Lewis poses outside La Bombonera
Lewis the Lion was very excited when he woke up one Sunday morning in Buenos Aires.
Club Atletico Boca Juniors
He was going to watch a football match at perhaps the most famous football stadium in Argentina that evening: “La Bombonera,” home to Boca Juniors. It is called “La Bombonera” – “The Chocolate Box” because from above, when the stadium is filled with its fans wearing the team colours of blue and yellow, it looks just like a chocolate box!
It also has an unusual shape: it is flat on one side with three steep stands. This shape seems to intensify the roar of the supporters and in fact the fans, “La Doce” are called the team’s 12th player!
The blue and yellow of the Boca Juniors Football Stadium
To be honest, Lewis the Lion was as excited about seeing the crowd as he was about seeing the match itself and he wasn’t to be disappointed!
Lewis the Lion gets wafted by a Boca Junior Flag!
First of all, he caught a special bus with his friends to a Boca Junior’s supporters bar not far from the stadium where Lewis watched them eating pizza and drinking beer before going to the football match. That was because alcohol was banned in the football stadium itself and in the surrounding area for a few hours beforehand to prevent trouble.
Lewis, Helen and Dan get ready to watch the football
The Bombonera is in a more rundown part of the city and so to avoid any trouble, there is a very high police presence before the matches and security is very tight. Helen was told that she had to make sure that she didn’t carry anything in her bag that could be thrown so had to leave her suntan lotion and umbrella on the bus! The policewoman who did a full body search also questioned why she had a pen in her bag? There were also sniffer dogs and high gates and various check-points to pass through. It almost felt like going through custom controls at an airport!
Lewis the Lion and his friends had arrived early at the stadium and so watched as it started to fill up.
Lewis looks around the Bombonera
They were high up on a stand, at the goal end. Little by little they could see a sea of yellow and blue filling the stadium.
Helen and Lewis get ready for the start of the match
Big banners, ribbons and flags were drapped over the seats and it was a really pretty sight to behold.
The stadium looks ablaze with yellow and blue
There was a big sign which read “51 titolos” reminding the supporters what a great club this was that they had won 51 titleships! Of course as Lewis the Lion had discovered on his previous visit to La Boca neighbourhood, Boca Juniors was the former club of perhaps one of the world’s most famous football players – Diego Maradona.
Boca Juniors have won 51 titles
As they were waiting for the action to kick off, there was a film of a former Boca Juniors football player who had died recently and he was marked with respect at the start of the match with a minute’s silence by all of the players.
Have you ever seen this happen before at a sporting event?
The crowd anticipates the arrival of the players
However, before that the crowd were starting to get excitied as the suspense and tension grew for the start of the match. Like the football match in Brazil that Lewis the Lion had seen, the supporters were orchestrating the singing in the stands with trumpets and drums keeping the rhythm. Click here to see these two short video clips of Lewis the Lion soaking up the atmosphere inside the stadium and preparing for the start of the match.
Cheerleaders lead get the crowd warmed up
Cheerleaders appeared with yellow and blue pom-poms with a special dance routine and there what looked like big fireworks. However, they weren’t fireworks but showered confetti into the air instead, shooting it high above the supporters! Lewis laughed his hearty little laugh as then there were men who appeared who looked like they were in the film “Ghostbusters!” They had big backpacks strapped to their backs with a vaccum in their hands to try to suck up as much of the confetti off the pitch before the match started!
Boca Juniors versus Lanus
The match that Lewis the Lion had come to watch was a local Buenos Aires derby with Boca Juniors versus Lanús. Playing for Boca Juniors in that particular match was the acclaimed Argentine player, Juan Román Riquelme, and Lewis hoped that he would see him score a goal or two.
The players arrive on the pitch
Once the match had kicked off, the atmosphere inside the Bombonera was simply electric and even though the ticket had been expensive for this outing ($630 Argentine Pesos), Lewis the Lion was so pleased that Helen had agreed to go along for this unique experience: it was so much fun! Not only was the football match itself exciting as both teams seemed so evenly matched but just being part of the crowd, experiencing the music, chants and shouting was just wonderful! Click on this video clip to get a taste of what Lewis the Lion experienced.
The 1st goal is scored!
The first goal came after the 39th minute with Boca Juniors’ player, Pablo Mouche, finding the back of the net. His photo flashed up on the big screen above the stadium. The second goal for Boca Juniors followed swiftly behind in the 41st minute with Riquelme scoring. Lewis the Lion couldn’t believe his luck!
Riquelme scores Boca's second goal!
This second goal sent the crowd into a frenzy as this time Riquelme’s image appeared above the stadium. Children even jumped up at the netting at the front, as you can see in the video clip.
However, the celebrations by the Boca Juniors supporters were quickly dampened as Marione Pavone from Lanus got a goal back in the 42nd minute. This was turning out to be a very competitive derby!
The second half proved to be equally nail-biting between the two teams as Lanus seemed to up the pace of their game. Eventually, their tenacity paid off as Paolo Goltz got the equalizing second goal in the 54th minute.
The game ended as a 2-2 draw which seemed like a fair result to Lewis the Lion even if he had secretly hoped that Boca Juniors might win! Because security was still tight to ensure that the crowds of supporters left the ground safely and without trouble, Lewis and his friends had to wait before they could leave.
Lewis admires La Bombonera stadium
However, he had a lovely conversation with Massimo, 8 years old and a Boca Juniors supporter who had come to the match with his grandad. (Here he is waving his flag).
Children also enjoy the late football game!
Lewis told him that it seemed very late for an 8 year old to be up on a school night (it was quarter to eleven at night) but Massimo told him that it was quite normal in Argentina! Lewis told him that children in England usually went to bed much earlier if they had school to get up for the next morning. Lewis the Lion didn’t get home till midnight and just this once, he was glad that he didn’t have to go to school the next morning!
What time do you think is a good time to go to bed if you have school the next day?
Do you think its better for children in Argentina or in England?
Why?
