Los Xenienes are back at The Chocolate Box this Sunday afternoon in the first of our seven game mission to secure qualification into Copa Libertadores 2010.

No longer handed an automatic spot simply because we are awesome – we’ve claimed 4 of the last 10 Copa’s, 6 overall, and are joint owners of the most final appearances with 9 – we must now qualify for South America’s most prestigious club tournament, a tournament which would be poorer without us, by finishing in the top 4 of this seasons Apertura.

We are currently 6 points adrift of Velez Sarsfield in fourth. At the Tuesday press conference, defender and goal of the season contender Juan Krupoviesa admitted that Boca’s margin for error this campaign is “shrinking.”

He added, “…the championship is getting closer to finishing, but trust us, we will fight it. If we had caught up to the start of the tournament, we would be talking about something else…”

This is true. With the structure of the Argentine club season being what it is, to be in with a decent shot at the championship and Copa qualification, clubs need to get off to a solid start. We didn’t and are now having to play catch up – a position no one likes to be in.

But, if any club can get out of a predicament like this, it’s Boca Juniors.

Our opponents on Sunday, Colon de Santa Fe, are have been fairly decent thus far. Seven wins from twelve matches has them sitting nicely in third, two points from leaders Banfield. A large part of their success has been the form of 26 year old striker, Federico Nieto. The former Rangers and Genoa flop has smashed 10 goals already, and is certain to be Colon’s biggest weapon in this one.

For us, it’s a case of two in and two out. Gabriella Paletta and Seba Battaglia both picked up injuries last week and aren’t fit, but Julio Caceres and Hugo Ibarra are fit and ready to rock and roll. This means that Gary Medel, who has been excellent filling in for Ibarra at right fullback the last couple of matches, can slot back into midfield where he is happiest.

Last minute hitches not withstanding, Claudio Morel Rodriguez and Krupoviesa will make up the remainder of our back four. Pato will remain in goal, despite his average performance in Rosario last time out.

Medel will be joined by Ariel Rosada, Christian Chavez and Federico Insua, in what is a midfield foursome in terrific form, particularly Insua, and in possession of more than enough quality to get the job done.

Nico Gaitan has recovered in time and will start up front alongside birthday boy, Martin Palermo.

Yes, El Loco turns the big 3-6 on Saturday. Being an avid follower of this blog, the Boca Offside would just like to say – Happy Birthday big man! Many happy returns and all that…and a goal against Colon would be wicked. Cheers.

According to Martin, the team “are calm and confident” going into this one. That’s really tremendous. Much better than, “pacing about nervously with doubtful looks on their faces.”

With so much to play for, the lads will step up and do the business. We’ll win 2-0. Goals courtesy of the Birthday boy and Chavez.

Vamos Boca…

It’s a tried and true footballing cliche – you’ve got to take your chances. You’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net more times than your opponent. If you can’t do that, then you’re probably not going to win. If ever there was a clear example of this depressing footballing truth, it was Boca’s match against Rosario Central on Sunday evening.

The facts of the match are these. We had more shots. We had more shots on target. We had an obvious penalty go uncalled by the referee. We had a fair goal disallowed when the linesman incorrectly flagged Gaitan for offside. We were foiled once by the cross bar and once again by a defenders boot on the goal-line. We played a superior brand of football. We were the better team.

But the two facts that really matter are these: We scored only once – even though it was a cracker from Krupoviesa (a good old Argentinian name, that one). They scored twice.

As Insua quipped post-match, “We had a good game in general because we developed several clear scoring plays, but we lacked in definition.” Precisely. We were awesome.

Unfortunately, awesome counts for little in the final analysis because, like I said, in this game, you’ve got to take your chances. This especially hold true when you’re playing in weather consisting of intermittent torrential downpours, such was the case in this one.

And this is doubly true when you have a keeper who is prone to slipping over at crucial moments and not guarding his near post at others.

Now, I’m not going to berate the man, because I think he’s been very good of late and, to his credit, he has already accepted responsibility in the press. The first goal I’m just going to call ‘very unfortunate’, whereas blame for the second goal should be shared evenly amongst the defense as a whole, such was their collective averageness.

Young Monzon in particular, I feel needs to pull his finger out. He may have nearly equalised at the death, but he was far too weak in letting Castillejos get past for him for the decisive goal.

