This phrase lovingly refers to the passion that Argentines have fútbol. Yes, the kind you play with your feet, as the name indicates. The sport can be seen on all the sports channels and local channels here, virtually year-round. Las Hinchas (literally, “the swellers” or “the swollen ones” but really the maniac fans) flock to the stadiums of Buenos Aires and greater Argentina to cheer on their teams, throw confetti and toilet paper, set off fire crackers and smoke bombs, beat drums, waive flags and sing, sing, sing for hours on end. “Dale, dale, dale (insert name of team here)”, is probably the most common cheer here for any team. And remember to pronounce that word “Dah-lay” which can mean anything from “ok” to “I agree” to “Come on!” to “Let’s go!” depending on inflection and context.
Getting tickets can be a pain, as going to the stadium requires a trek and any hotel or travel agent who is selling to tourists may ask as much as 10 times face value. But once you have them, hang on for the ride, as professional fútbol fans here make college football fans look like the post-lobotomy version of Randle Patrick McMurphy.
Be sure to know the colors of both the home and visiting team, and dress neutrally, as heckling and fighting between fans is quite common. As I walked in to the first fútbol match I ever went to—the Superclasico (River v. Boca) of November 2004—I vividly remember the visiting Boca fans atop the stadium as the gringo tourist crowd I was with walked into the sold-out River stadium amidst the home River fans. Some colorful phrases I heard were “Gallina puta”, “La concha de tu madre”, and “Cagón” none of which translate well. You can imagine what they mean. The taunting and jeering were remarkable as the River-Boca rivalry is the most storied in Argentina.
The other remarkable thing about the event was the entrance of the home team to the stadium. So many things happened there at that stadium that would never happen in the U.S. I was shocked. The smoke bombs, fire crackers, and drums impressed me the most.
Equally impressive was the way the Hinchas continued their verbal onslaught throughout the game. When River scored the first time, the bleachers could be felt trembling under the excitement. I began imagining the upper deck crumbling away under the jumping fans but the structure held its form and I lived to write this blog. The second time River scored our group of gringos—at that point professed River fans after several Spanglish interactions with the surrounding fans—became best friends with the fans immediately surrounding us, participating in the hugging and kissing that the Argentines are wont to do.
Leaving the stadium can be troublesome, as fans are more likely to fight after their team has won or lost (it really doesn’t matter). The inconvenience of it all is that the security guards will not let the home team fans leave until the visiting fans have completely vacated their section. The idea being that violence will be avoided. This means that as a minimum you will be trapped in the stadium for 30-45 minutes while waiting for the visiting fans to clear out.
For anyone who has never been, even if you don’t like sports, I highly recommend going as no other spectacle that I have seen compares. Just take precautions and you will be fine.
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