Superclásicos and rivalry antecedents: exploring soccer club rivalries in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico

Abstract

This essay utilizes empirically derived rivalry antecedents as an analytical framework to encapsulate the basis of a selection of enduring football club rivalries in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The inclusive cases (rivalries) in this study were selected based on longevity as well as the presence of key rivalry antecedents which, in the end, allow for rich contextualized descriptions. The authors make connections between salient rivalry antecedents and existing literature about the clubs to provide descriptions of the spatial, historical and cultural foundations of competing ideologies and assertions of identity that define and give meaning to the rivalries.

Notes

1. Dmowski, ‘Geographical Typology of European Football Rivalries’.

2. Eisenhardt and Graebner, ‘Theory Building from Cases’.

3. Tyler and Cobbs, ‘Rival Conceptions of Rivalry’.

4. Giulianotti, Football, 10.

5. Kilduff, Elfenbein and Staw, ‘The Psychology of Rivalry’.

6. Havard, Gray, Gould, Sharp, and Schaffer, ‘Development and Validation of the Sport Rivalry Fan Perception Scale (SRFPS)’, 10–11.

7. For an overview of how scholars have defined rivalry see Tyler and Cobbs, ‘Rival Conceptions of Rivalry’, 227–8. Also see Luellen and Wann, ‘Rival Salience and Sport Team Identification’; Dalakas and Melancon, ‘Fan Identification, Schadenfreude Toward Hated Rivals, and the Mediating Effects of Importance of Winning Index (IWIN)’; Benkwitz and Molnar, ‘Interpreting and Exploring Football Fan Rivalries’; Kilduff, Elfenbein, and Staw, ‘The Psychology of Rivalry’; Baimbridge, Cameron, and Dawson, ‘Satellite Television and the Demand for Football’; McDonald and Rascher, ‘Does Bat Day Make Cents?’.

8. Brewer and Pierce, ‘Social Identity Complexity and Outgroup Tolerance’; Cialdini, Borden, Thorne, Walker, Freeman, and Sloan, ‘Basking in Reflected Glory’; Snyder, Lassegard, and Ford, ‘Distancing After Group Success and Failure’; Stets and Burke, ‘Identity Theory and Social Identity Theory’: Tajfel and Turner, ‘The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior’.

9. Tyler and Cobbs, ‘All Rivals are Not Equal’.

10. Festinger, ‘A Theory of Social Comparison Process’; Abrams and Hogg, ‘Comments on the Motivational Status of Self-esteem in Social Identity and Intergroup Discrimination’.

11. Giulianotti, Football, 10.

12. Tyler and Cobbs, ‘Rival Conceptions of Rivalry’.

13. Ibid., 230–8.

14. Ibid., 243.

15. The current version of the league is known as the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) and recognizes the AAFL as a predecessor.

16. For a thorough historical account of the early evolution of football clubs in Buenos Aires see Frydenberg, Historia social del fútbol.

17. For a detailed account of Spanish immigration in Buenos Aires see Jose Moya's award winning book Cousins and Strangers. For an engaging scholarly narrative related to Italian immigration in Buenos Aires see Samuel Bailey Immigrants in the Lands of Promise.

18. Frydenberg, Daskal, and Torres, ‘Sports Clubs with Football in Argentina’, 1672–3.

19. Ibid., 1675–8.

20. Giulianotti, Football, 10.

21. Two single zone rivalries to note include the Avellaneda rivalry between Independiente and Racing Club as well Sportiv Barracas and Barracas in the Barracas barrio. The Estadio Libertadores de América (Independiente) and Estadio Juan Perón (Racing) are one city block apart, separated by calle Ricardo Enrique Bochini, seven tennis courts, and a practice football pitch. For a useful discussion on the geographic density of football clubs in Buenos Aires, see Gaffney, Temples of the Earthbound Gods. See also Christopher Gaffney, ‘Stadiums and society in twenty-first century Buenos Aires’.

22. Horowitz, ‘Soccer Clubs and Civic Associations in the Political World of Buenos Aires Prior to 1943’. For information related to Boca Juniors’ early relocation efforts, see Duer, ‘Boca: The Book of the Xentenary’, 12–99.

23. Wilson, Angels with Dirty Faces, 59–61.

24. The barrio name itself comes from being the ‘boca’, or mouth, of the Riachuelo.

25. For an account of La Boca through the lens of some of Argentina’s famous literary icons see Wilson, Buenos Aires, 185–91.

26. The literal translation of ‘La mitad mas uno’ is ‘half plus one', which is a reference suggesting the majority of Argentinians support the team.

27. Silvio Aragón, ‘La construción de identidades y rivalidades futbolísticas en Buenos Aires’, 17.

28. Wilson, Angels with Dirty Faces.

29. For a description and analysis of the 1925 Boca Juniors tour of Europe see Frydenberg, ‘Boca Juniors en Europa’.

30. Figures used were cross referenced between results available on the AFA website (http://www.afa.org.ar/institucional/campeones-primera-division.php) and each of the team's official websites (www.bocajuniors.com.ar; www.cariverplate.com.ar).

31. For a detailed account of the development and political role of railways in Argentina, see Wright, British-Owned Railways in Argentina.

32. Though, David Goldblatt in Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil Through Soccer, cites newspaper sources that describe a football match organized by Oscar Cox in São Paulo involving players from both Rio and São Paulo.

33. Gaffney, ‘Association Football in Brazil’, 25.

34. Bellos, Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life, 29.

35. Brown, ‘British Informal Empire and the Origins of Association Football in South America’, 171–6.

36. Giulianotti, Football, 10.

37. For a brief contextualized description of some of the social and leisure programs at Flamengo in the 1980's see Allen, ‘Flamengo! Flamengo!’.

38. Giulianotti, Football, 11.

39. Lever, Soccer Madness, 12–13.

40. Gaffney, ‘Association Football in Brazil’, 27.

41. Bellos, Futebol, 29.

42. Goldblatt, Futebol Nation, 10.

43. Bellos, Futebol, 32.

44. Murray, The World’s Game, 34.

45. Ibid.

46. Daflon and Ballvé, ‘The Beautiful Game?’, 26.

47. Tyler and Cobbs, ‘Rival Conceptions of Rivalry’, 233.

48. Page, ‘Soccer Madness’, 36.

49. Mezzadri, Mooski, and Donha, ‘The Brazilian State and its Involvement with the Football Industry’, 215–217.

50. For a biographical account of Porfirio Díaz see Paul Garner, Porfirio Díaz.

51. Nadel, Fútbol, 179.

52. Nadel, Fútbol, 188.

53. Ibid., 189.

54. Parrish and Nauright, Soccer Around the World, 188.

55. Giulianotti, Football, 11.

56. Magazine, Golden and Blue Like My Heart, 6–7.

57. Ibid., 9.

58. Magazine, ‘The Colours Make Me Sick’, 193.

59. Magazine, Golden and Blue Like My Heart, 10.

60. Magazine, ‘The Colours Make Me Sick’, 190, 191.

61. Magazine, ‘Football Fandom and Identity in Mexico’, 112.

62. For a brief overview of the Puerta 12 tragedy, see Parrish and Figueroa ‘Puerta 12 Tragedy’, 129–30. Also, see Pablo Tesoriere’s motion picture documentary Puerta 12: Un documental de Pablo Tesoriere.