Despite our lack of chance taking ability, I was heartened by what was, on the whole, an encouraging performance. I say encouraging because we proved that without Romi, we do not morph into a fat, toothless, docile, house cat of a team. We can still be the strong, imposing, self confident lion of a team we resemble when he’s out there. We are still a force. Just as well too, seeing as he’ll be out for the better part of the next seven weeks due to injury.

Here are the goals:

But, here’s a link to ESPNdeportes, which has a better overall highlight package:

The result sees us slip back slightly into 10th, 6 points from top, but more importantly now, 5 points behind Argentinos Juniors in fourth. After the match, Insua had this to say:

“We must keep fighting to win the next game. Boca does not lower the championship, but we took a step back. Entering the Cup remains the goal and this time we could not convert the chances we create,”

El Pocho pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one. We’ve dug quite a hole for ourselves, so all we can do now is fight, keep picking up points and hope for a little luck. It’s a shitty position to be in, but them’s the facts, kids.

Vamos Boca…

Romi may only be 31 but that’s not too old to do your back in when you’re a professional footballer. Replaced after just 36 minutes against Chaca, Romi will sit out our next encounter with Rosario Central on Sunday. No official word on when he’ll be back, but one can only hope it’s soon…

I tracked down some comments made by our number 10 after the Chaca match. I had Google translate do it’s thing, and whilst the translation is, of course, far from perfect, you can certainly get the jist of what he’s on about.

“I will try to recover as quickly as possible, knowing that I will take a little longer. I’m not worried because the guy you play is going to do well without pressure, the team is doing better,” he said.

He then added, “The important thing is that the team won and might be improved, there were very nice goals. The team is confident and now we must think about the next game against Central, which will be a tough opponent,”

He’s got his press answers down pat, hasn’t he? He, and we the fans, may have faith in his team-mates, but there is no doubt Boca are going to miss him against Rosario. We know it, he knows it. Rosario know it. Hell, even my cat knows it.

We’ll still win, though. Because we are Boca Juniors.

Romi also gave shared his thoughts on the currently white-hot Nico Gaitan and the disgraceful state of the La Bombonera pitch…

“(Nicholas) Gaitan is doing very well and we have great confidence in him for some time,” said Riquelme.

…And, “The course was a disaster and hopefully improve for the next match,” he said. I’m sure it will, Romi. You know you always get what you want, you cheeky devil.

The first ever Boca Offside Quiz wasn’t a huge success…to put it mildly. Was the question too hard? Too pointless, maybe? Whatever it was, I’m not giving up on the segment. I do love me some random, useless facts.

Anyway, the answer was……Luciano Figueroa

I’m sure you all got it, even though you didn’t enter. Stay tuned for the next one, right? Good.

Vamos Boca…

All three goals looked as if they were straight out of the training ground play-book. We were that clean. That crisp. That quick. That clinical.

Not only that, it almost felt to me as if Chaca were in on it. Like they had been informed of their part in proceedings beforehand. As if Basile had interrupted their pre-game chat and set about informing them of exactly how the match was going to play out.

If it had gone down that way, I can only imagine it went a little something like this –

Afternoon chaps (yes, in my mind, Alfio Basile talks like he’s from 19th century England), lovely day isn’t it? Just thought I’d pop over and give you the skinny on today’s match. Don’t worry, I bought my tactics board, so I can illustrate for you exactly how this is all gonna play out.

Did you get all that? Good. Questions? No, you won’t score. No, you won’t actually have a shot on target. Today is about us finding regaining our confidence and spark as we steady ourselves for an assault on the championship. Sorry you are our sacrificial lambs, so to speak, but it must be this way.

It was truly spectacularly dominant display from Los Xenienes. One the fans have absolutely been waiting for. Credit to Chaca too – they played their part perfectly.

We now sit in ninth on 18 points, five from top.

Bring on the charity-haters, I say…

Vamos Boca…

Two season defining matches in the next four days against Chacarita Juniors and Rosario Central will determine whether Boca is still a force to reckoned with in Apertura 2009 or if this campaign will be resigned to the crap heap and attention turns to slavaging some pride with a spot in the Copa Libertadores for 2010.

We may have deserved more from the Superclassico, but it’s over and it’s never coming back. We are tenth, and with our title rivals beginning to re-find form, we are now a precarious eight points adrift of leaders Estudiantes. I say precarious because another loss for Los Xenienes and some unfavourable results from other matches could see the margin blow out towards double figures, and no one wants that.

