enganche
member
Reged: 30/01/2007
Posts: 24
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I just want to mention that last night my hometown team Arsenal de Sarandi won the Copa Sudamericana (South America's equivalent of the UEFA Cup) on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate tie with America of Mexico. This is the first title in the history of Arsenal,a very modest team who only gained promotion to Argentina's first division back in 2002.
For a little history of the club check out this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_de_Sarand%C3%AD
When I grew up in Sarandi, Arsenal were the little club from the barrio (neighborhood) whose games we'd attend in the lower divisions if we couldn't get in to an Independiente match. I'm an Independiente fan and always will be but I am very proud of my little neighborhood club Arsenal. Last night they showed a lot of heart and determination and got their tournament winning goal when sub Martin Andrizzi fought through three defenders from America to score the goal which made history in Sarandi!
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El_Shrimpador
member
Reged: 01/10/2007
Posts: 6
Loc: Southend-on-Sea
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Hi Enganche,
Just read your post. I was lucky enough to be at the game. Andrizzi's goal was amazing. He was virtually down on his knees as he wriggled through those defenders but still managed to maintain enough balance to get his shot in. This typified Arsenal's battling qualities over both legs of the final. I saw the first leg on TV and was really impressed with Gomez. To go to the Azteca in front of 100,000 Mexicans and come from behind to win 3-2 was a fantastic achievement. Consequently I was more than just an interested neutral come the return leg.
I bought an Arsenal shirt (and some for English Arsenal fans at home) and wore it to the game. During the competition and including the final they favoured their alternate shirt which is very similar to Aston Villa/West Ham's. Rather strangely the Arsenal fans prefer it as it is English style; I bought the home shirt with it's diagonal stripe precisely because it was South American style! When I've been wearing the shirt on my travels here I've had several comments of admiration for Arsenal. There's a genuine pride in their achievement from the Argentine public and media. There's a picture of me wearing my shirt at the ground on my charity fundraiser page at www.justgiving.com/davidoldbury. This also includes a brief summary of the game. I also bought a 'Songs of Arsenal' CD from a fan. I'll do you a copy if you are interested.
Even though the ground was only half full there was still a noisy atmosphere with fireworks and very loud bangs throughout the game. At the end of the game the Arsenal players were climbing on the goal frame and up the fences in front of their supporters. I wonder what it would have been like if they had been allowed to play the match at their home ground rather than at Racing's.
I'm still in Argentina and hope to complete the feat of visiting all the current open Primera División grounds with Arsenal's home match on the last weekend in February, just before I return to the UK.
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NulsOB
member
Reged: 28/07/2006
Posts: 388
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Thanks to both of you for posting. I've seldom bothered to come here, as the SA section of the forum is hardly gets any attention of late.
El_Shrimpador, your discription of Arsenal's player's celebration is a proto-typical Argentine championship event. First time I recall it happening was in 1974, when Newell's Old Boys won their first championship... but, being a Nuls fan, there must have been such before then.
Newell's has the additional tradition of stripping off their kit after winning a championship...
Oh, and the link to your picture doesn't seem to be working.
Edited by NulsOB (04/02/2008 13:21)
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El_Shrimpador
member
Reged: 01/10/2007
Posts: 6
Loc: Southend-on-Sea
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Just found a link to Andrizzi's goal here.
I have also updated my fundraiser page since I returned from Argentina. It includes a brief description of the twenty matches I saw and includes links to some videos I took at the grounds. See http://www.justgiving.com/davidoldbury
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