Argentina Manager Travel Guide

A Short History Lesson

The football established itself in Argentina in the middle of the 19th century, by English immigrants, and the first football match was played on June 20 of 1867 in the Buenos Aires Cricket Club. In May of that year the brothers Thomas and James Hogg invited in the diary The Standard to a meeting to try to promote the practice of football, some days later was founded the Buenos Aires Football Club. The first game was played by only eight players for each team.

Since the turn of the century Boca have been the top team in Argentina. They are winning almost everything and they have many good players destined for a future with Europe's top clubs. They have nailed 22 championships since the league turned professional, but their fierce rivals River are the ones that have lifted the most trophies with 32. Slightly further behind are the others big teams of Argentina, like Independiente with 14, San Lorenzo with 9 and Racing with 7.

In the international cups it's a little different. In the Copa Libertadores, Independiente is the only team in the Americas that has won every final they have contested, winning 7 titles making them the most successful in the competition. Boca are close with 5 gold medals, and a little behind are Estudiantes (LP) with 3 and River with 2. The other Argentine teams that have also won it are Velez, Argentinos and Racing; who have claimed just the one title. The only Argentine team that reached the final and didn't win it is Newells, which makes Argentina the most successful country in the competition winning it 20 times in comparison to rivals Brazil's 13 successes.

The Copa Sudamericana is a young cup. It was created in 2002 and that same year San Lorenzo won the trophy. In 2004 and 2005 Boca enjoyed victory in the competition. Originally organized as a cup contested between both South American and North American teams, this never materialized due to the long distances that the teams would need to cover to play each other.

The Recopa Sudamericana is a cup that's played by the winner of the Libertadores and The Sudamericana. The Argentineans teams dominate this trophy too with five successes, Boca contributing three titles and Independiente and Velez once apiece.

The League

The First division of the Argentine football is organized by the Asociación de Futbol Argentino (A.F.A.) in two annual tournaments: the Closing Stage and the Opening Stage, which are disputed at present by 20 teams.

All 20 teams play two tournaments per year: The Closing (generally between February and June), and Opening (between August and December), so that two champions exist in every season. Unlike the European countries, Argentina doesn't play a national cup, though from time to time the teams contest the already evasive Republic Argentina Cup.

The relegation of teams to the second division is by a system of percentages. At the end of every season the two teams with the worst average points in the last three seasons descend, while the teams located in the positions 17 ª and 18 ª of that table, play two games the third and fourth best performers from the Second Division, thus meaning that the total number of teams that change division between seasons fluctuates from two and four.

The system of averages was established to diminish the possibility that one of the big teams descends, after San Lorenzo de Almagro was relegated in 1981 and Racing Club in the year 1983. Diverse critiques since then have been made to this system. As negative aspects of this is worth emphasizing two.

At present, the Argentine teams that qualify to the Copa Libertadores are both champion teams of the Opening and Closing Stage and both teams with most points in the general table of the season (except for the champions). The fifth placed side qualifies for the preliminary stage. For the Copa Sudamericana, Boca and River qualify as they are invited, plus the four best teams of the general table (except Boca and River).

Who To Be

There is a challenge for everyone in Argentina. If you are looking to manage a team at the top then look no further than Boca. You have plenty of good players and some really good youngsters, like Fernando Gago and Rodrigo Palacio, two of the best players in Argentina. You can also choose River if you are trying to win the championship from the word go. They have probably the best team for the future in Argentina, but they need nurturing, that's why they also have experienced players like Gallardo and Ortega that balance the squad's average age.

If you are trying to end the good run of those two teams in a short period of time you can choose to be the manager of rival clubs Independiente or Racing. In Independiente you have probably the best keeper in the league and probably the best youth keeper in the world in the form of Oscar Ustari. If you choose Racing you have a young squad that probably would need some new faces to challenge for trophies in your first season.

Other options are Velez, San Lorenzo or Estudiantes LP. Each of them has different advantages and disadvantages. It's up to you if you prefer a strong and experienced squad (Estudiantes LP), a young team with one of the best youth facilities in Argentina (Velez), or a balanced team that have a lot of potential if you know how to exploit it (San Lorenzo).

For the experienced manager that wants a challenge you can try to keep new teams Godoy Cruz, Belgrano and Nueva Chicago in the top flight. Godoy; or you can bring the first division winners of 1973 (Huracan) and 1982/84 (Ferro) to glory once again!

If you are looking for a real challenge you can try to give Villa Mitre their first promotion to the Premier Division and their first title.

Argentine teams generally don't have healthy banks accounts at the beginning of the game, but it's easy to make loads of money with gate receipts or sell home grown talent to the prey that is the European giants.

Players To Watch

Argentina, like Brazil, is a feeder league to European teams that are always looking for new fresh talent in South America. That's why you are always in need of new young players to replace the ones that the big teams like Inter, Madrid and the powerful English teams will look to buy from you. You can practically choose any team in the Premier Division and you are going to see many great players that could be potential stars that the European teams would love to spend their money in.

Top Players:

Ortega, Ariel - River - AM/F
Gallardo, Marcelo - River - AM
Belluschi, Fernando - River - AM
Montenegro, Daniel - Independiente - AM/F
Palacio, Rodrigo - Boca - F
Castroman, Lucas - Velez - AM/F
Veron, Juan Sebastian - Estudiantes LP - M
Pavone, Mariano - Estudiantes LP - S
Hernandez, Giovanni - Colon - AM

Certain To Succeed:

Falcao - River - S
Higuain, Gonzalo - River - AM/F
Ustari, Oscar - Independiente - GK
Gago, Fernando - Boca - DM
Morales, Maximiliano - Racing - AM
Torres, Juan Manuel - Racing - AM
Cabral, Gustavo - Racing - D
Zarate, Mauro - Velez - S
Lavezzi, Ezequiel - San Lorenzo - F
Sosa, Jose - Estudiantes LP - AM/F
Ruben, Marco - Central - S
Vecchio, Emiliano - Central - AM

Top Youngsters:

Fernandez, Augusto - River - AM
Lima, Rene - River - DM/M
Cardozo, Neri - Boca - AM
Grimi, Leandro - Racing - D
Bergessio, Gonzalo - Racing - F
Gomez, Alejandro - Arsenal - AM
Vitti, Pablo - Central - F

Hidden Diamonds:

Buonanotte, Diego - River - AM
Mendez, Jesus - River - DM
Higuain, Federico - River - AM/F
Gioda, Leandro - Independiente - D
Trejo, Oscar - Boca - S
Cahais, Matias - Boca - D
Insua, Emiliano - Boca - D
Silvestre, Matias - Boca - D
Menghi, Diego - Racing - D
Escudero, Damian - Velez - AM
Benitez, Nahuel - San Lorenzo - S
Archubi, Rodrigo - Lanus - M
Piatti, Pablo - Estudiantes - AM
Quintana, Matias - Quilmes - S
Di Maria, Angel - Central - AM
Villagra, Cristian - Central - D
Sanchez Prette, Cristian - Huracan - DM
Fazio, Federico - Ferro - D
Diaz, Roman - Chacarita - AM

AUTHOR: Nicolas Bileta

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