
Clubs with an historic reputation for either stylish football (River are the Argentine game’s ultimate aristocrats) or hoovering up trophies (they’ve had a few fallow years, but are the most successful club in the history of the Primera División by a comfortable margin).
Lanús (maroon)
Final 2013 finish?
Third, two points behind River, five behind Newell’s.
Who, when, where?
There are various versions of their foundation, but the most likely is that they were founded by residents of the partido of Villa General Paz—today known as Lanús—to give the neighbourhood a social and sporting centre. Founded in 1915, they still play there now; Lanús is just south-west of Avellaneda, in the south of Greater Buenos Aires.
Squad changes?
Mario Regueiro is the most eye-catching exit—the attacker has gone just up the road to Racing—but Oswaldo Vizcarrondo and Guido Pizarro are probably the more important ones. The Venezuela international centre back has made the move to Nantes, and Pizarro has gone to Tigres in Mexico.
Coming in, Lucas Melano from Belgrano should be a good incorporation, as should Jorge Ortiz from Arsenal de Sarandí. Leandro Somoza, who’s come in from Boca, will be looking to regain some of the form he had before last season, which was frankly poor by his standards.
How will they do?
They should be there or thereabouts again. I certainly expect them to finish in the top third of the table.
Support them if you like:
Sides who regularly punch above their weight. Or if you like their unusual kit colour, or the fact that their badge looks like a biscuit. No, it really does. Spot the difference.
San Lorenzo de Almagro (navy and red stripes)
Final 2013 finish?
Fourth, a point behind Lanús.
Who, when, where?
A bunch of neighbourhood kids who wanted a regular game, in 1908, in Boedo. Yes, Boedo. The ‘de Almagro’ bit of their name is because the kids lived in Almagro and wanted a link to their home barrio, but the club’s first stadium was in Boedo, and they still consider it their spiritual home now. They’re named after a priest (not actually a saint) who put some money in to help them buy their first pitch. Today, they play in Bajo Flores, right next to one of South America’s largest shanty towns, thanks in part to the machinations of the 1976-83 military junta.
Squad changes?
They’re one of the sides who’ve made the best changes during the winter. None of their players leaving seem irreplaceable, whilst some of the names in—particularly Fabricio Fontanini (former Atlético Rafaela defender) and Quilmes pair Martín Cauteruccio and Fernando Elizari, who was one of the young revelations of the Torneo Final—look like fantastic acquisitions.
How will they do?
Their Torneo Final performance was a bit of a surprise, but there’s no reason they can’t keep it up. Top third easily, and possibly in with an outside shot at the title.
Support them if you like:
Inventive fan chants, or have a taste for the terrifying; I’m not kidding about their stadium being right next to an enormous villa. Oh, and if you like the Pope, of course. They’re his team, after all.
Quilmes Atlético Club (white with dark blue trim)
Final 2013 finish?
Fifth, a point behind San Lorenzo.
Who, where, when?
A bunch of Brits living in Quilmes in 1900 founded Quilmes Athletic Club, now named Quilmes Atlético Club. In spite of what some might tell you, they’re a separate institution from the previous, and short-lived, Quilmes Rovers Athlétic Club (no, the accent over that ‘e’ isn’t a typo), though some of the founding members are thought to be the same people.
Squad changes?
Omar De Felippe has left as manager, to be replaced by former Arsenal (that’s English Arsenal, the ones you’ve actually heard of before read this article) defender Nelson Vivas. Probably their biggest losses are young midfielder Fernando Elizari, and goalkeeper Emanuel Trípodi. The players on their way in look mostly functional but uninspiring. Joaquín Boghossian, however, is only 26 and looked very good in his previous spell in Argentina with Newell’s Old Boys; he could prove an astute signing.
How will they do?
Having achieved their main goal of avoiding relegation last season, Quilmes have some rebuilding to do, and having lost manager De Felippe it could be a tricky few months for them. Repeating their Torneo Final finish will probably be too much; they’ll be around mid-table.
Support them if you like:
Argentina’s generic cheap lager, or football history. As I wrote in part 1 of this preview, Quilmes were the Argentine league’s first Argentine champions.
Racing Club (sky blue and white stripes)
Final 2013 finish?
Sixth, two points behind Quilmes and level with Godoy Cruz and Arsenal de Sarandí.
Who, where, when?
Founded in 1903, in Avellaneda, by members of Football Club Barracas Al Sud and Colorados Unidos Del Sud, as a merger of the two struggling clubs. Avellaneda is the first partido (suburb) you’ll reach after leaving Capital Federal, if you’re ever brave enough to stay on any of the buses that go south past Constitución and into Greater Buenos Aires’ southern reaches. Racing’s stadium, the Presidente Perón—more commonly known as El Cilindro—is the third biggest in the country, and is just 200 metres from that of Independiente, with whom Racing have one of Argentina’s biggest derby rivalries.
Squad changes?
Luis Fariña is by far the biggest departure, and crucially Racing seem to have managed to keep hold of the other youngsters in their attack. Mario Regueiro, in from Lanús, is a more than able replacement, and their other signings seem decent without being spectacular. They have a very good youth set-up, though, so it’s anyone’s guess how many new stars might appear in the next few months.
How will they do?
Upper mid-table at least, and a title push shouldn’t be ruled out. It will be an unsuccessful title push, of course, because however good they are, they can never quite get over being… well… Racing.
Support them if you like:
A good atmosphere (the fans are noisy and the stadium’s roof keeps that noise in), you like long-suffering clubs (they’re one of the Big Five, but have won one league title in the last 47 years), or if you’re a foreigner who wants to delude yourself that you’ve picked a club no other foreigners in Buenos Aires support.
