Tim Vickery column

By Tim Vickery
South American football reporter

River Plate v Boca Juniors is a battle of rich against poor

South America's biggest local derby is the Buenos Aires clash between Boca Juniors and River Plate.

Several factors help explain why this match is followed so closely across the continent: the tradition of the clubs, the quality of the teams, the depth of the rivalry and Argentina's role in the development of the South American game.

And there is something else.

The clash offers a narrative which is easy for other countries to understand. It is a battle of rich against poor.

Both clubs began life in the working-class dockside neighbourhood. River Plate have long since moved out to the snooty suburbs. Boca have stayed put.

The establishment of such a fault-line between the teams is obviously a massive generalisation - there are many rich Boca followers just as there are millions of poor River fans.

Nevertheless, this social division is hugely important to the identity and ethos of the two clubs - and it is something the rest of the continent can relate to without any problems.

So many other South American local derbies share the same characteristic.

Cerro Porteno against Olimpia in Paraguay, Alianza Lima and Universitario in Peru, Penarol against Nacional in Uruguay and Corinthians against Sao Paulo in Brazil are all examples of match ups between the masses (represented by the former club) and the elite (the latter).

Rio de Janeiro is slightly different - which might surprise those who have heard about the famous Fla-Flu derby, with Flamengo representing the poor and Fluminense standing for the wealthy.

However, it isn't the city's major derby.

The one which really gets hearts pounding - and whose potential for violence most concerns the authorities - is Flamengo versus Vasco da Gama.

The hatred is mutual. I recall lying on the floor of a bus with other terrified passengers while rival fans and police were fighting out a gun battle.

I recall lying on the floor of a bus while rival Vasco and Flamengo fans and police were fighting out a gun battle

Rather than rich versus poor, their rivalry has its roots in a historical struggle for the hearts and minds of the masses.

Flamengo are comfortably the biggest team in Rio, and Vasco are comfortably second - and there lies the problem.

In the 1920s Vasco, the club of the Portuguese community, revolutionised Brazilian football by winning the Rio State championship with a team which included blacks and poor whites.

The empire struck back. Vasco suffered all kinds of prejudice and penalties until they made sure of their place by clubbing together to build what was at the time the biggest stadium in Latin America.

But Flamengo stole their thunder.

Previously a club of the elite, they seized the moment when football went professional in the 1930s, cleverly signing the leading black players of the day and taking advantage of their skill and charisma to become the most popular club in Brazil.

Vasco have nurtured a sense of resentment ever since.

They have an impressive array of titles to their name, but while their local rivals have more, it will never be enough.

Long-serving Vasco president Eurico Miranda says that beating Flamengo gives him more pleasure than sex.

His pleasure has been curtailed of late. Flamengo qualified for this year's Copa Libertadores by beating Vasco in the final of the Brazilian Cup.

And when they met on Sunday in a semi final match in the Rio championship Flamengo won on penalties.

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