SCORE!

It wasn't easy.  It wasn't exactly kosher.  It was a blast!  Certainly one of the highlights of our stay in Buenos Aires.

Attending the football game between the Boca Juniors (the most successful football club in Argentina) and Racing last week was fantastic.  A must do for anyone staying in the city.  Thanks to a fellow Antares owner (4439) - we were tipped off on this experience, with some suggestions and assistance to obtain tickets.

We corralled three other friends and decided to get tickets the 'local' way.  Cash, dark alleys, mobsters, inside connections and the like.  Seriously.  The game against Racing was huge.  Boca was ranked #1 and Racing #2.  The 'mob' and management of the stadium evidently got into an argument over fees, and all tickets purchased via agencies were being refunded.  If we had used the agency, we would not have been able to attend.  

Fortunately, one of our expat friends - Brian - was able to connect with a local over Yom Kippur, who was a season ticket holder.  He offered to 'help' us find tickets.  The odds were maybe 15% given the importance of the game.

Museo Evita Restaurante

Sarah and I started the evening off with a bottle of wine at Museo Evita Restaurante, to get ready for our excursion into the underbelly of Barrio La Boca.  We hooked up with our friends, and prepared for the adventure.

We arrived to Boca, got out of the taxi, handed over a heap of cash, and let our 'connection' do his work.  We were told to keep our mouths shut, not speak English...and just hang tight.  After a number of tries, and some negotiation, we linked up with 'Guido'.  He was very shady, which added to the fun.  He literally whisked us away to a 'special line', had the guy at the gate slide us inside, two at a time through the ticket carousel, jog up the stairs, put us in 'our seats'...exchange a wad of cash, and then he literally disappeared.  We had 'no actual tickets', just a seat overlooking the game.  It appeared that in this section people didn't really have tickets, and everyone just grabbed seats.  We made it!

View from our seats

Racing fans, with fence

The experience was amazing.  Fans for the opposing team, Racing, were in their own section.  Not only were they in their 'own section', but the section was fenced off, had curled barbed wire on top, and police guards up and down the line.  The Racing fans looked like convicts behind the security fence.  The stadium ROCKED.  Literally.  As fans chanted back and forth, yelling and screaming, they also jumped up and down...and the stadium literally reverberated with the movement.

The taunts between the opposing fans were loud, animated, and in some cases vulgar (albeit funny).  I will spare the reader on specifics - but far more than the traditional middle finger....

Towards the end of the game (still a tie), the Racing fans lit some sort of fireworks, sparklers and other stufff, lobbing the items over the fence at the Boca fans.  I kid you not.  They were throwing lit fireworks down on the fans below.  I've never in my life seen anything like it!  I can only imagine if Oakland Raider fans were allowed to do this...YIKES!

The Crew!

We were told by our 'connection', that we should leave the game with 2-4 minutes left on the clock to avoid any issues.  Evidently police escort the guest fans out a separate entrance to minimize any conflict.  The last thing we wanted to do was stand out in any way, especially as a bunch of gringos, at night, in a rough neighborhood.  The game ended in a tie, 0 - 0, and we exited, found a bus and were on our way home.

I would HIGHLY recommend this experience to anyone coming to Buenos Aires.  This is a 'bucket list' item I'll remember for the rest of my life.