Dale Dale Boca Dale!!!!

La Bombonera:
Home of that great such as Diego Maradonna.
Home of the praised such as Juan Román Requelme
Home of the girls whose hands are the most covered part of there body
and most of all, home of the football team Boca Juniors.

Thursday night i had the privelage of experiencing all these things. Although the girls with practically no clothes on wasnt exactly a privelage for me.

La Bombonera is not only the stadium of Boca Juniors, its the stadim for thousands of dedicated Boca Junior fans who almost filled the stadium on thursday night to support there team taking on Atlas in La Copa Libertadores. That night they showed nothing more than support and dedication to there team. From the minute the team arrived on the pitch ( and even before) there was songs of support and praise for the team they love so much.

The last time I had been in a stadium practically filled with people was probably in 2005 when I went to Croke Park with my dad and aunty to watch Cork beat Clare in the ALL Ireland hurling semi final. I walked up the steps and turned the corner to see a stadium filled with navy and yellow. Thousands of flags for Boca Juniors, banners of praise for certain players. I was amazed. When the match started there was big banners put out over one side of the stadium, there was people constantly singing songs of support, there was drums, there was firworks, there was a lot of rubbish and toilet roll, and there was a lot of excitement.

Boca Juniors- when they play well they amaze you, but when they play bad they leave you dumbfounded. I experienced both of these on thursday night. For the first half I couldnt see what was so amazing about this team. I didnt see how they could be so popular. They made stupid mistakes, they gave the ball away easily and it was a bit of a disaster. It reminded me of my All Ireland semi final in football when i was on the sideline watching the rest play. I was so frustrated at how they were playing and all the stupid mistakes that they shouldnt be making- we lost 4-0 that day. Luckily Boca did not suffer the same fate as we did. They did manage to score a goal about 30 mins in, but it wasnt the most amazing goal or really a goal to be celebrating.

The second half picked up majorly. Boca Juniors got there act together and started to play the game that my brother praised so much. I began to enjoy andbe amazed and the wonderful passing, and the players cleverness with the ball. They all started reading eachother much better and the game became "the beautiful game". When the well deserved goal came the stadium erupted. There was nothing but excitement to be seen. Hands waving everywhere, people hugging everyone and anyone. Shiirts taken off and being swung around, it was complete and utter madness and excitement. After this there was a non stop buzz of excitement, every few minutes a new song would erupt from the crowd. Hands being waved everywhere in support of there team. And when the 3rd and Final goal was added a few minutes later, there was a feeling of satisfaction in the air. The crowd could not be happier with the outing and there team.

Leaving the stadium there was a buzz of happiness, and also a bit of giving out about the first half and how bad Boca played. We then went and got choripan. Which is an argentinian sausage in bread. As we walked towards the car munching on our food, Mario turned to me and said "Football, Food and La Boca, Theres nothing better in Argentina!"

If thats the case,
Ive experienced the best of the best here.