This makes the equation quite simple – take all six points from our next two encounters with Chacarita Juniors and Rosario Central.

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to express just how important these games are by using as many worn out football cliches as possible. Here goes – We know we can only take it one week at a time and play the full ninety-minutes (twice). We have to give 100% because our destiny is in our own hands. In short, we’ve got to want it more than our opponents. Our defense has to be solid, our midfielders tenacious and creative, and our striker alert and clinical. It’s time to stand up and be counted, to put or shut up because, after this weekend, the dream could be lost and we will be left contemplating what may have been. Phew, I’m knackered.

The first leg in the ‘Season Defining Four Days of the Devil of Death’ – Chacarita Juniors. The match at La Bombonera, nicely illustrated in Lego form in the above photo, is a brilliant opportunity for us to regain our momentum.

To say Chacarita Juniors are something of an unknown quantity to anyone outside of the neighbourhood of Chacarita is something of an understatement. So unknown are the “Undertakers”, a nickname derived from the squads favourite wrestler (or, if you believe Wikipedia, the fact that their home ground is near a cemetary), that of the three news articles posted on their ESPNsoccernet homepage, two aren’t even about them.

The story goes that ESPN ran something of a telethon for Chacarita, asking other, larger clubs to donate unwanted stories from their own homepages to the Argentine minnows. PSG answered the call with a story about the return of Claude Makelele in 2008 and Chelsea donated a story from 2006 of them poaching two youngstars from Leeds United. Is it wrong that I find such wonderful solidarity in the greater football community kind of arousing?

Then, on Sunday, the team hops in Riquelme’s stretch hummer and make the three hour or so drive up to Rosario to face Rosario Central for the second leg of the ‘Season Defining Four Days of the Devil of Death’. A word of warning to the rest of the team- Insua is a cheeky bugger and likes to try and call shotgun before he can see the car. Be alert. And Romi doesn’t like people eating or drinking in his ride – gettin stains on the upholstery just ain’t cool.

Rosario sit a spot above us in the table and are having a season almost as inconsistent as we are. I had pretty indifferent feeling towards them until I learned their nickname: the ‘canallas’, in English, the ’scoundrels.’ They apparently earned this nickname after refusing to playa charity match for leprosy back in the 1920s. Are they anti-charity? Or pro-leprosy? Either way, I’m now disgusted and want us to belt them into submission. Despite the fact that one of my favourite players to ever pull on a Valencia shirt, Kily Gonzalez, is a former player.

Can we win both games? Bloody oath we can. Will we win both games? Bloody oath we will. I forsee a 4-1 romp of the Undertakers and then a hard fought 1-0 over the charity haters.

But, to the part of the entry you’ve been searching for – Time to introduce a new segment!! (insert monkeys wearing tuxedos applause): “Boca Quiz Corner.” As the name implies, this segment will be devoted to quiz questions centred around the club we all love so much. Let’s kick off with an easy one-

Which former Boca Juniors player made his name at Rosario, scoring 35 goals in 57 matches for them between 2001 and 2003? This dude also played for River…

Post your answers below. Yes, there’s a prize, and yes, I’m open to suggestions for a better segment name…

Vamos Boca…

River Plate 1 – 1 Boca

If figures are to be believed, then the happiness of 72.6% of the Argentine population rested on the outcome of the 324th Superclassico yesterday afternoon at the El Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires. In the end, I guess they were all, like myself, kinda happy, but kinda not…

That’s right, from the “It’s on the internet, so it must be true” file, apparently 40% of Argentinians are prepared to tell anyone who will listen that they love Boca Juniors. To them I say – nice work. To the 32.6% of misguided fools who when asked the question, “Are you a Boca Juniors fan?”, shyly reply, “No, I, uh, I like River…”, I say – educate yourselves.

But, people and the foolish choices they make is another debate for another time. Let’s get to the match.

It was an exquisite afternoon for football, and the combatants certainly didn’t let anyone down. And whilst the score wasn’t the 8-0 drubbing I had hoped for, nor the routine 3-1 victory I had considered bare minimum, it was a great tussle between the two runaway football fan favourites. And to I guess, if I was asked, under oath, by James Spader, I could admit that 1-1 was about right.

