Argentina
Copa Maradona
The Boca Juniors players’ shirts carried a simple message: “The Copa del 10 is staying at home,” it read as they celebrated lifting the Copa Diego Armando Maradona.
There could be no more fitting champion of the competition, played in tribute to El Diez, than Boca. The club is an integral part of the Maradona mythology. The doors to the Bombonera became one of the shrines to Maradona in the days after he suffered heart failure in November.
So the jubilant celebrations were tinged with emotion after a nervy final. Boca overcame Banfield in a drab clash. Colombian Edwin Cardona’s fabulous strike was the only difference between the two sides well into time added on, when Banfield’s Luciano Lollo produced a dramatic equaliser, taking the tie to penalties.
Yet when right-back Julio Buffarini converted the winning spot-kick, there was a greater sense of relief than of glory. While it is Boca’s second domestic title in 12 months, this was a consolation prize. Since winning the league title in March 2020, the club has focused on the Copa Libertadores. Coach Miguel Angel Russo was brought back to the club in early 2020, largely to attempt to replicate his success from 2007, when he guided Boca to lift the trophy, the last time the Xeneize have done so.
After six months without playing a single game during the worst of the pandemic in South America, Boca then eased through the remainder of the group phase and through the knockout rounds to the semi-final.
The week before facing Banfield, Russo’s side travelled to Brazil for the return leg against Santos. The first leg in Buenos Aires had ended goalless. The clues were perhaps there to see, but the result in the second leg was still staggering. Boca’s attack was blunt and its defence careless. Santos steamrollered their way to the final, defeating the Argentines 3-0. It was the manner in which Boca capitulated, with little ambition or imagination, plus ill-discipline
leaving them with ten men, which sent shockwaves through the club.
“We weren’t even competitive,” said forward Eduardo Salvio, just one of the many players who could now leave. As the quest for a seventh Libertadores title continues, the opinions of players from Boca’s successful 2000s team take on ever-greater importance.
“The players didn’t show character,” said Chicho Serna, a midfielder from the golden 2000s era. Former goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba even told Argentine media he wanted Boca to play more like River Plate.
Much was made of how both Boca and River reached the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores for the third consecutive year, a rare feat for any club in the competition.
Yet while River redeemed the club’s image with a proud attempt to claw back from their disastrous 3-0 defeat in the first leg with Palmeiras, despite failing to do so, Boca were simply outplayed by Santos. There was all the more pressure on the side to win the Copa Maradona to put that defeat behind them.
The Copa Maradona was designed to fill a gap in the calendar for first division sides. The league ended in March 2020, and the scheduled Copa Superliga was cut short by the pandemic.
In the magical realism of Argentine football administration, ever since the Argentine FA expanded the first division to 30 teams in 2015 (it is now down to 24) the authorities have wrestled with organising league and cup competitions to fill the calendar. The result is that the domestic game is a labyrinth of competitions containing zones, groups, phases, play-offs and finals.
Boca finished top of a group featuring River Plate, who for the first time in seven years under Marcelo Gallardo went without winning a trophy or even playing a final.
In the other group that played for a place in the final, Banfield were the tournament’s surprise. Only seven players in the 28-man squad are not homegrown. A team filled with youth academy players caught the eye and the imagination. Giuliano Galoppo was arguably the standout – and revelatory – player of the competition, with five goals for the 21-year-old midfielder.
With just two official titles to their name, reaching the final and pushing Boca to penalties was a strong endorsement of Banfield’s model that invests in its youth system and gives those players the opportunity to prove themselves in the first team.
Many other sides fared less favourably. The other three members of the “Big Five”, Independiente, Racing and San Lorenzo, all sacked their coaches. In total, nine coaches lost their jobs during or after the Copa Maradona.
While some clubs like Independiente sought experienced coaches to go forward, others placed their faith in debutants. Former Boca Juniors, Real Madrid and Roma midfielder Fernando Gago starts out as a coach with modest outfit Aldosivi.
Gago may soon find himself in the opposing dugout to a former team-mate. Carlos Tevez watched the final of Boca against Banfield from the sidelines, not starting due to personal reasons. Yet Boca’s victory increased his personal trophy haul to 29, level with Lucho Gonzalez and only behind Lionel Messi (36), as the most decorated Argentine still in action. He had been rumoured to be close to retiring, but while the Apache said he’ll play on this year, he also confirmed that he has started his coach’s course.
While it is Boca’s second domestic title in 12 months, this was a consolation prize