Soccer: Working-class club are true class

Boca's Luciano Monzon takes the corner flag out in Melbourne on Friday night. Photo / Getty Images

Daniel barely draws breath before giving his verdict on the rivalry between Brazilians and Argentinians.

"I am Brazilian," he declares for a moment overlooking the fact in two years he will qualify to play for the All Whites. "Brazilians don't like Argentina too much. I want to push hard in this match. I want to win. It's not a friendly for me. It's a pre-season match but, for me, a little bit special."

Argentinian giants Boca Juniors beat the Melbourne Victory 1-0 on Friday night in the first of their two-match tour of Australasia before heading to England to take on Liverpool at Anfield.

Club Atlético Boca Juniors, or Boca for short, are one of the glamour outfits of world football, having won 41 competitions, including 18 international titles - a world record they share with AC Milan.

Among that haul are six Copa Libertadores, four Recopa Sudamericana, three world club titles, two Copa Sudamericana, one Copa Oro, one Supercopa Sudamericana and one Supercopa Masters. Oh, and they've won the Argentinian Primera Divisin 23 times and finished runners-up on another 18 occasions.

They claim to be the club of Argentina's working class, in contrast to the more upmarket River Plate, their bitter cross-town rivals. They also claim to be the club of "half plus one" of Argentina's population - although estimates suggest their following is closer to 40 per cent.

One almost vertical stand of their ground affectionately known as La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box) is said to vibrate and sway when fans start to jump in rhythm. It led to the phrase, 'La Bombonera no tiembla. Late.' ('the Bombonera does not tremble. It beats.')

There have been some wonderful players who have caused the stadium to 'beat' in the club's 105-year history, including Gabriel Batistuta, Antonio Rattn, Hugo Gatti, Claudio Caniggia, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Carlos Tevez. The biggest and best of them all has been none other than Diego Maradona.

The current Argentina coach and satirical sideshow had two spells with Boca (1981-82 and 1995-97) and scored 35 goals in 70 appearances.

Wellington extended an invitation to Maradona to be a guest at the match but, while they hadn't heard back, they don't expect him there. As one Phoenix official said, "Maradona apparently doesn't get out of bed for less than $300,000".

Juan Romn Riquelme and Martin Palermo won't play either. The club's two best-known players have not made the trip. Riquelme, who is regarded as one of the most gifted players of his generation but has been on the outer with Argentina because of a long-standing feud with Maradona and didn't play at the World Cup, was expected to leave the club in the off-season but is on the verge of re-signing.

Palermo, Boca's all-time record goalscorer with 222 goals, on the other hand played and scored for Argentina at the World Cup and is on holiday. It will rob Friday's game of genuine star power but there are no bad Boca teams.

Even if Maradona is absent, too, there will be one Diego involved. Wellington midfielder Diego Walsh, also Brazilian, shares Daniel's enthusiasm for the match, as well as his views on Argentina.

"We will see one of the best teams in the world," he says. "They are just as good as teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid. It will be exciting to bring them to New Zealand and to give the people in Wellington something different to watch. For me, it will be a good experience to play against one of the best.

"Hopefully I can have a good match. I support Santos [where I was born], who Pele played for. There's always the discussion about who is the greatest, Pele or Maradona. I think it's Pele. It's funny because I supported the team that Maradona hates the most.

'There's a big rivalry between Brazilians and Argentinians. We get knocked out of the World Cup and our next joy is to watch Argentina also get eliminated."

Daniel actually played Boca twice in the Sudamericana during his three years with Brazilian club side Botafogo in 2003-05, losing the first and drawing the second.

"They are really good," Daniel tries to explain in his thick Brazilian accent. "The game against the Phoenix is a friendly but a friendly is never a friendly for Boca. They push hard, man. It doesn't matter if it's a friendly or not. It will be a difficult match for us."

Boca striker Pablo Mouche, who joined Boca in 2007, said they would attack Wellington from the outset.

"We will try to be offensive from the start," he said. "We need to win the pre-season games so as to get confidence for the next tournament."

Mouche knew little about New Zealand football - "I don't remember a specific name [of an All White who played at the World Cup] but I was quite surprised by the fact one of the players is not even in the professional league and works in a bank," he says.

Boca Juniors arrive in New Zealand tomorrow morning and will join the All Whites for their parade down the streets of central Wellington on Wednesday.

Diego and Daniel will be there, too. They might not be able to resist a little friendly banter.

Boca Juniors

* Established: 1905 by five Italian immigrants.

* Strip: Blue and yellow. The original jersey was pink but this was quickly abandoned for black-and-white stripes. As the story goes, in 1906, Boca played another team that used a similar strip to decide who would keep it. Boca lost and adopted the colours of the flag of the first boat that sailed into port - a Swedish freighter.

* Stadium: Estadio Alberto J Armando, better known as La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box) in Buenos Aires.

* Notable players: Gabriel Batistuta, Antonio Rattn, Hugo Gatti, Claudio Caniggia, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Carlos Tevez, Juan Romn Riquelme, Martin Palermo and Diego Maradona.

* Did you know: Boca Juniors have won 41 titles (48 including the amateur era), including a record 18 international titles.

* And: Boca produce a line of coffins as well as having a cemetery and a fleet of taxis in Buenos Aires.