Boca were on the back, back, back foot early against a River team who clearly realised that their only chance of taking any dignity (or points) away from this one was to attack first and attack hard. And whilst our young defenders – yes Monzon and Paletta, I’m looking at you – did their utmost to help them by way of clumsy, drunken sailor-esque challenges in and around the penalty box, Los Millonarios were held at bay by the evergreen Roberto Abbondanzieri.

Until the 29th minute. To be fair though, he got as close to the ball as his 37 year old body could get him, and he had already saved one penalty a few minutes before. Things don’t work quite like they used to, eh Pato? Don’t worry chief, it was a fair effort from your fellow golden oldie in Gallardo.

Now, I am willing to acknowledge that for the better portion of the first forty-five, Boca were perhaps not playing as well as River…but that all changed in the second forty-five. Martin ditched what was clearly a bizarre mask of invisibility and Romi decided to get out of first gear. Thank the lord they did too, what with all the defensive shenanigans of the first half.

The equaliser soon came, but not before Julio Caceres was sent off for….for what? Ariel Ortega tried to instigate a bit of argy-bargy and then went down. He went down quicker than Bank of America stocks. He went down quicker than a two dollar hooker. He went down so quick I was trying to check the crowd for snipers. The ref looked at Julio, figured it was his doing, and gave him an early shower. Quality work all round.

Despite having the crowd, and apparently the referee, against them, Boca kept coming. Los Xenienes never give up. They duly received their reward in minute 63. And what a beautiful piece of football it was, too, with Gaitan and Romi doing superbly in the build up and Martin battering it home with authority. I would describe it to you in a more eloquent fashion, using the very limited number of superlatives I have at my disposal, but instead I will leave it to Google (don’t worry, all will be revealed by entries end).

From that moment on, it was the Boca show. Or more specifically, the Romi show. The way he was directing traffic, toying with the River defenders, made you feel that another goal was just a matter of time. But, someway, somehow, River managed to hold out for what was, in the end, a point they should consider themselves lucky to have earned.

After I watched the match, a funny feeling came over me. This strange sense of the familiar, like, in some way, I was re-living the same event, much like the way Bill Murray once did. Only, this was a lot less annoying. And then I realised what it was – I was having flashbacks to the last Superclassico. Remember that one? At La Bombonera? No, had one too many cervejas since then? It’s ok, I get it – Quilmes Bock is awesome.

So, can you guess the score? Yep – 1-1. And the goal scorers? Yep – a Gallardo free-kick into the top near corner and a Palermo lash from just on the edge of the box. Nice work.

So, yeah, I’m kinda happy, but kinda not. Kind happy because we didn’t lose, but kinda not happy because we didn’t win. Kinda happy, because it took River’s best performance for two years to hold us to a draw, kinda not happy because we didn’t finish them off in the second half when had the chance. Know what I mean?

On a lighter note, how wicked is Google Translate? It always brightens up my day to see what the word for boobs is in other random dialects (in Albanian it’s ‘gjokse’). With that in mind I’ve decided to make it the subject of a new segment here on the Boca Offside. After each match I will check in with the Boca Juniors official website and translate their official match analysis in search of the most humorously incomprehensible piece of Spanish to English translation action.

To get the segment rolling, here’s google translate’s take on the equalizing goal from Palermo…

” And what we saw coming, it finally happened. Palermo, in his first appearance of the match, sent her to the back of the net. Center Gaitan, Roman’s exquisite touch and definition of eternal scorer to put the match 1 to 1. “

Here are the goals:

Vamos Boca…

Earlier this week, the Boca Offside featured, what I thought at least, was an open and honest interview with irreplaceable Boca Juniors playmaker, Juan Roman Riquelme. In this interview, our number 10 gave a trenchant, thoughtful analysis of this Sunday’s Superclassico opponents, River Plate. For those of you who didn’t read the interview, here’s a quick summary –

“…Llama f*ckers…”

Now, whilst Romi’s views are his own (and by no way reflect the views of this blogger or theoffside.com, yada yada yada), they do, in a nice, neat way it must be said, encapsulate just how Boca Juniors fans feel about River Plate. And, to be fair, I’m quite certain the feelings are mutual.

