Last time I took a trip down memory lane to 1988 for a game between two northern teams.
Today, we board my time machine again to go back even further to 1982.
As with most big cities, Buenos Aires has an immense amount of teams in its Metropolitan part and even more in its greater area and outskirts.
There are so many games that carry big rivalries that I could be writing about them all day.
In that province alone, there are at least 20 games that I would say carry a bigger risk than any Old Firm game in Glasgow or of any of your choosing in England.
The game I am writing about was for the quarter finals of the 1982 Primera B (today called Nacional B), a tournament which gives 2 teams places in the top league of Argentinean football.
That year that league was divided in 2 groups. The team with the greatest number of points overall will gain direct promotion (that year was Buenos Aires giant San Lorenzo de Almagro).
The other place was to be decided via play offs, between the top 4 teams of each group (excluding San Lorenzo’s group where the qualifying teams were from the 2nd to the 5th)
Play offs paired Chacarita Juniors from the neighbourhood of San Martin (this team has one of the most menacing band of supporters in the whole country) against Temperley from the locality of the same name.
The first leg played in Temperley finished with the local side narrowly winning 1-0.
At that time they were managed by a former Estudiantes de La Plata player called
Carlos Pachame.
To explain a little bit about Pachame, as a player he was an old fashion defensive midfielder, whose methods to recover the ball were simple: either the ball passed him or the player, but never both. He was part of that Estudiantes team that won the league, 3 Copa Libertadores (SA’s equivalent to Champions League) in a row, the Inter American cup and the Intercontinental Cup. He was also capped by his country 10 times.
As a Manager his teams played the way he did, commited, tough marking, and counterattacking whenever possible.
For Chacarita Juniors, it was a time of revival. After bad campaigns and financial problems they were relegated from the top league, to Primera B and immediately to Primera C. They got their club sorted and slowly started to revive the dream of a return to the place they held for so long. After all they were Argentinean champions in 1969.
Their team was full of young talented players that came from their own academy.
Their main issue was their own fans, who rioted very often. This caused the club to lose points, money and having to play many games away from their own stadium or behind closed doors.
So with the overall score from the first leg, favouring Temperley 1-0, they needed to travel to play Chacarita away from home.
At this time Chacarita’s stadium was suspended for trouble caused there in previous games by their fans.
So they played their home games at Argentinos Juniors stadium.
I was in attendance that day, as a 14 year old football lover.
I was in the home stand where everything was fine, normal and in fact there was a great party mood. 1-0 was not a huge disadvantage and confidence was high that the deficit could overturned.
The teams came out, and a young goalkeeper of 16 years of age was already gaining a name for his outstanding ability. His name Luis Islas (he later went on to play for Argentina at the 1986 and 1994 world cups). Chacarita were very proud of him and he was received with an ovation by the local fans.
The game was rather competitive and even. Then two Chacarita attacks ended up with valid claims for penalties that the referee did not give. Tempers started to flair, and tackles started to fly in. In the mind of paranoid football fans, it seemed that every call was going Temperley’s way.
Then the last straw happened. 40 minutes into the game and after a foul that did not seem too hard, the official showed a Chacarita player a straight red.
That was it. The old wooden stands, were abandoned, as everyone jump onto the high fence surrounding the pitch.
They started climbing it, shaking it, cutting it, and as people started to invade the field of play. Temperley players sought the safety of their dressing room.
However, their Manager, Carlos Pachame, stayed there, defiant, holding his umbrella fighting with a bunch of home supporters.
The young goalkeeper, Islas, approached the stand, and was holding his arms up, making that famous calm down, calm down move with them.
As he did this, his magic seemed to have worked. All Chacarita’s fans started to leave the stadium.
The game was called off, the final score was a technical 1-0 victory to Temperley.
Suddenly, outside the stadium, all those that were in Chacarita’s stand, were singing threatening songs against the referee and were to be found waiting at a secret back door for him to come out.
The police did not understand what was going on, and how did the fans get hold of their plan to get the ref out through that door?
Eventually everything gets resolved and everyone goes home.
Next day the papers reported the good, the bad and the ugly. They showed pictures and wrote about everything, the bad decisions by the referee, the insane reaction by the fans, the irresponsible actions by Pachame and the commendable work of the young goalkeeper trying to appease and disperse the fans.
I did start by saying that I was in that stand. Would you like to know what the young goalkeeper did? As he was with his back to reporters, photographers and the rest, and facing the rioting fans, appearing to be calming them down, he was shouting “Guys, the police want to get the referee out by the back door by the ticket booths”
Today, we board my time machine again to go back even further to 1982.
