Boca Juniors Dream Team

Bispham Seasider · Jun 15, 2009

I checked with argentine soccer fan about posting this, and here goes -

The Independent, an English national daily newspaper, has a regular "Dream Team" feature, which has seen the likes of Liverpool, Barcelona, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus, Newcastle United etc.

On 3rd June 2009 they ran their first South American "Dream Team" - Boca Juniors, saying,

Boca Juniors are one of the most successful sides in South American football history.

Among others, Los Xeneizes have launched world beaters Maradona, Marzolini and Tevez into the football stratosphere while at the same time cultivating one of the most awesome atmospheres in world football at their Buenos Aires base.
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Their Dream Team, which they call a very attacking side, is:

Goalkeeper: Hugo Gatti (Boca 1976-1988; 381 games, 1 goal)

Central defender: Antonio Rattín (Boca 1956-1970; 352 games, 26 goals)

Central defender: Wálter Samuel (Boca 1997-2000; 75 games, 4 goals)

Right back: Carlos 'Lucho' Sosa (Boca 1941-1951; 294 games, 9 goals)

Left back: Silvio Marzolini (Boca 1960-1972; 387 games, 10 goals)

Right midfield: Claudio Caniggia (Boca 1995-1998; 60 games, 28 goals)

Holding midfielder: Fernando Gago (Boca 2004-2007; 70 games, 1 goal)

Left midfielder: Román Riquelme (Boca 1996-2002 & 2007-present; 197 games, 46 goals)

Free role: Diego Maradona (Boca 1981-1982 & 1995-1997; 71 games, 35 goals)

Striker: Carlos Tévez (Boca 2001-2004; 75 games, 26 goals)

Striker: Martín Palermo (Boca 1997-2000 & 2004-present; 235 games, 157 goals)

Clearly, a lot of players have been left out. And as the article says,

With so many exquisite players to have passed through their ranks, stars such as Gabriel Batistuta and Francisco Varallo miss out in this dream team. But who do you think should have been included?
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If no-one minds, I will add the details that the Independent give for each player, similar to a thread on the Blackpool FC forum, which in that case lists the players in the clubs Hall of Fame.

The article can be read here: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-teams-boca-juniors-1695271.html?action=Popup

Bispham Seasider · Jun 15, 2009

Goalkeeper: Hugo Gatti

Known as 'Beatle Gatti', the first Argentine footballer to grow his hair long was part of Argentina's 1966 World Cup squad, but it was during his time at Boca in the 70's that 'El Loco' was at his maddest and most magnificent best. He achieved legendary status when the club won the Copa de Libertadores two years running in 1977 and 1978, and the subsequent Intercontinental Cup victory versus Borussia Monchengladbach (a match, which should have been against Liverpool, but the European Champions pulled out much to the disappointment of South Americans, who have always taken the competition very seriously).

Gatti revolutionised goalkeeping attire in South America by donning long shorts and brightly-coloured shirts when previously Lev Yashin black had been standard wear. Famous for dribbling out of his goal, long before Rene Higuita was around, Gatti could also pass the ball with accuracy.

Operating as sweeper and taking throw-ins were features of his play. Off the pitch, he adopted the rhyming hubris of his idol Mohammad Ali, reminding everyone he was the best. Gatti wasn't actually a goalkeeper but "a footballer who used his hands", reckoned manager Toto Lorenzo. In one famous match against Estudiantes that clinched the league title in 1981, he dribbled out to the halfway line, taking the ball around two opponents, before supplying the pass for a goal.

Gatti is also remembered for the 'God Stop'. In 'one on ones', he would go down on his kness in front of opposing forwards, arms outstretched as if praising God, but narrowing the angle and rarely beaten - a manoeuvre that required extreme agility and confidence.

There were two schools of goalkeeping in Argentina throughout the 1970s. One represented by the text-book efficiency of Filliol at River Plate, the other, the spontaneous, eccentric brilliance of Gatti, who was Argentina manager Cesar Menotti's first choice. Unfortunately, injury prevented Gatti from appearing at the 1978 World Cup finals, which Argentina won. Had he played in that tournament, Gatti would probably now be as famous in the rest of the world as he is South America.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 15, 2009

Central defender: Antonio Rattín

With his imposing 6ft 4in frame, Rattín was the original 'Caudillo'. Captain of the 1962, 1964, and 1965 league championship winning Boca teams, he played mainly as a holding midfielder, but is chosen at centre back for convenience of line up in our dream team.

A hard player, but a technically gifted one as well, Rattín was a natural leader on the pitch. Most of Boca's, and indeed Argentina's play in the 1960s would go through captain Rattín. He kept it simple, with short passing triangles, and was rarely beaten in the air. He twice marked Pele out of key matches, the first against Santos in the final of the 1962 Libertadores, and then, again in the Maracana, when Argentina beat Brazil in the 1964 Nations Cup, a tournament which Argentina won, beating England 1-0 in their final match.

