Club
Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine football (soccer) club. Its home base
is the neighbourhood of La Boca, in Buenos Aires, and it hosts its home
games at the Bombonera (chocolate box) stadium on 805 Brandsen street.
Boca has won 20 Argentine professional championships, five Copa Libertadores
titles and three Intercontinental Cups.
Boca Juniors is a fixture in the top 30 of the Club World Ranking maintained
by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, and has
reached the top position 5 times during coach Carlos Bianchi's tenure.
History
The team
On 3 April 1905, five Italian immigrants gathered in Solís park of La Boca.
Esteban Baglietto, Alfredo Scarpatti, Santiago Sana, Juan and Teodoro
Farenga founded Boca Juniors (the use of English language in team names was
commonplace, as English railroad workers introduced football into
Argentina).
The original jersey color was pink, which was quickly abandoned for thin
black and white vertical stripes. The legend has it that in 1907 Boca played
against a team that shared the same colors, to decide who would get to keep
them. Boca lost, and decided to adopt the colors of the flag of the first
boat to arrive to the La Boca port. As the boat was from Sweden, the blue-and-gold
was adopted. The first version had a yellow diagonal band, which was later
changed to a horizontal stripe.
Boca Juniors played in local leagues and the amateur second division until
it was promoted to the top division in 1913, when it was expanded from six
teams to 15. Boca was never relegated; it won six amateur championships
(1919, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, and 1930) and, with the introduction of
professionalism in Argentina, Boca won the first title in 1931.
First Match: May 6, 1905. vs. Mariano Moreno.
First international match: December 8, 1907. vs. Universal (Montevideo,
Uruguay)
First professional match: May 31 1931 vs. Chacarita Juniors.
The Crest
The shape of the crest has remained unchanged throughout Boca's history. In
1955, laurel leaves where added to celebrate the club's 50th anniversary,
and the colors were changed in order to resemble the jersey colors.
Since 1970, a star is added for each Argentine title (top part, above the
initials) and for each international title (bottom part). To the delight of
fans, the crest was modified several times in recent years.
The stadium
Boca Juniors used several fields before it settled on the current grounds on
Brandsen street. Construction work on the concrete structure started in
1938; during the erection of the stands, Boca played its home matches in the
Ferrocarril Oeste field in Caballito until 1940. A third tray was added in
1953, and the La Bombonera name was born. One side remained mostly unbuilt
until 1996, when it was upgraded with new balconies and VIP booths.
Dársena Sud: 1908 - 1912.
Wilde: 1914 - 1915.
Brins y Sengüel: 1916 - 1924.
Brandsen: from 1924.
The Fans
Boca Juniors is traditionally regarded as the club of Argentina's working
class, in contrast with the more upscale support base of their cross-town
rivals River Plate.
Fans are known for valuing sacrifice, and to root for the team in good times
and bad. This is also in contrast with the image of River Plate fans, who
demand attractive play from their team.
Boca claims to be the club of half plus one of Argentina's population; a
recent survey placed its following at 39%.
The Superclásico
Being the two biggest and more important football clubs in Argentina, and
due to the rivalry between them, the Boca-River Superclásico is considered
one of the most thrilling derbies in the world.
Nicknames
Boca are known as los xeneizes (the Genoese) after the large number of
Italian (especially Genoese) inmigrants who lived in La Boca in the early
20th century.
The derogatory name bosteros (horse-shitters) is used mostly by rivals, but
some fans hve taken to wear it with pride. It derives from the horse manure
used in the brick factory that occupied the ground now used by the stadium.
The fans call themselves la número 12 (player number 12) because of the
influence they have on rival teams - especially in the La Bombonera, where
the noise from the stands is loudly heard on the pitch.
Boca fans also use the diminutive Boquita when referring to the club.
International
Fan clubs known as peñas exist in many Argentine cities, and in countries
such as Spain, Israel and Japan.
Boca has fans throughout Latin America, especially in Colombia and Peru who
have contributed many players to the team. All over the world, fans were
drawn to Boca by its international titles and by the successes of Boca
players who went on to play in European football such as Maradona, Batistuta,
and Riquelme.
