It took us more than 24 hours to get from our home in Slovenia to the apartment in Buenos Aires. We arrived in the morning but had not planned to attend any games that day due to jet lag and a bad weather forecast. A stroll around the city, dinner, and that’s it, we naively tried to convince ourselves. Like almost every day in Buenos Aires, we had a few options that Thursday. Talleres and Huracan played in the Copa Argentina quarter-finals at Independiente’s stadium. Games where fans of both teams are allowed to attend are rare, which makes the Cup even more unique. The matches are played at neutral venues. 

The temptation to change our plan grew stronger as the day turned into evening. Two hours before kick-off, we decided to go. But even before ordering a taxi, we realised the tickets were no longer available. Both clubs sold them online, but you had to pick them up in person at least three hours before kick-off. We were late. Feeling better than expected, we decided to try our luck anyway. The Libertadores de America stadium can accommodate 43,000 fans, and we knew it would not sell out. 

We had no tickets, so we planned to get to the stadium as early as possible to have enough time to get in somehow. At the time, we were unaware of the usual daily traffic chaos in Buenos Aires. We called a taxi, which was supposed to take 40 minutes. It ended up taking almost an hour and a half because of the incredible gridlock. We reached the stadium just as the match began. The sight of many fans still outside gave us hope. But before we could ask anyone about spare tickets, we hit our first obstacle – a security checkpoint. The police asked to see our tickets, which we had none of.

“Primer dia aqui,” we tried to explain in non-existent Spanish, which was on the same level as the policemen’s English. We didn’t get very far, so we used Google Translate. After some persuasion, we finally heard the words we had been waiting for. “Wait here,” the oldest policeman said as he walked over to his younger colleague, standing a few dozen metres away. They both returned, the older indicating that the younger would take us through the following checks. He hinted that we should pay him for a coke or chorizo, but it soon became apparent that he was neither thirsty nor hungry. 

The younger policeman then escorted us through the second checkpoint without any questions. Before the third and final checkpoint, he made a well-known gesture with his fingers to let us know that he would only accept money. We gave him 20,000 pesos (about €15 at the time) and had no problems at the final checkpoint. Despite the difficulties, we made it! First day and first game in Argentina! 

Our first encounter with Argentine football was fantastic. We arrived at the stand behind the goal where the fans of the second division team Talleres were. About five thousand of them filled the lower part of the two-tiered stand. We were probably the only foreigners in that stand. The chanting to the classic Argentine rhythms, which became rather monotonous after a few games, was constant and loud. We tried to blend in, but our lack of Spanish made us stand out. At times, we were the only ones not supporting, but nobody bothered with us.

We were pleasantly surprised by the number of infants in the crowd, especially considering the late kick-off time. As we found out later, no one is too young to watch football in Argentina. Babies as young as a few months lay in their parents’ arms, standing behind the goal, watching their local club. One father cradled his sleeping child on his left shoulder while puffing smoke from a massive joint to his right – scenes you don’t see in Europe.

Huracan were just below the top of the league at the time and were, therefore, the big favourites. Talleres’ chances were few and far between. That’s why their fans reacted to the slightest threat as if a goal was about to be scored. Even a corner was enough to create euphoria. What would happen if they scored, we wondered. Unfortunately, we didn’t experience it. However, we did witness a burst of ecstasy when Talleres’ goalkeeper saved a penalty while Huracan led 1–0. The score remained the same until the end. The first day was behind us, and the impression was great.