Think of Argentina and think of passion. What spring to mind? For most people it will be the tango. The sensual dance, the elaborate costumes and the alluring sounds of the distinctly Latin music. Staying for the few days in the city it is impossible not to see the tango in action. Even if you avoid visiting a tango club, you will see many impromptu performances on the streets of the city.
But there is a passion that rivals the tango with the Porteños (natives of Buenos Aires). We arrived in the Argentinian capital the day before the Superclasico: Boca Juniors vs River Plate. One of the fiercest rivalries in world sport. These two old Buenos Aires clubs, Boca from the rough side of the tracks and River with somewhat wealthier roots, were due to play on the Sunday afternoon. Of course I would have loved to attend, and of course there was no chance of getting a ticket. The morning of the match we had a wander around the La Boca region of the city, saw the ground and the early arrival of many of the fans, and eventually walked back into the city centre.
Arriving at our hotel, we found this crowd of excited young men blocking our entrance. A member of staff advised us to use the side entrance, and he told me that La Boca were using our hotel as their base. When we switched on the TV we even saw live coverage on national TV of our hotel lobby! This was more of a build up than we see in England for the Cup Final.
We went out to find a quiet place for lunch around 30 minutes before the game was due to kick off. As Sam is not a football fan and not wanting to be mobbed by supporters, we ventured into what appeared to be a sushi bar that was almost deserted. We should have known better from the large screens around the place. Although they were playing MTV at the time, within 15 minutes the place was packed, with standing room only. Supporters of both clubs filled the bar, and although we did get our sushi, the barman who was attentive at first soon got swamped by a flood of drinks orders.
And so we did watch most of the first half. For the record Boca Juniors scored in the first minute, and the game eventually finished 1-1. What I did notice though, was how seamlessly the two rival groups mingled in this bar. When Boca scored of course half the place erupted, but soon the others were cheering on River Plate and both groups tolerated each other without any aggression. What price to see that inter-mingling during an Old Firm match in Glasgow?
So we witnessed the passion of the tango in the streets and tango clubs of Buenos Aires. But the excitement generated by this most famous of derby encounters certainly brought about a collective passion that rivalled, and if only for one day at least exceeded, that of the dance.