Yes, this pure, unadulterated hatred has meant that Boca and River can lay claim to one of world footballs great rivalries. The teams have done their part on the pitch, as well. Of the 323 Superclassico’s that have ever taken place, River have won 104, 101 have been drawn and on 118 occasions Boca have come out victorious.

See, we are the better team. Maths says so. Better than those, those, those… espresso drinking (El Monumental is the only stadium I’ve ever been too that has mobile espresso vendors), gucci wearing, corporate elitist gallinas (chickens)…think they’re so big…

Deep breath Brett. Settle down. Compose yourself.

My apologies. Over the course of this week I have been pondering the reasons why we will get our 119th win at El Monumental on Sunday afternoon. Here, in classic blog style (and no particular order), are my top 5:

1. We are in wicked form – We weren’t a month ago, but we are now. Three wins from our last three, our many guns are finally firing at the same time, and in the same direction. Our strikers are scoring goals, our midfielders are working together and our defense….well, they are doing better than they were. For us, this match comes at the perfect moment.

2. River are a shambles – That’s being a little nice, actually. They are in shocking form. Disgusting form. Shameful form. Yes, Atletico Madrid form. 16th on the table with a single win. As Roman knowledgeably pointed out in his interview, Los Millonarios are winless in their last 7, that’s right, 7, league matches. In that time they’ve scored just five times and conceded double that. Pathetic.

3. We have quality in abundance – The league, not just River, should be quaking in their boots at the sight of this momentum gathering Boca outfit. Why? Look at the quality in our ranks. On Sunday we will have Riquelme, Battaglia, Palermo, Viatri, Insua, Gaitan, Monzon, Ibarra, Caceres and Pato ready and raring to go. Match winners everywhere. Outrageous.

And River? Not so much quality in abundance as mediocrity. New manager Leo Astrada has inherited a side with no recognizable, let alone decent, strikers. Last weekend he was forced to play Diego Buonanotte and Ariel Ortega up front – neither of which are currently capable of leading the attack. But, the most telling fact is this – there are simply no players in this River team which genuinely strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. Not a match winner in sight.

4. What home ground advantage? – El Monumental should be a fortress, a frightening place where visiting teams are scared to leave the relatively safety of their dressing room. But, it isn’t. Like the team itself, El Monumental isn’t least bit intimidating these days, visiting teams winning with increasing regularity. Don’t expect it to be a factor.

5. Romi – After his midweek comments, it would be remiss of me not to mention him. Off all the players capable of deciding the match, it is he who is most likely. Romi has been displaying his entire repertoire in recent weeks – back heels, outrageous strikes and killer passes. He will have a field day against River.

So, there you have it. Why Boca Juniors will win the Superclassico.

Now, to my prediction. As much as I would love to see us hand out an 8-0 drubbing, I think a more likely score is something in the region of 3-1. Regardless of the outcome, it will surely be a great game – they always are.

I’m will leave you with a special Youtube video. Boca and River fans may hate each other with passion, but I think there’s one thing we can all agree on – hot chicks are hot.

Vamos Boca…

As Argentina braces itself for the biggest match of its domestic season, the Boca Offside has secured an exclusive interview with none other than Boca playmaker, and President of the Diego Maradona fan club, Juan Roman Riquelme. Enjoy.

