With the group stage of the 2009 Copa Libertadores coming to a close, and famed club Boca Juniors looking like the only team capable of doing some damage in the 32-team intercontinental tournament, SI.com’s Gregory Sica wondered if Argentine soccer is only a “one-team show.” As of Thursday, when Estudiantes posted a forceful 4-0 win, technically the answer to that question is “no,” as the club qualified for the next stage now sits in second in Group 5.
But the real answer, which speaks to the less-than-stellar state of the domestic league, is yes. Sica points out that besides Boca, which has won six Libertadores titles, including four in the last nine years, “not a single Argentine club has even reached the finals since ’96” when River Plate lifted the trophy. This fact is in stark contrast to a “stretch between 1964 and ’86, when Argentine clubs won 15 Libertadores titles (six of whom were different teams).”
And while Argentina and Brazil are still seen as “neck and neck in terms of which country best represents South American soccer,” the former’s clubs aren’t quite measuring up to the latter’s, with four (group-leading Gremio, Cruzeiro and Sao Paolo, plus second-place Sport Recife) of its five teams set to go through to the round of 16 while River Plate, Lanus and San Lorenzo are all but crashed out of the competition. But why? Well, the reasons are many, says Sica.