In preparation for the Argentine “Superclasico” between Boca Juniors and River Plate at the Bombonera on Sunday, Rex Gowar provided a Superclasicoglossary that included …
Xeneixes is Boca’s nickname, meaning Genovese in dialect because of the large number of immigrants from the northern Italian port city of Genoa whosettled in La Boca. … La Boca (the mouth) is Buenos Aires district at the mouth of the Riachuelo river that flows into the Rio de la Plata (River Plate), where both teams were founded,River in 1901 and Boca 1905. Boca’s stadium is called Bombonera, the Chocolate Box, because of its shape.
River’s nickname from 1931 is Millonarios because oflavish spending, having 10,000 pesos for winger Carlos Peucelle. River Plate fans’ nickname for Boca is Bosteros from the word bosta, meaning dung. La Boca was once prone to floodingand the excrement that flowed out of the sewers came back onto the streets.
Rival fans’ nickname for River Plate is Gallinas (chickens) since River lost 4-2 to Uruguay’s Penarolin the 1966 Libertadores Cup final after leading 2-0. Banfield fans threw a chickens onto the field at their next leage game and when River lost the next SuperClasico, the newspaper Cronica ran aheadline “This chicken run is closed for lack of eggs (guts).”