Boca Offside (BO) – Good evening, Senor Riquelme.
Juan Roman Riquelme (JRR) – Hola.
BO – Let me start by asking – how would you like to be addressed? Senor Riquelme? Juan? Roman?
JRR – My friends call me Romi. You may call me this.
BO – Romi? Where did that come from?
R – Well, my middle name is Roman, so it’s a short version of that.
BO – Ah, I see. I was wondering, because you look nothing like that chick from that average movie with Lisa Kudrow.
R – Actually, it’s one of my favourites. It’s pretty hilarious. Post-it notes. Did they really think they would get away with that? Ha! Gets me every time.
BO – Um, ok. So, Romi – this weekend is going to be a big one.
R – For sure. Colon de Santa Fe against San Lorenzo will be huge. The winner will take top spot. Can’t wait to watch it.
BO – Actually, I was talking about the Superclassico.
R – Oh yeah, is that this weekend?
BO – Sure is. Kinda why we organised this interview. Mind if we chat about it?
R – Fire away. I am ready.
BO – Wicked. So, Boca have finally gotten going this season after an average start. Will this momentum serve you well against River?
R – I’m sure it will. We have won our last three games and are beginning to find our feet. The title is still a possibility, especially given the way I am playing. Seriously, did you see my back heel in the Racing match? Or my goal against Velez? Pure magic. Sometimes I wonder how I do it.
BO – Yes, the team does seem to struggle without you. What do you put this down to?
R – The fact that I am wicked. C’mon, who else would attempt an audacious back heel in the box, let alone pull it off? Insua? Noir? Palermo? No way. The shit I do is special because only I can pull it off.
BO – Yes, Romi, you are incredible.
R – Gracias.
BO – But, getting back to the Superclassico – what’s your opinion of River Plate at this stage of the Apertura campaign?
R – My opinion of River will never change. They are llama f*ckers.
BO – Llama f*ckers?
R – Llama f*ckers. They enjoy f*cking llamas. Usually they can do this and play decent football, but it seems like they’ve now decided to give up the football side and simply f*ck llamas, fulltime. I mean, one win from nine is disgraceful.
BO – So, am I right to assume you’re confident of beating River this weekend?
R – Wouldn’t you be? Setting aside their desire to have sex with llamas, look at their team. Who will stop me? Buonanotte, Gallardo, Abelairas? These names make me laugh. And Ortega? Well, not even I will comment on him these days…
BO – The match is at El Monumental. Doesn’t that even the playing field a little?
R – El Monumental is hardly a fortress. They haven’t won their last three league games there. It has a running track for God’s sake! What self respecting football ground has a running track? The only way to even the playing field is for me to have mercy on them and not play. But this will not happen.
BO – Fair enough. How about scoreline prediction.
R – It depends how I feel. How much I want to destroy them. But, I will say – Boca 5, Llama F*ckers 0. I will score three – a free kick, one from the half way line and then I will chip the keeper. I will then provide assists for Viatri and Insua. But not Palermo, that son of a…..(trails off, inaudible)
BO – Yeah, what’s up with you and Martin Palermo? You two just can’t get along.
R – I don’t want to talk about it.
BO – Is it because he tears his shirt off when he scores goals?
R – No, no. No more questions.
BO – is it the hair?
R – I must go.
BO – Is it the fact that he, a man who has surely never pulled off a decent nutmeg in his life, is captain of Boca?
R – This interview is over…

The Boca Offside would like to thank Senor Riquelme for his time. It would also like to add that this interview was translated into English from the original Spanish, cleaned up alittle, and may or may not have taken place at 3am in a Buenos Aires nightclub. And by nightclub, I mean strip club.

And another makes it three. Yes, our third win in succession means that the ‘Apertura 2009 Winning Streak of the Devil of Death’ continues to march on, growing ever larger and stronger.

The site of the mighty Los Xenienes in their rear-view mirror is also clearly upsetting some of this campaigns early pacesetters – as was predicted here last week, Velez and Estudiantes both dropped points in their tricky away games, meaning that the gap between us and the top is now a point fewer than a round ago. Here’s hoping it continues.

I’m going to come clean right away and say – I didn’t see the game. Fate, and by fate I mean work, stepped in, making it impossible for me to tap into one of the numerous illegal internet feeds on offer. Instead, I had to make do with ESPNsoccernet’s live score centre.

We were at near enough to full strength for this one. Only Gary Medal was missing, and Lucas should consider himself terribly unlucky to be bumped back to the bench considering his two goal heroics last weekend against Racing. Still, he was replaced by one of the most in form strikers in South America, and perhaps the globe, at the moment – Senor Palermo.

From what I could piece together from various sources on the bloggersphere, and the mouth of none other than Roman, we were good. Very good.

We controlled the match pretty well throughout, and in the end probably deserved another goal for our good work. However, according to one poorly translated Argentine bloggers’ article, sloppy defending, apparently from Caceres in particular, allowed Tigre to score with twelve minutes to go, meaning we were made to “suffer” for the last few minutes. That doesn’t sound nice at all.

Roman, Battaglia and of course, two goals in ten minutes hero Nico Gaitan were the pick of the bunch. Both of his goals were quality finishes from quality build up work. The kid showed maturity and poise well beyond his tender years on both occasions. In him, it looks like we have yet another Boca youngster with a massive future ahead of him.

Here are the highlights for those of you who haven’t seen them yet:

Post match, our number 10 had this to say, “That was our best performance (of the championship)…We feel we have an obligation to fight for the championship.”