In England, Rattín will always be remembered for his controversial sending off in the World Cup quarter final against England at Wembley in 1966, and his long, slow, dramatic walk around the side of the pitch, before sitting down on the royal red carpet, an action that was interpreted as an insult to the Queen back in South America.

Currently involved in politics, he was a member of the Congress until recently, and to this day is convinced that all that happened in 1966 was a conspiracy, pre-arranged by Stanley Rous, the English president of Fifa, to ensure the host's progress in the competition.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 15, 2009

Central defender: Wálter Samuel

Dubbed 'the Wall' and considered the best young centre-back in the world during his time at Boca. Signed from Newell's Old Boys in 1997, he formed a solid centre back partnership with the Colombian, Jorge Bermudez, in Carlos Bianchi's team that won consecutive league titles in 1998 and 1999, and the Libertadores in 2000.

Samuel transferred to Fabio Capello's Roma for €20m in the summer of 2000, a world record fee for a defender at the time, and won Serie A with Roma, before transferring to Real Madrid for another big fee, €25m, in 2004.

Has suffered serious injury problems at Real Madrid and Inter Milan, but is gradually regaining his old form under Jose Mourinho, returning to the Argentina squad last month. Samuel has 53 international caps.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 15, 2009

Right back: Carlos 'Lucho' Sosa

Legendary player from the 1940s, the 'Golden Age' of Argentine football, when attendances were among the highest in the world, and the emphasis was as much on style as results. In the era of 'La Nuestra', football was likened to the steps of the tango dance.

The pencil-moustached Sosa liked to attack down the right flank, and, despite being a defender, earnt the nickname of 'the bailerina' for his graceful movement on the ball.

He made 217 appearances for Boca between 1941 and 1951, winning two league championships in 1943 and 1944, before transferring to Racing Club of Paris in 1951. Sosa was named in a poll of 100 journalists in Argentina's team of the 20th century.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 15, 2009

Left back: Silvio Marzolini

Stylish, handsome, the David Beckham of his day, Marzolini spent nearly all of his long career at Boca, whereas if he was around today, he would no doubt be playing for a top European club with marketing companies milking his good looks for all their worth.

Even in the 1960s, the man with a passing resemblance to David Macallum in "The Man from U.N.C.L.E" television series was starring in adverts for local Argentine beer.

Another attacking full back, very skilful on the ball, Marzolini won league titles with Boca in 1962, 1964 and 1965, as well as playing alongside his captain Rattín in the national side throughout the same period, winning the Nations Cup with Argentina in 1964.

Voted by the British press as the best player of the group stages of the 1966 World Cup, Marzolini played for the rest of the world team in Stanley Matthews (and former Blackpool player... ) testimonial at Stoke City's Victoria Ground in 1967.

After making 387 appearances for Boca, the 3rd highest in the club's history, Marzolini retired in 1972, returning as manager 10 years later and guiding his club to the 1981 league title.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 15, 2009

So that's the keeper and defence, if no-one minds, I'll add the "Dream Team" midfield later!

Bispham Seasider · Jun 20, 2009

Right midfield: Claudio Caniggia

This is a very attacking Boca dream team, so, due to the excess of strikers, Caniggia is pulled back to play on the wing, where he can run at opponents with his pace and skill.

Caniggia joined Boca in 1995 after serving a 13 match cocaine ban, and formed a formidable partnership with his great friend Diego Maradona, both on and off the pitch. With manager Héctor Veira's blond mullet, colourful jackets, and well-known fondness for the Buenos Aires nightlife, the club became known as "The Cabaret" at that time. But there was no doubting the quality of some of the football played.

Caniggia, the complete striker, was a skilful creator as well as goalscorer, and, despite all the off the pitch distractions, the crowd enjoyed the way the team played, and Boca nearly won the league in 1998, but for a difference of one point.

Caniggia missed out on the 1990 World Cup final due to a yellow card for an innocuous handball in the semi-final. He played in every game during Argentina's ill-fated 1994 campaign, but then fell fowl of manager Daniel Passarella's long-hair rule for the 1998 World Cup.

Caniggia, an accomplished rock drummer, who has recorded material and named one of his sons Axel after Guns 'N' Roses singer Axel Rose, refused to go the barbers and so lost his place in the team. However, an unlikely renaissance at Dundee and Rangers in Scotland, saw Caniggia recalled to the Argentina squad for the 2002 World Cup at the age of 36, where he became the first player to receive a red card at a World Cup without actually playing in a single game.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 20, 2009

Holding midfielder: Fernando Gago

The current Real Madrid player was brilliant as a 19-year-old at Boca, making the holding role his own, and keeping stalwart Sebastián Battalgia out of the side. Graceful in possession, Gago saw breaking the opposition's play as only part of the defensive midfielder's role. He also liked to create from the centre of the pitch with precise through balls to the strikers.