Football Titles
Amateur
First Division: 7
1919, 1920, 1923, 1924, Copa de Honor 1925, 1926, 1930
Professional
First Division: 21
1931, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, Copa Argentina
and Nacional 1969, Nacional 1970, Metropolitano and Nacional 1976,
Metropolitano 1981, Apertura 1992, Apertura 1998, Clausura 1999, Apertura
2000, Apertura 2003
Copa Libertadores: 5
1977, 1978, 2000, 2001, 2003
Intercontinental Cup: 3
1977, 2000, 2003
Other International Cups: 6
Supercopa 1989, Recopa 1990, Copa Masters 1992, Copa de Oro 1993, Copa
Sudamericana 2004
Recods
40 matches unbeaten. (Argentine record) From 5/5/98 to 2/6/99, with 29
victories and 11 ties.
Famous Players
Roberto Cherro (1926~35)
Francisco Varallo (1931~39) (Boca's top scorer ever with 180 goals)
Natalio Agustín Pescia (1933~42)
Ernesto Lazzatti (1934~47)
Jaime Sarlanga (1940~48)
Mario Emilio Heriberto Boyé (1941~49)
Antonio Rattín (1956~70)
Paulo Valentim (br) (1960~64)
José Sanfilippo (1963)
Silvio Marzolini (1960~72)
Antonio Roma (1960~72) (GK) (Argentine record: kept a clean goal for 783')
Alfredo El Tanque Rojas (1964~68)
Angel Clemente Rojitas Rojas (1963~71)
Norberto Rubén Madurga (1965~71)
Julio Guillermo Meléndez Calderón (pr) (1968~72)
Ramón Héctor Ponce (1966~74)
Enzo Ferrero (1971~75)
Rubén Suñé (1969~72, 1976~80)
Alberto César Tarantini (1973~77)
Darío Luis Felman (1975~78)
Mario Nicasio Zanabria (1976~80)
Osvaldo Potente (1971~75, 1979~80)
Marcelo Antonio Trobbiani (1973~76, 1981~82)
Vicente Pernía (1973~81)
Jorge José Chino Benítez (1973~83)
Roberto Mouzo (1972~84)
Ernesto Enrique Héber Mastrángelo (1976~81)
Ricardo Alberto Gareca (1978~80, 1982~84.)
Diego Armando Maradona (1981~82, 1995~97)
Miguel Ángel Brindisi (1981~82)
Hugo Orlando Gatti (1976~89) (GK) (Argentine record 26 penalties stopped)
Claudio Oscar Marangoni (1988~90)
Juan Ernesto Simón (1988~94)
Carlos Fernando Navarro Montoya (1988~96) (GK) (co) (record of 180 straight
matches played)
Gabriel Omar Batistuta (1990)
Alberto José Márcico (1992~95)
Cristian (Kily) González (1995~96)
Nelson David Vivas (1994~97)
Claudio Paul Caniggia (1995~98)
Juan Sebastián Verón (1996)
Walter Adrián Samuel (1997~2000)
Óscar Eduardo Córdoba Arce (1997~2001) (GK) (co)
Juan Román Riquelme (1996~2002)
Mauricio Alberto Chicho Serna Valencia (co) (1998~2002)
Nicolás Andrés Burdisso (1999~2003)
Martín Palermo (1997~2000, 2004~) (100 goals with Boca)
Guillermo Barros Schelotto (1997~) (Boca records: 9 titles, 21 international
goals)
Carlos Alberto Tévez (2001~04)
Coaches
The two most succesful coaches Boca Juniors had are Juan Carlos Lorenzo
(1976~79, 1987), and Carlos Bianchi (1998-2001, 2003~04). Lorenzo won five
titles with the team, including the Copa Libertadores in 1977 and 1978, the
Intercontinental Cup in 1997, and the Metropolitano and Nacional in 1976.
Bianchi won eight, including Aperturas in 1998 and 2000, the 1999 Clausura,
Copas Libertadores in 2000, 2001, and 2003, and the Intercontinental Cup in
2000 and 2003. |
