South American portraits: All of life in the streets and stands of football's latin heartlands

Words: Dan Scanlon

Images: Dan Scanlon

As four of us sat sharing a litre of Brahma overlooking Copacabana, a friend had told me ‘‘We do things differently’. He, and his Peruvian partner, were telling us stories of their travels across the continent.

I was getting ready for the Fla-Flu derby at the Maracanã later that evening. The start of a month long trip of a lifetime.

Later that evening, a goalless draw was played out in front of a raucous crowd, as we kicked off a spell of eleven games in South America.

Next up was a flight south to Buenos Aires. Argentinos Juniors didn’t get the memo as they beat San Lorenzo. On a tour of Boedo before the match, we were proudly told that San Lorenzo hadn’t conceded at home in the league since the previous September. Within fourteen minutes they were one down.

Following a trip to Belgrano and the barbed wire lined stadium of Excursionistas, it was time to visit the holy grail for all football fans in La Bombonera. La12, the stadium and the Previa (pre-match party) lived up to the reputation.

Goosebumps for this mid-table fixture for Maradona’s former side against Newells Old Boys, the starting point for Messi.

©Dan Scanlon/ Terrace Edition. San Lorenzo de Almagro.

The next game saw us heading to Maradona's first club, Argentinos Juniors. His shrine under the stand, his face adorned all walls, a number 10 is painted on the terrace behind one end and to top it all off, the players walk out of a giant Maradona tunnel. If that wasn’t enough – we visited his childhood home and the D10S café before the game.

3-2 to Estudiantes at the Estadio Diego Maradona.

A bus ride later we joined over 80,000 fans at the Monumental as River Plate defeated Racing, and lifted the league title. Monumental is a worthy name for an impressive stadium. Almost as striking as the smoke and fireworks as the teams walked out.

Their rivals, Boca, visited the suburb of Avellenada the next day to take on Independiente, who happen to be Racing Club’s rivals. The latter’s stadium peered behind in the background as the hosts ended a disappointing season with a loss.

Tempers flared as fans fought the police outside.

One final game in Argentina saw us head to the beautiful Tomás Adolfo Ducó Stadium, as Huracan needed to beat rivals Veléz to stay up, following Arsenal beating Colón in Sarandí earlier in the day. A penalty for the hosts secured their place in the top flight in probably the best stadium of the trip.

©Dan Scanlon/ Terrace Edition. Club Atlético River Plate.

Sad to leave Buenos Aires, next stop Montevideo. Nacional were taking on Boca in the first knockout round of the Libertadores. Another 0-0 draw, but memorable for so many reasons. La12 were as equally loud as the 35,000 home fans on a cold winters night in the Uruguayan capital.

Back to Rio, and a title decider in a regional game in the northern suburbs. São Cristóvão de Futebole Regata were the hosts as we had many a beer with our new friends, who welcomed us as if we were life long fans.

It’d could’ve all gone so wrong, given the game was sold out. A security guard thought we were journalists so took pity.

The stadium is called the Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, named after the original and best Ronaldo, symbolising the link between the Favela and the Seleção.

Finally, it was a return to the Maracanã for a second time and final game of the trip.

The last time I’d hear the wonderful trumpets, beating drums and witness the flick of the wrists as Fluminense ran out winners against Argentinos Juniors following a draw in Buenos Aires the week before.

They sure do things differently, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.