Argentinos Juniors 1 Banfield 0
I woke this morning to the sound of birds twittering outside my bedroom window. The first Saturday sun of the Southern Hemisphere Spring streamed through the crack between my curtains and I bounded out of bed. This was going to be a good day. I could feel it in the air.
I follow West Ham United from afar and Argentinos Juniors from right up close. And this, so far, has not been a good season for either club. That’s putting it mildly. As I munched on my breakfast toast, both sides were rooted firmly to the bottom of their respective divisions with a combined total of just four points from twelve games played and not a single victory between them.
But, as I said, I knew today was going to be a good day. I settled in front of the tele to watch West Ham run rings around their North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. That Frédéric Piquionne goal on 29 minutes came as no surprise. And as I slipped on my Argentinos Juniors shirt to head for the Diego Armando Maradona stadium and the early afternoon kickoff against Banfield, I knew that the Hammers would not let that victory slip from their grasp.
“I don’t want to go,” wailed my son. “I get too depressed with all the losing.” It’s foolish parenting to promise your kids things you can’t deliver and none of us wants to see our children suffer so I chose my words carefully.
The drum is the most important instrument
“Just put your bloody shoes and your Argentinos Juniors shirt on. You’re coming with me. We’re going to win this one.”
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but if you’re waiting for a 113 bus then you can normally guarantee that three 65s, the bus you don’t want, will sail by in quick succession. But not today, they didn’t. There were two empty 113s waiting at the bus stop when we arrived. It was just that kind of day!
To tell the truth, and it hurts me to do so, this was a poor game. Both sides lacked cohesion and far too many passes went astray. The home side’s captain and lynchpin, Nestor Ortigoza, was missing through injury. But the weather was glorious and the rooftops of La Paternal glistened in the sunlight.
“I’m bored,” moaned my son twenty minutes from the end with the game still at 0-0. “Can I have my DS?”
“No you can’t. Victory is nigh,” I proclaimed.
“What!” he said.
I wasn’t wrong. About ten minutes from the end Gonzalo Vargas got on the end of a pass from Franco Niell and pushed the ball into the net. I’m not sure this victory was deserved but when has that ever concerned us?
Another loose ball
My son was leaping about swinging his shirt in the air and the sparse crowd banged their drums like there would be no tomorrow. There will be a tomorrow but it won’t be as good as today.
Two crap teams close to my heart both clinch their first victories of their seasons and both by a single, nerve-jangling goal. What are the odds? This was as good as it gets. Or so I thought.
When I got home I switched on the tele to discover that Leo Messi was owning up to a life-long passion for that delightful east London delicacy, jellied eels, and a love of Essex architecture and was hoping to fulfil his dream of signing for West Ham by the start of next season. Remarkable!
What more could I ask? Peace in the Middle East perhaps? I switched channels just in time to see Benyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas announce a power-sharing deal in Jerusalem and that a joint Palestinian-Israeli team would represent the region at the next World Cup.
Unlikely, I know. But at first light, so were victories for both Argentinos Juniors and West Ham United. And when the unlikely comes your way it’s tempting to get a little greedy.
As the sun set over Buenos Aires and the family gathered around the piano for a bi-lingual rendition of the West Ham anthem ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,’ I clinked the ice-cubes in my glass of whisky and reflected on what a wonderful world this would be if everyone were as shallow as me and could glean such joy and optimism from two such hapless teams.
Back in the real world, Boca’s short-lived revival came to an abrupt 1-0 end against Estudiantes. Velez Sarsfield regained the top spot with a 3-0 drubbing of Olimpo and Independiente clinched a useful 1-0 win against my tip for the drop, Gimnasia. River only managed a 1-1 draw against lowly Quilmes, Colon beat previous high-fliers, San Lorenzo 2-0, Lanus won 1-0 against All Boys and everyone else drew. Argentinos Juniors lifted themselves off the bottom and now sit proudly in 16th place with a visit to second-from-bottom Gimnasia next weekend.