A couple of weeks ago we covered one Buenos Aires team in the shape of River Plate, but today we'll be having a look at their fierce rivals Boca Juniors.
The club are named after the La Boca neighbourhood of Buenos Aires that they were founded in, and since their inception in 1905 the Blue and Gold have maintained a high standard of achievement. Boca have won 34 Argentinian top flight titles, 3 Copa Argentina's, 6 Copa Libertadores and 2 Copa Sudamericana. For that reason, they can count themselves as one of the biggest clubs in Argentina alongside River and undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in South America.
The Blue and Gold play their home games at the iconic La Bombonera stadium which is famous for its flat stand and the three steep surrounding double tiered stands. The ground holds 54,000 fans but the club has been planning for a few years to expand it. Originally they wanted to build a brand new stadium to house the first team but the fans were outraged and very reluctant to leave the club's ancestral home since 1940. Since then the club has made plans to expand the capacity of the current ground with 'Proyecto Esloveno' aiming to replace the flat stand and its famous VIP balconies with a new grandstand and a roof for the whole that would take the capacity up to near 100,000.
This would make the stadium one of the biggest in the world but it's certainly warranted considering the Blue and Gold have over 100,000 active members and many more fans across the country.
It's no surprise then that the sheer magnitude of Boca as a club, has attracted some of the best players to their ranks including a certain Diego Maradona, who had two spells at the Bombonera eventually ending his career there.
However, the club's success has also been built on the steady stream of youth players that their academy has produced over the years. The Blue and Gold's academy is known as 'The Boca Factory' and contains teams from U8's all the way up to U20's. They have placed a huge emphasis on producing their own stars and after hiring two very influential figures in the 1990's, Bernardo Griffa and Ramon Maddoni, the club has since produced or sold over 350 homegrown players. At least 130 of those academy graduates have also gone on to play in over 35 leagues across the world which shows the effectiveness of Boca's training methods.
Their unique ability to find players is due to their vast scouting network that includes members of the general public. When Jorge Griffa was appointed as the head of the youth system, he travelled around the towns and villages of Argentina and would offer the most knowledgeable member of the crowd a part time scouting role with Boca whether they were a teacher or butcher. That way the club was able to keep tabs on the entire country for the next best talent.
The proof is in the pudding as they say, and the following players to have graduated from Boca prove that-
Carlos Tevez,
Willy Caballero,
Fernando Gago,
Ever Banega,
Nicolas Gaitan,
Emiliano Insua,
Andres Cubas,
Rodrigo Bentancur,
Luciano Becchio and
Sebastian Battaglia.
It's an impressive list and we've picked out a few more players who could join it in the not so distant future.
Valentin Barco (Left Back)
Barco made a brief breakthrough into the first team this season, starting the first three games for Boca. He has been back in the squad without playing, but since he's only 17 he still has plenty of time to develop and force his way back into the starting XI.
Cristian Medina (Centre Midfield)
Medina is a little older than Barco at 19, but he's featured more frequently for the Blue and Gold this season having made 12 appearances. He's also had a call up to the Argentina squad for the next international break but it's unlikely he'll feature.
Exequiel Zeballos (Right Winger)
Zeballos is another 19 year old to get a call up to the national squad for this week's matches and it's quite understandable considering his contributions this season. He's only made 6 brief appearances off the bench for Boca but has provided an assist in that time and shown his potential.
