Boca hero returns to the Bombonera
Juan Roman Riquelme
T
he popular youth
tournament La Copinha
is held in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, every year,
but this January the
competition stood
out for one curiosity.
Among the players from Cruzeiro,
Fortaleza, Vasco da Gama and other
clubs were 11 young men named after
one of South American football’s legends.
But what was curious was that the legend
in question was not Brazilian, he was
Argentinian. And his name was Riquelme.
Official statistics show that over
15,000 Riquelmes, with many creative
spelling variations, have been born in
Brazil since Juan Roman Riquelme’s
playing career took off. But although
he is admired across South America
and the world, it is at Boca Juniors
where he is most revered.
He retired in 2015 but helped sway
the presidential elections at Boca in
December in favour of Jorge Ameal,and as a result the former playmaker is
now back at the club as vice-president
and director of football. “We want the
supporters to be proud of this club,” said
Riquelme on the campaign trail.
From afar this is, perhaps, a strange
comment as Boca have won three of
the last five Argentinian league titles. But
they have also lost a Copa Libertadores
Final and semi-final to River Plate in the
last two years, and for many supporters
that is simply unacceptable.
While renovation work on the
Bombonera remains under debate,
Riquelme is seen as the spiritual leader
of the new Boca as the club undergoes
structural and cosmetic changes. When
he originally joined as a youngster fromArgentinos Juniors in 1975 the deal
involved several youth-team players at
a time when Boca did not have quality
coming through the ranks.
The new director of football must have
observed a similar problem and fired all
the coaches at youth level.
As for the first team, the last man
to guide Boca to the Libertadores title,
in 2007, Miguel Angel Russo returns
as coach following spells in Colombia,
Peru and Paraguay. But the 63-year-
old, who has also battled cancer, will
have few resources available in this
latest challenge as Boca face financial
limitations. According to Ameal: “The
club sold players for $55million but we
have just five million in the bank.”
Meanwhile, Daniele De Rossi has left,
citing personal circumstances as the
reason for returning to Italy, Carlos
Tevez’ future is in the balance and an
attempt to sign Peruvian striker Paolo
Guerrero fell through.
With Argentina attempting to stave offHeadliners
Return...in the midst
of things at Boca“The club sold players for $55million
but we have just five million in
the bank” Boca president Jorge Ameal