Lionel Messi, Ever Banega and the Rosario Fighters That Fuel Argentina

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 13, 2016

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Argentina have the luxury of knowing that whatever the result in their final Copa America 2016 group game, they are guaranteed passage to the quarter-finals, and most likely in first place. And their road to the last eight in the United States, once again, has been fired by the contributions of one city in particular. 

Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe some 180 miles from Buenos Aires, is a football town. Its 1.2 million inhabitants are roughly divided into two distinct camps, those who follow Newell's Old Boys and supporters of Rosario Central, making for arguably Argentina's fiercest derby rivalry after Boca Juniors and River Plate. 

Both giants have made waves in Argentine football recently.

Under the tutelage of Gerardo Martino, Newell's built their best team since Marcelo Bielsa was in charge during the early 1990s, winning the 2013 Torneo Final. The side also battled to the Copa Libertadores semi-final in 2013, where only Ronaldinho's Atletico Mineiro and a late defeat stopped them from making the decider. 

Central, meanwhile, have risen from a painful stay in the second-tier Nacional B to re-establish themselves as one of the toughest teams in the country. A youthful side coached by Eduardo Coudet pushed Boca all the way in last year's Primera Division, while a last-minute Atletico Nacional goal knocked them out of the Libertadores this year in heartbreaking fashion.

Both teams regularly pack their home stadiums, with attendances near 40,000 common week in, week out.



That passion is not exempt from the violence that plagues the sport. Just hours before Argentina kicked off their Copa America campaign, Matias Franchetti, one of the "capos" of Newell's "barra brava" hooligan group, was shot dead in front of the club gates by unknown assailants on a motorcycle (per La Capital, in Spanish).

This mob-style hit is not uncommon in the murky wo...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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