Argentina Football Explained!
By Mariano Manzi currently in NZ
AFA: Argentine Football Asociation. This year they change the champions historic table. They recognized a old titles (Amateur years). This is the actual table.
Boca: 26 professionalism, 18 internationals, 6 amateur.. Total: 50
River: 34 professionalism, 5 internationals, 1 amateur..Total: 40
Independiente: 14 professionalism, 16 international, 2 amateur..Total: 32
Racing: 7 professionalism, 3 international, 9 amateur..Total: 19
San Lorenzo: 11 professionalism, 2 international, 3 amateur.. Total: 16
Vélez Sarsfield: 10 professionalism, 5 international, 0 amateur.. Total 15
Estudiantes de la Plata: 5 professionalism, 6 international, 1 amateur.. Total: 11
AFA formalized amateur titles, then remain the same big 5.
In consecuence, the nominees “5 bigs team of argentina” are Boca, River, Independiente, Racing y San Lorenzo. These teams are also those who have more fans. This comes from years and years ago. 1910-1920-1930, these teams are the ones that had more money, so then they could buy the best players.
In 2012, River was playing on the second division. This year Independiente it´s playing on the second division. 2 years ago san lorenzo came close to the descent. Racing did not win a championship for 30 years. These teams are considered the Top 5 just for the history of the old, old, old years.
From 1990, Vélez Sarsfield is the team that most points won, just beaten by Boca and River. Also, if you check, Vélez have 5 international trophies, including, Copa Libertadores (South America Champions League) and European/South American Cup (actually FIFA Club World Cup), that San Lorenzo does not have these trophies.
Vélez is not considered among the Big 5, just because don´t have as many fans as other.
Also, if you take off the amateurs trophies, the table would looks likes this… 1) Boca, 2) River, 3) Independiente, 4) Vélez, 5) San Lorenzo.
About whom supports wich club….This comes from family. In my case, all my family it´s fan of Vélez. Boca juniors is the most popular team, this means that there are people who do not like football, but they are fans of boca juniors just being cool. The same case with River.
Velez was founded by Italians, but that does not mean their fans are all Italian. Just the people who founded the club born in italy. Most people in Argentina, are descended from Italian and Spanish.
neighborhoods teams are All Boys, Banfield, Lanus, etc, etc. Velez is considered a neighborhood team, but it is not actually true.