A home grown product of Ramon Madonni's youth academy, the teenage Gago was the lynchpin of Alfo Basile's Boca side that won the double of league and Copa Sudamerica in 2005. Having been watched by every top club in Europe, he opted to join Real Madrid for a fee of around €20m, and is now a first choice in Maradona's national side.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 20, 2009

Left midfielder: Román Riquelme

Román, as it says on his shirt, has always played as 'le enganche' behind the strikers at Boca, but is on the left of midfield in our dream team because the number 10 shirt is reserved for someone else. Probably no player in world football divides opinion quite like Riquelme does. His detractors complain that he doesn't track back, or that his mode of playing is out of date, but at Boca Juniors he is adored by the fans.

The key player in Carlos Bianchi's great side that won the Libertadores three times in the early 2000's, and the World Club Championship against Real Madrid in 2000, Riquelme plays the game at his own rhythm, often 'pausing' on the ball, waiting for the perfect pass, and he is one of the best in the world from dead-ball situations. With astonishing vision, he can pull off the unexpected, picking out passes that most in the crowd cannot see.

Returning to Boca on loan from Villareal in 2007, he was simply brilliant in the Libertadores Cup run, as Boca won the trophy again. However, he has been plagued with injury problems since making the move back to Boca permanent. A prickly character who has fallen out with many managers during his career, Riquelme recently announced his retirement from the Argentina national team for the second time.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 20, 2009

Free role: Diego Maradona

In 1980, Barcelona President Josep Nuñez flew to Buenos Aires to sign Argentinos Juniors' teenage prodigy for a then world record $6m. There's a great photo in Clarin on 5 May 1980 that shows Nuñez and his directors, besuited with serious business faces, sitting around a table with the 19-year-old, while an assortment of scruffily-dressed family and friends stand in the background. Jorge Cyterzspiler, one of Maradona's mates from the shanty town where he grew up, had recently been appointed Maradona's agent, and the two of them look like a pair of mischievous kids who can't believe what is happening as Maradona puts pen to paper, Cyterzspiller, in a leather jacket, is grinning from ear to ear with a cigarette in his mouth.

However, the transfer was cancelled by the Argentine Football Association a few days later. A new rule introduced by the military dictatorship stated that no player under the age of 20 would be allowed to leave Argentina. "Resolution 37 exists for the good of Argentina, for the good of our football clubs, for the good of our players, and for the good of the national team,", said AFA president Julio Grondona, who still holds the position today. "Rules are rules, and they are to be obeyed without exceptions. I believe we can find a satisfactory solution to all this", said Grondona, "I believe we can find businesses in our country that can fund Argentinos Juniors and Maradona nearly as much money as Barcelona are willing to pay them".

And so, there it is, back in 1980, for the first time, a player becomes owned not by a club, but a third party; a consortium of agents and commercial interests. In the end, Maradona was loaned to Boca Juniors for a year by the business consortium that bought him from Argentinos Juniors, before finally joining Barcelona in 1982.

And what a year at Boca it turned out to be. They won the league in 1981 with Maradona at his brilliant best. An array of stunning goals, too many to choose from, but perhaps the most famous came in the Superclásico against arch-rivals River Plate. Maradona dribbled through the whole of the River defence, but when he had just goalkeeper Fillol to beat, Maradona didn't only go round him once, but went back and beat him again, leaving Argentina's World Cup winning keeper, scrambling around on all fours, before the Boca number 10 cooly dispatched the ball into the net.

Maradona returned to Boca for a couple of seasons in 1996. His pace had gone, but he could still spray passes around with accuracy, a feature of Maradona's game that often gets overlooked - even when he was at his peak, he would spend 90 per cent of matches playing simple passes, knocking it first time to evade his markers, while waiting for the right moment to conjure up a piece of genius.

Boca's most famous player is also their most famous fan, often seen excitedly leaning out of his corporate box in a replica shirt, while his daughters and friends hold him around the waist to prevent him from falling out.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 20, 2009

Striker: Carlos Tévez

The 'People's Player'. The cropped-haired teenager with the name 'Carlitos' on his back was an instant hit with Boca fans. They knew he came from Fuerte Apache, one of the poorest and most violent neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires, and he was living their dreams; a fan turning out for his boyhood team and openly loving every minute of it.

"Not even Carlos Tévez knows what his best position is, so we just put him on the pitch and let him get on with it", manager Carlos Bianchi once said. Tevez made his debut in 2001 and won four titles with Boca - Libertadores Cup in 2003, the Intercontinental Cup against AC Milan in 2003, the league in 2003, and the Copa Sudamerica in 2004.

