Global Football Odds & Ends

Time to Mo Vaughn

RIP Dernell
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Mar 24, 2008
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Boca River second leg tomorrow.

Huge college football day but I would not miss this one. I just watched a video of Boca's training session from this week with the entire stadium filled. It really is something special.
In the US it looks like the only TV coverage is Fox Deportes (1534 on FiOS) at 3 PM ET. My honeymoon was in BA and we went to a River match. This will be the first
 

mic99

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Jul 18, 2005
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and it looks like the match has been suspended after River fans attacked the Boca bus with tear gas sending multiple Boca players to the hospital.
 

Boston Brawler

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Jan 17, 2011
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So current word is a one hour delay, but Boca is saying they want the match rescheduled. One hour delay was announced in the stadium.

My brother in law is there. He’s giving me live updates. Bonkers.
 

Boston Brawler

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River manager Gallardo says he will stand with Boca if they decide not to play the game.

FIFA and CONMEBOL say if Boca doesn’t play, they’ll award the match to River.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
If River actually benefit from their fans tear gassing their opponents, what the hell is going to happen the next time these teams play?
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

RIP Dernell
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Mar 24, 2008
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Will be interesting to see what they do tomorrow to avoid the same thing happening again.
Play in an empty stadium?

As I mentioned earlier, on my honeymoon, we went to a River game at their stadium. The day before we weren't sure if we'd be able to go because Conmebol officials were considering making them play in an empty stadium after the riots during their previous game. Went through 4 check points in the half mile walk to the stadium with full riot gear officers at each one. Had to stay in the stadium a half hour after the game ended so the away fans could exit first and clear the area.
 

Boston Brawler

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Fox deportes has video in the stadium. Lots of riot police. Trying to clear out the stadium. Random bits of people sprinting out amid angry fans yelling
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
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Will be interesting to see what they do tomorrow to avoid the same thing happening again.

And, of COURSE FIFA was going to award the game to the team whose fans broke windows and threw tear gas at the opposing team's bus. Six players are hacking and coughing in the locker room from the tear gas, the team's captain is sent the hospital with glass shards all over him from the window breaking, and the entire team is traumatized. But fuck the players, there's TV revenue at stake.

Wasn't UEFA similarly pitiless when Dortmund's team bus got attacked vs Monaco?
 

Boston Brawler

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Boca released a statement asking for the match to be postponed further. May be going through the same drama again today with FIFA and CONMEBOL trying to force the match.
 

Zososoxfan

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I'm a River fan and there's no way they should play this match until Boca says they are good and ready. A few years ago some Boca fans tear gassed the River players at halftime and Boca rightfully was disqualified and possibly suspended from the tournament. I guess there is a small distinction to be made here since this didn't occur IN the stadium DURING the match, but it's not a great distinction.

My family is all from Argentina and you cannot describe the levels of passion for futbol. But, these people and their government cannot get out of their own way.

I don't know how River can allow this to happen to the Boca bus. The best thing to come of all this is that there are Boca and River alums who are on good terms (namely the managers Gallardo for River and Schelotto for Boca) and the clubs have stood together during all of this. I also give some credit to the River brass for not accepting CONMEBOL and FIFA offers of Boca disqualification/forfeit.

The last I heard is that there are going to be discussions/negotiations tomorrow about how to deal with this. Likely outcome IMO is a midweek match with no crowds. River fans should think long and hard about costing their club homefield advantage, and far more importantly, the harm the ultras have caused Boca players.

I know it's easy to be cynical with this, but the CONMEBOL president said the right things on Saturday after the postponement. Talked about how this is entertainment and supposed to be fun. These are humans involved. The game should stand for peace. I know he may be talking out of both sides of his mouth, but at least he got the optics right. The biggest mistakes were the inadequate postponements--that's what gave this whole thing the feeling of a farce.
 
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Boston Brawler

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My brother in law, also a River fan, heard that the ultras paid the police escort to take the Boca bus on that route to the crowd. Not sure what his source is...
 

Vinho Tinto

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Final leg to be played at a neutral site outside Argentina on December 8 or 9.

I didn’t know Argentina finally banned away supporters from attending matches in 2013.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Jan 10, 2004
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Because no ethically dubious football situation is complete without SACKS OF ILLICIT QATARI LUCRE
 

Titans Bastard

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This ad is some kind of something, if you know the backstory.

 

DJnVa

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This is interesting: https://sports.yahoo.com/world-italian-pro-soccer-team-concede-16-times-first-half-lose-20-0-163844691.html

A day after losing 20-0 in an officially sanctioned Serie C match, Pro Piacenza has been warned by the Italian third division that such an embarrassment “must never happen again.”

Pro Piacenza fielded only seven players, including one staff member and the rest teenagers, according to Football Italia. With all but one of its matches this calendar year having been postponed due to financial issues, Pro Piacenza would have been thrown out of the league had it not fielded a team against Cuneo on Sunday.