Club Deportivo Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba (dark blue with white pinstripes)
Final 2013 finish?
Seventh, but only behind Racing on goals scored, and ahead of Arsenal de Sarandí on goal difference.
Who, where, when?
A group of friends in a bar, in Godoy Cruz, in 1921. Godoy Cruz is a city in Mendoza Province, and although you’ve almost definitely ridden a bike or driven right through the middle of it if you’ve been to Mendoza, you could be forgiven for not knowing that; today it forms a large part of the Greater Mendoza urban area (basically as soon as you get south of that huge park to the west of the city centre), and the team now play all their home matches in Mendoza’s municipal stadium, which was built for the 1978 World Cup.
Squad changes?
Quite a few. Two goalkeepers, Nélson Ibáñez and Sebastián Torrico, have gone. Playmaker David Ramírez has returned to Vélez Sarsfield from his loan (and might now sign for Millonarios, of Colombia). Leonel Rios and various squad players have also left. Most of their players in are seemingly going to be little more than squad players, but as long as Jorge Carranza holds firm in goal, they shouldn’t be too much weaker, really.
How will they do?
Ramírez’s loss is by far Godoy’s biggest problem this season; they might struggle without their main creative presence. Mid-table, probably a couple of places lower than during the Torneo Final.
Support them if you like:
Wine.
Arsenal Fútbol Club (sky blue with red sash)
Who, where, when?
Founded in Sarandí in 1957, by brothers Héctor and Julio Humberto Grondona. The latter is now the president of the AFA, and has been since 1979. During that time, obviously entirely coincidentally, in case his lawyers are reading, Arsenal have risen through the divisions, and are one of two clubs (Boca are the other) who’ve never been relegated from the top flight. It’s worth mentioning that they’ve only been in the top flight for 11 years, some way short of Boca’s hundred and counting. Superbly, there is a chess piece—the castle—on their badge, because they were founded as a football and chess club.
Squad changes?
Grondona’s influence—he was the first president, his brother later became president and his son is the current head of the club—has often helped Arsenal hang on to players longer than a club of their size would normally manage, but their recent good record (they won the Torneo Clausura, the old name of the Torneo Final, in 2012, claiming the club’s first ever national championship) has made that harder. Star centre back and surely future Argentina international Lisandro López has gone to Benfica of Portugal; Darío Benedetto, Mariano González and Carlos Carbonero are among the other departures.
They’ve made some decent signings, but nothing astonishing. Milton Caraglio is probably the best-looking.
How will they do?
Arsenal fans will be ready for a bit of a slump this term, particularly having lost López and Benedetto. Lower mid-table, I reckon.
Support them if you like:
Long bus journeys, and if you dislike noise. You could fit all their supporters on one Buenos Aires bus and there’d still be free seats for the two little old ladies who get on at the next stop, so your eardrums will be quite safe both on the way down to their stadium (if you ever have the patience for the journey) and at the game itself. Bear in mind, though, that their connections with Grondona make them a rather unpopular side with other teams’ fans.
Belgrano (sky blue)
Torneo Final finish?
Tenth, three points behind relegated San Martín de San Juan, who aren’t in this article due to having dropped to the second division thanks to a very poor Torneo Inicial and 2011-12 season.
Who, where, when?
Founded in 1905 in Córdoba by—if the club’s official history is to be believed—a committee headed by a 14-year-old boy who was made the club’s first president.
Squad changes?
Names out include Víctor Aquino, César Carranca and Martín Zapata, but their signings don’t look half bad. Carlos Bueno will feel he has a point to prove, Facundo Affranchino has talent if he can learn to apply it, and Sebastián Carrera should do well.
How will they do?
Mid-table. Perhaps a little higher, if they have a good start and gain some confidence in their attack.
Support them if you like:
The Argentine flag (they’re named after Manuel Belgrano, the man who designed it).
Asociación Mutual Social y Deportiva Atlético de Rafaela (sky blue and white stripes)
Final 2013 finish?
Eleventh, level on points with Belgrano; six points above bottom place, and 15 behind first.
Who, where, when?
A 22-year-old called Eduardo Ripamonti basically bullied his friends into forming a club with him in Rafaela, a city in Santa Fe Province, in 1907.
Squad changes?
Goalkeeper Guillermo Sara has gone to Spain’s Real Betis and Fabricio Fontanini has left for San Lorenzo. That’s left some rebuilding to do in defence; young goalkeeper Gonzalo Marinelli arrives from River Plate. Their other defensive signings range from relatively small names (Uruguayan Andrés Rodales, for instance) to well-known psycopathic idiots (Adrián Bastía), so it could be a case of hoping something sticks.
How will they do?
They’ll be as tough as ever at home—Rafaela have a habit of occasionally giving bigger sides bloody noses in front of their own fans—but I can’t see their signings giving them much consistency. They’ll struggle to do any better than the Torneo Final, and will probably be a few places lower.
Support them if you like:
Cream. Oh, okay, if you’ve got money. They’re known as La Crema because, it says here, Argentines who have money are referred to with this word. Brilliantly, they’re now sponsored by dairy congolomerate SanCor. That’s not even the best sponsorship in the Primera División, though; to find out what is, you’ll have to come back tomorrow for part 3…
Brasil: Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, Botafogo (100% Carioca) Rio > Säo Paulo
MENGÃO TRI DA AMÈRICA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RlVt8zJhXQ
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