As with most big cities, Buenos Aires has an immense amount of teams in its Metropolitan part and even more in its greater area and outskirts.
There are so many games that carry big rivalries that I could be writing about them all day.
In that province alone, there are at least 20 games that I would say carry a bigger risk than any Old Firm game in Glasgow or of any of your choosing in England.
The game I am writing about was for the quarter finals of the 1982 Primera B (today called Nacional B), a tournament which gives 2 teams places in the top league of Argentinean football.
That year that league was divided in 2 groups. The team with the greatest number of points overall will gain direct promotion (that year was Buenos Aires giant San Lorenzo de Almagro).
The other place was to be decided via play offs, between the top 4 teams of each group (excluding San Lorenzo’s group where the qualifying teams were from the 2nd to the 5th)
Play offs paired Chacarita Juniors from the neighbourhood of San Martin (this team has one of the most menacing band of supporters in the whole country) against Temperley from the locality of the same name.
The first leg played in Temperley finished with the local side narrowly winning 1-0.
At that time they were managed by a former Estudiantes de La Plata player called
Carlos Pachame.
To explain a little bit about Pachame, as a player he was an old fashion defensive midfielder, whose methods to recover the ball were simple: either the ball passed him or the player, but never both. He was part of that Estudiantes team that won the league, 3 Copa Libertadores (SA’s equivalent to Champions League) in a row, the Inter American cup and the Intercontinental Cup. He was also capped by his country 10 times.
As a Manager his teams played the way he did, commited, tough marking, and counterattacking whenever possible.
For Chacarita Juniors, it was a time of revival. After bad campaigns and financial problems they were relegated from the top league, to Primera B and immediately to Primera C. They got their club sorted and slowly started to revive the dream of a return to the place they held for so long. After all they were Argentinean champions in 1969.
Their team was full of young talented players that came from their own academy.
Their main issue was their own fans, who rioted very often. This caused the club to lose points, money and having to play many games away from their own stadium or behind closed doors.
So with the overall score from the first leg, favouring Temperley 1-0, they needed to travel to play Chacarita away from home.
At this time Chacarita’s stadium was suspended for trouble caused there in previous games by their fans.
So they played their home games at Argentinos Juniors stadium.
I was in attendance that day, as a 14 year old football lover.
I was in the home stand where everything was fine, normal and in fact there was a great party mood. 1-0 was not a huge disadvantage and confidence was high that the deficit could overturned.
The teams came out, and a young goalkeeper of 16 years of age was already gaining a name for his outstanding ability. His name Luis Islas (he later went on to play for Argentina at the 1986 and 1994 world cups). Chacarita were very proud of him and he was received with an ovation by the local fans.
The game was rather competitive and even. Then two Chacarita attacks ended up with valid claims for penalties that the referee did not give. Tempers started to flair, and tackles started to fly in. In the mind of paranoid football fans, it seemed that every call was going Temperley’s way.
Then the last straw happened. 40 minutes into the game and after a foul that did not seem too hard, the official showed a Chacarita player a straight red.
That was it. The old wooden stands, were abandoned, as everyone jump onto the high fence surrounding the pitch.
They started climbing it, shaking it, cutting it, and as people started to invade the field of play. Temperley players sought the safety of their dressing room.
However, their Manager, Carlos Pachame, stayed there, defiant, holding his umbrella fighting with a bunch of home supporters.
The young goalkeeper, Islas, approached the stand, and was holding his arms up, making that famous calm down, calm down move with them.
As he did this, his magic seemed to have worked. All Chacarita’s fans started to leave the stadium.
The game was called off, the final score was a technical 1-0 victory to Temperley.
Suddenly, outside the stadium, all those that were in Chacarita’s stand, were singing threatening songs against the referee and were to be found waiting at a secret back door for him to come out.
The police did not understand what was going on, and how did the fans get hold of their plan to get the ref out through that door?
Eventually everything gets resolved and everyone goes home.
Next day the papers reported the good, the bad and the ugly. They showed pictures and wrote about everything, the bad decisions by the referee, the insane reaction by the fans, the irresponsible actions by Pachame and the commendable work of the young goalkeeper trying to appease and disperse the fans.
I did start by saying that I was in that stand. Would you like to know what the young goalkeeper did? As he was with his back to reporters, photographers and the rest, and facing the rioting fans, appearing to be calming them down, he was shouting “Guys, the police want to get the referee out by the back door by the ticket booths”