{"id":30722,"date":"2026-04-19T12:36:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/19\/i-traveled-all-over-the-world-to-watch-the-best-soccer-games-never-to-go-back-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T12:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:36:37","slug":"i-traveled-all-over-the-world-to-watch-the-best-soccer-games-never-to-go-back-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/19\/i-traveled-all-over-the-world-to-watch-the-best-soccer-games-never-to-go-back-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"I traveled all over the world to watch the best soccer games – never to go back | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Boca<\/p>\n

Achieved a lifelong dream of watching Boca Juniors vs. River Plate (Image: Express Sports)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\n

Most kids dream of going to Disneyland, but not me. Ever since I fell in love with soccer as a boy, there was one game that stood out above all others. It’s Boca Juniors vs. River Plate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Watching footage of Superclassico as a child must have been like for those who watched NASA land humans on the moon in the 1960s and 70s. The people were real, just like me, but from a completely different world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But unlike our heavenly neighbors, Buenos Aires, home of Boca Juniors and River Plate, was a much more accessible destination. That’s why last year, even as an adult and still obsessed with Supercl\u00e1sico, I set out on a two-week soccer pilgrimage to Argentina’s capital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Walking through the streets of Buenos Aires didn’t feel at all like Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon. In fact, waves of Italian and Spanish immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries gave the city an incredibly European feel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But as soon as you step outside the city’s main walls and visit one of the city’s many soccer stadiums, things start to feel different. My first soccer experience in Buenos Aires was a low-key match between the Excursionistas and Flandria in Argentina’s third division.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Haven’t you heard of it? Well, neither have I. At least until they reach the 6,500-seat stadium on the city’s northeast side. But it was fun and I thought I would need to sample some of the country’s other soccer gourmets to really understand what was going to happen the next day. I was standing very close to the hinchadas (the loudest singing section of the fan base) so it was a perfect tasting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

On the same Saturday as the Excursionistas vs. Flandria game, I had time to focus on one more game, this time the Liga Professional contest between Hurac\u00e1n vs. Newell’s Old Boys. Estadio Tom\u00e1s Adolfo Duco may have been half empty (Huracan have had a disastrous season and Argentine supporters will be voting with their feet when showing their support), but the stadium was impressive and the fans in attendance made a lot of noise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"Boca<\/p>\n

The welcome by the caption was a sight to behold. (Image: Express Sports)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\n

I was ready. At least that’s what I thought. I was nervous to wake up Sunday morning. Back in my hometown, Manchester City, for whom I have a season ticket, were playing Liverpool in a huge Premier League game. I didn’t think anything of it. The menu for that day was only Super Classico.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

One of several English-language guides to watching the Super Clasico says: “Arrive four hours before kick-off, as there may be police presence outside the stadium and chaos.” That’s what I thought as I sat in the back of a local taxi, hurtling through the streets of Buenos Aires toward La Bombonera in Boca. After a pepper spray encounter and several subsequent police swarms, I was firmly placed on the spot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I will talk about the ordeal of entering La Bombonera another time. I would like to say to those who are planning to visit…please check in advance which entrance your ticket is assigned to. It starts about a mile away from the stadium, and once you pass through the massive, completely unmarked security checkpoint, getting back there becomes a mission in itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

So you may be thinking, ‘Is that why he’s not coming back?’ Was it because of a little fight (no pun intended) with a local copper customer? Back in my time, we-. no. Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Everything that followed the initial complications of entering the stadium was so pure that it would be impossible to try to recreate the same feeling. Specifically color. The contrast between yellow and blue was very striking, as was the density of people crammed into every nook and cranny of the famous old stadium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"Boca<\/p>\n

La Bombonera’s color and density were most impressive. (Image: Express Sports)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\n

The football itself was terrible. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team looked like the Harlem Globetrotters. But anyone who knows anything about Argentine soccer knows that it’s not about what happens on the pitch, because the real game happens in the stands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Chief Revimiento among them. A direct translation from Spanish to English is “reception” or “welcome”, but from a soccer perspective there is no equivalent. It all starts more than an hour before kick-off, but gradually begins about 20 minutes before the players come out of the tunnel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I was lucky to witness a genuine welcome from the Boca players. It became synonymous with Argentine football during the 1978 World Cup, but contrary to popular belief, it is less common in the modern supporter scene. However, at this Super Clasico, Boca’s Hinchadas instructed fans throughout the stadium to throw thinly sliced \u200b\u200bnewspapers into the air as the Boca players emerged from the tunnel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

There’s another phenomenon called the “Bombonera Shake.” This is a phenomenon that causes the upper terraces of the 57,000-seat stadium to tremble under the overwhelming force of the celebrations. It’s quite scary at first and will definitely fail the UK safety tests. But by the time Miguel Melentiel scored Boca’s second goal of the game, I had given in. I was one with La Bombonera.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I couldn’t go back to another Super Clasico because there was nothing that could match the first one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\n
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