A mystique can take decades to disappear – 08/31/2023 – PVC

Palmeiras trained on a Wednesday afternoon in October 1998, at the small municipal stadium in Barueri, later transformed into the current Arena Barueri. Felipão talked about the importance of the meeting against Boca Juniors, the next day, for the group stage of the Mercosur Cup.

“Important to prepare for next year. At Libertadores we can face them again.”

Wrong information.

Boca was on the verge of leaving the queue of six championships without the Argentine title, they were shooting in the Apertura Tournament table, but the trophy would only qualify them for the 2000 Libertadores. Felipão was surprised to learn that.

In those weeks of 1998, Felipão eliminated Boca in the Mercosur quarterfinals, with a 3-1 victory at Parque Antarctica and a 1-1 draw in Buenos Aires.

The Argentine opponent defeated in the semifinal of the following year was River Plate. Boca Juniors still did not represent the unbeatable mystique on the continent, despite the two titles won, in 1977 and 1978, under the command of coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo.

The fear that accompanies the words Boca and La Bombonera came after Carlos Bianchi. Three Libertadores conquered in the span of four seasons, two won in clashes with Palmeiras. The 2000 final, against Felipão, the 2001 semifinal, with Celso Roth on the green bench.

The mystique of that time was born of a period that could be equal to the current Palmeiras with Abel Ferreira, if they achieve three titles in four disputes.

After the sixth title, Boca Juniors reached second place twice and lost seven elimination clashes, which belie any kind of fear. Fall against Fluminense (2008), Defensor (2009), Newell’s Old Boys (2013), Independiente del Valle (2016), Santos (2020), Atlético-MG (2021) and Corinthians (2022).

There are more early or surprising disqualifications, seven, than cups, six, since the last conquest, against Grêmio, 16 years ago.

Even so, dread appears every time one imagines facing the blue T-shirt with the “yellow fringe”. Always with the observation that Boca Juniors is not as strong as it was in Carlos Bianchi’s time, always with a fear that, for decades, has not existed when talking about Independiente, Libertadores record holder, with seven, but fasting since 1984.

The unjustifiable scare can be seen in the cell phones turned on in the stands at Allianz Parque, with part of the crowd cheering the rival for the semifinals. They watched the Palmeiras game on the lawn and the Boca Juniors game on the second screen.

Despite this, it is Palmeiras that tries to be for Boca Juniors what Boca has become for Independiente. The new holder of the mystique, who almost missed out on São Paulo in the 1990s and persisted for a long time after the titles won during the Telê Santana era. The third consecutive title came up against Chilavert, in the very final against Vélez, in 1994, after the second world championship against Barcelona and Milan.

Mystique is created in the collective imagination and can take decades to disappear. Often, it just falls with an image that opens wide in front of the world.

Palmeiras has the advantage of maintaining its base for three years. It has eight 2020 title holders and the same coach. More than Boca Juniors did 20 seasons ago. Only three who were champions against Santos were in the final against Palmeiras, three years earlier.

Today, Argentines are betting on heavy signings, which change the team’s profile during the campaign. Cases of Cavani, Janson and Saracchi, recently hired.

The mystique’s duel against the cold head.

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