Indeed we do. Despite what our opponents may say, the championship race needs a strong Boca Juniors. We are the biggest club in the country, one of the biggest in the world, and a title race just ain’t as interesting if we’re not in it. If we win, our rivals can take solace in the fact that they were beaten by a major footballing powerhouse. If we lose, they get to bask in the glow of beating the mighty Boca Juniors.

“We must be calm and enjoy this win. There will be time to think about River.” Wonderful point, Roman. The lads should indeed take some time to enjoy their latest win. I think it’s safe to say we are well and truly getting back to our very best form.

They will have plenty of time to ponder next weeks match against a side which, it must be said, are perhaps in the worst form of any big name side in world football right now.

Yes, they are worse than AC Milan. And Atletico Madrid.

Next up on the ‘Apertura 2009 Winning Streak of the Devil of Death’, it Superclassico time. It’s River Plate.

Three points at the Presidente Peron Stadium, combined with a late Carlos Quintana goal for Lanus at the Dr. Jose Luis Meiszner Stadium in La Plata, means what was an eight point gap between us and Estudiantes at the top is now down to six.

Not only that, but the win was our second on the bounce, which counts as a streak – a streak I have since named the “Apertura Winning Streak of the Devil of Death.”

Earning our winning streak was no easy task, however. In what is becoming all too familiar, Boca fought back from a goal down at Racing on Thursday night (or Friday morning depending on where you are in the world). Only twice this campaign have we managed to score before our opponents. Twice. From eight matches. That’s pretty dismal.

I’m not entirely sure why we have been prone to this thus far in Apertura ‘09. Complacency? Laziness? Arrogance? The international rather than domestic focus of the club? Gabriel Paletta? I’ll mull it over and come up with something a little later. If anyone out there has any ideas, please let me know.

In what turned out to be the only shot on target Racing would have the for the entire match, Pablo Caballero nudged a hopeful free-kick past Pato in the 32nd minute to open the scoring.

I don’t know how many goals we’ve conceded from set pieces, but I would venture to guess that it’s quite a few. At times we seem utterly incapable of dealing with them. Clueless. The opening goal at Estudiantes a couple of weeks back immediately comes to mind. I’m not saying our set piece defending is Real Madrid standard, but we certainly aren’t great.

Thanks for the 2-1 win should be given to the attacking instincts of Lucas Viatri, the pure genius of Juan Riquelme and the decent understanding of the other the two seem to possess. Here’s 33 seconds of highlights to show you what I’m talking about:

Viatri was decent for both his goals. Johnny-on-the-spot for his first after a thunderous drive from Riquelme was barely kept out by Jorge Alberto De Olivera in the Racing goal. Lucas knicked in front of the Racing defender to tap home from around 2cm.

The kids’ second will surely be doing the rounds on highlight reels this week. He finished with aplomp following a divine one-two with Riquelme. Just quietly, who doesn’t love an audacious backheel? Especially a Juan Riquelme audacious backheel, which are, somehow, more audacious than most?

Basile has been playing Palermo as the lone striker of late, but Lucas’ fine display against Racing will surely give him something to think about going into next weeks match. Palermo and the kid up front, with Juan in behind doing as he pleases sounds pretty dynamic to me – and surely pretty scary to Tigre.

That’s right, next up for us and our “Apertura Winning Streak of the Devil of Death”…Tigre at La Bombonera. Tigre are a bit of a rabble at the minute, so another three points is surely ours for the taking. Estudiantes and Velez both have tricky away fixtures, so come next Monday, what is currently a six point gap could be two, or better yet, three, points fewer.

Sidenotes…

Emiliano Insua was the only past/present Boca player in Diego’s starting eleven for the national teams match with Peru. However, any disappointment I felt at this was erased by the satisfaction of seeing Martin Palermo thrust out is gigantic left peg in the 92nd minute to poke home the winner. The man sure does hate wearing shirts…

Looks like Ezequiel Munoz’s transfer to Fiorentina is all but done. He’ll most likely move in January for something close to 7 million euros. In doing so, he will join the growing list of Argentines with the name Ezequiel playing in Europe. Hopefully having a dude named Ezequiel in your team will become the new fad amongst European clubs – in the same way having an African central midfielder and an Eastern European centreback have been in the past…