One of the goals he is most fondly remembered for came against River Plate in the quarter-finals of the 2003 Libertadores Cup. Boca fans had been banned from the return leg due to violence in the first leg at Boca's stadium. The River fans were duly called 'chickens' by opposing supporters, and upon scoring in the second leg, Tévez celebrated by doing an impression of a chicken in front of the home fans, for which he was promptly shown the red card.

Amusingly, the referee repeated the chicken impression three times in front of the River Plate fans, to explain why he was sending Tévez off.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 20, 2009

Striker: Martín Palermo

The symbol of Boca Juniors over the last decade, scoring crucial goals, including the two against Real Madrid in the 2000 World Club championship final.

Palermo is not a typical Argentine striker, in fact much of his play resembles more of a traditional English-style centre forward, particularly his ability in the air. Not the most technically-gifted, he makes up for his deficiencies, with physical strength and work-rate, although occasionally surprises with a spectacular long shot, or bicycle kick, as was his recent 200th goal for Boca.

The club's highest ever scorer in the professional era is now just 20 goals away from becoming their greatest goalscorer of all-time.
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Bispham Seasider · Jun 20, 2009

So there it is, a Boca Dream Team as seen from an English perspective.

threervana · Jun 20, 2009

Interesting~~~But is Gago the best DM in BJ's History???? I doubt that...

About the other dream team players, I will list Schelotto, M.Delgado, Battaglia, Ibarra, Schiavi, Pato, Cagna who contributed tremendously in the past decade.

BTW, Roman Riquelme, the LEFT MID????....He won't like this position~~Jaja

vipnerd · Jul 28, 2009

threervana said: ↑

Interesting~~~But is Gago the best DM in BJ's History???? I doubt that...
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Rattin should be on that list as the DM. Even Chicho Serna did more than Gago for us. And the fans loved Giunta ...

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Moishe · Jul 30, 2009

I think we can all agree about Gago. I don't even think he's shown much growth since going to Spain if at all. Just in recent years I'd take Seba in a heartbeat over Gago.

msi2 · Aug 1, 2009

Moishe said: ↑

I think we can all agree about Gago. I don't even think he's shown much growth since going to Spain if at all. Just in recent years I'd take Seba in a heartbeat over Gago.
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IMO, he is way worse at Real Madrid than he was at Boca. A complete waste imo.

Moishe · Aug 1, 2009

msi2 said: ↑

IMO, he is way worse at Real Madrid than he was at Boca. A complete waste imo.
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I've been pretty consistent on Gago since he left Boca. IMHO he's gone backwards in his development. I would hope that would change but I'd also prefer for Banega to step up as I've always felt him the better talent of the two.

I understand the article was based on a "dream team" with no focus put on tactics and formations but some of the selections made little sense.

Bispham Seasider · Aug 1, 2009

Moishe said: ↑

I understand the article was based on a "dream team" with no focus put on tactics and formations but some of the selections made little sense.
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Aye, it was random and odd, but I suppose it was geared toward football fans in the UK where (and I include English and Scottish fans) football has a tendency to be virtually totally focussed on the game in this country (certainly very much so in England) while disregarding everything else, unless it involves English (or Scottish) clubs.

One channel (Five) used to have two weekly programmes covering the Primera División - one showing all the weeks goals and the other showing extended highlights from one match - but they were shown in the middle of the night, often at 4am. Not surprisingly it wasn't really watched much and it is shown no more. I contacted them and they still hold the rights to show Primera División matches in the UK, but have no plans to show them any time soon.

Setanta Sports, before they went bust in the UK, showed Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana matches live, often with Argentine sides.

Anyway, my point being it isn't really surprising it makes little sense!

Moishe · Aug 2, 2009

Bispham Seasider said: ↑

Aye, it was random and odd, but I suppose it was geared toward football fans in the UK where (and I include English and Scottish fans) football has a tendency to be virtually totally focussed on the game in this country (certainly very much so in England) while disregarding everything else, unless it involves English (or Scottish) clubs.

One channel (Five) used to have two weekly programmes covering the Primera División - one showing all the weeks goals and the other showing extended highlights from one match - but they were shown in the middle of the night, often at 4am. Not surprisingly it wasn't really watched much and it is shown no more. I contacted them and they still hold the rights to show Primera División matches in the UK, but have no plans to show them any time soon.

Setanta Sports, before they went bust in the UK, showed Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana matches live, often with Argentine sides.

Anyway, my point being it isn't really surprising it makes little sense!
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What I've wondered is if this list was based off an Argentine viewpoint, would Diego still receive the love he did preRoman bust-up?