And thus began the end of an era…. It was on Sunday in a game that on paper did not mean much.. But turned out to be special now and forever.. One day fans will look back on this game and say it was historic and in a way the end of an era in modern soccer. That game was played in La Bombonera and it was Boca Jrs 4 Arsenal 0. As a River Plate fan it is hard to write this article. But as a soccer fan and former reporter it is important. As we watch what could be the start of a new global golden era for Barcelona in Spain fans of the worlds game cannot forget the end of a golden era in South America… That Era will be known as The Boca Jrs era…. An era that began in 1998… A brief look back…. In the early 1990´s Boca Jrs was in the mist of one of it´s worst financial and sporting crisis of it´s history. A championship won in 1992 was marred by almost 5 years of poor results and marketing ploys that blew up in Boca´s face. Hector Vieria and Carlos Bilardo were some of the big names in the coach circle that came and did not deliver. The return of Diego Maradona was more nostalgic than result oriented as Diego was a shadow of his former self, and barely played or trained. In 1998 came the start of a serious project when Mauricio Macri was voted president of the club, a serious business man who proceeded over Boca as a business and not passion. And enter a coach who had a history of winning, Carlos Bianchi, who took Velez to the promise land winning the Libertadores and Intercontinetal title in 1994, the ladder a victory over AC Milan. Latter Alfio Basile and El Chino Benitez would also bask in the glory of this squad. A team built on attractive but relatively no name players followed as the high priced names of Diego Latorre, Diego Maradona, and Claudio Caniggia were replaced by Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Martin Palermo, Hugo Ibarra, and a young man named Juan Roman Riquleme… The rest is history the titles that followed are beyond words for a club in such a relatively short time , about 10 years: Local # Apertura 1998 # Clausura 1999 # Apertura 2000 # Apertura 2003 # Apertura 2005 # Clausura 2006 International Copa Libertadores: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007 Copa Sudamericana: 2004, 2005 Recopa Sudamericana 2005, 2006 Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup 2000, 2003 The youth system that produced Carlos Tevez, Sebastian Batagalia, and a team that became the start off point for the careers of the likes of Walter Samuel. Boca who is team know for its passion and huge fan base was never a team to win many titles in a row but the Macri era brought with it 16 titles in a 10 year period. A Golden era… Truly up until the Guardiola era in Barcelona, which seems to be taking off, truly the last golden era of a team in soccer. It is rare that today we see a big team the likes of Boca Jr, River Plate, MANU or Barcelona have a golden era before our eyes. Seeing it one thinks when will it end, but when it ends one can look back and say what achievement…. So enter Sunday… And Martin Palermo caps off the last golden era in modern soccer by scoring his 220 goal, making him at 36 Boca´s ALL TIME leading goal scorer. In their late 30´s and in the twilight of their careers Martin Palermo, Juan Roman Riquelme, Hugo Ibarra, and in the United States Guillermo Barro Scholotto are the symbol of success of Boca Jrs. Living legends that will go down in South American and maybe world soccer history as titans of the game.
Nicely done, but you fail to mention the significance of why Sunday ended an era. I'm a Newell's guy, so I'm not certian what specifically ended on Sunday - Macri out, Palermo retired - no specific event. Palermo becoming the leading scorer in the club's storied history doesn't mean the end of anything, save for possibly the final accolade of his long service for club.
The truth is that this same team, with Roman and Palermo, and with a couple good defensive signings could easily challenge a title yet again. Furtheremore, even thou Roman and Martin, along Guille, Tevez, Battaglia, Ibarra and Palacio could be considered the club's biggest idols in these last 12 years, there were several others that left their mark: Bermudez, Serna, Samuel, Cagna, Basualdo, Arruabarrena, Traverso, Cascini, Chelo, Schiavi, etc. Roman could easily play 2-3 more years. Martin 1 more year (most of which he should be a sub). Time for Clemente to come back. Battaglia to keep playing. Once Roman is gone, the return of Tevez and Palacio (they have differences with Roman) ... even Boselli could at some point come back to leave his own mark at the club. Both Martin and Roman left the club ... only to return. In their abscence, Boca not only won another Libertadores, but also an Intercontinental. And with them 2, yet another Libertadores. I wouldn't write off Boca as having the end of an era. It could be the end of Martin. The end of Roman in 2-3 years. But what Boca achieved in these years was solid management. That is what is missing now. If the dirigentes get their act together and have true authority and unity, the team will gel back. The biggest miss Boca has is the disappearance of Pedro Pompilio, leaving behind a group of ununified management. This was the key. Players that are talented and winners we still have plenty. Economic power too. Thirst for glory ... we were born with. .