Tag 36 - Buenos Aires

In addition to countless sights, great restaurants and cafés, Buenos Aires is home to over 30 football clubs that are based in the first and second leagues. The first league with the big clubs like Boca Juniors and River Plate, however, had no games this weekend. Nevertheless, we didn't want to miss the chance to attend a game. Chacarita Juniors is the most well-known but unfortunately not the most successful second division team and played against "Tristan Suarez" today at 4 p.m. We had booked a tour in advance that included both a local guide and the tickets. On the one hand, we didn't want to get into trouble at/in the stadium and on the other hand, it is generally very difficult for foreigners to get tickets at all. The Argentine Football Association issued this rule due to various problems between fans. It's just not Germany and the clocks tick a little differently here, as we later found out.

At 1 p.m. we met our guide and the rest of the group in the Palermo district, not far from our apartment. Due to space constraints, the stadium of the Chacarita Juniors club was built in the San Juan district, so we had to take a good 20-minute train ride to the city limits. When we got there, it was already quite busy and we headed for a kind of garage near the stadium that sold beer and choripan (sausage rolls). Of course, we immediately caught the attention of the locals, but everyone was really friendly and interested in what brought us here. Shortly before the game started, we went to the stadium, where there was a brief back and forth at the entrance regarding our IDs, but then somehow it was no longer a problem.

From the main stand we had a good view of the pitch and the two standing areas, which were already cheering loudly for the team. Unfortunately, there was an altercation in the small standing area during the game. Two days later we found out that a Chacarita fan had been kidnapped here and subsequently died of his injuries in hospital.

The game was good to watch, however, Chacarita was leading until just before half-time and tried hard to equalize the deficit after the 1:2 in the 60th minute. Unfortunately, it didn't work and the fans were visibly disappointed about the unexpected defeat.

Nevertheless, it was very impressive how the whole stadium kept trying to cheer on the team. Since it had started to rain lightly and there was no roof over the stadium, we made our way back to the train station and to the apartment after the game.