When seminal Scandinavian pop sensation ABBA sat down to write ‘The Winner Takes it All,’ it is doubtful they had in mind a balmy Sunday afternoon in Santiago del Estero featuring Huracán and Platense. Yet that is the scene that this weekend will unfold before us, as the two underdogs clash for the right to be named Apertura champions in the grand final of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol.
Feeling surprised? Shocked even, maybe underwhelmed and perhaps a little furious? You are not alone. This is the final it seems nobody outside of Parque Patricios and Saavedra wanted to see. But see it you should, following this shock-filled league season to the bitter end. And if the chance to see a new Liga champion crowned is not enough motivation to watch, the following 10 reasons should prove more than sufficient…
Because they deserve to be there
But they weren't the best teams this season, the naysayers will say. Let them nay(say). Huracán and Platense may have finished fourth and sixth in their respective groups but they turned it on when it mattered most and, between them, knocked out four of the Big Five as well as Rosario Central – the best team in the opening phase – all away from home. If that record isn't worthy of a final, I don't know what is.
Because Platense will (finally) have fans
It has been a tough slog for the good people of Saavedra/Vicente López. Due to their seeding and the archaic ban on visiting fans, Platense have played all of their four games in the play-offs in hostile climes while supporters have been left to supporter in front of the TV. On Sunday the Calamar faithful will finally be out in full force – and they only have to travel about a thousand kilometres for the privilege.
Because a big drought is about to end
Whoever wins out in Santiago, it is going to be one for the triumphant club and the history buffs to remember. One has to go back 53 years for Huracán's last Primera División title, that mythical 1973 team marshalled by the late, great César Menotti. Platense have waited even longer: their entire existence, in fact, though they came close in 1916 with their first and last runner-up medal.
Because it's a great game for nickname nerds
No dull Reds, Whites or Red and Whites nonsense here: Huracán and Platense have two of the best nicknames in the game. El Globo (“the balloon”) owe their moniker to the furore around legendary aviator Jorge Newbery's hot-air balloon trip from Buenos Aires to Brazil in 1909, which inspired Huracán's founders to adopt the name in tribute. Platense boast an even more esoteric nickname: the Calamar (“squid”) tag dates back from an early newspaper match report, which claimed that the team were so comfortable playing in rainy conditions they looked like “a squid moving around in its own ink.”
Because the big boys have only themselves to blame
No Superclásico final, no league title after two decades of waiting for Independiente, no joy for Gallardo, no chance for Costas and Racing to add the Liga to their Sudamericana and Recopa crowns. Cry me a river. This play-off system was set up beautifully for the big five, who were set to play the vast majority of their games at home against opponents that spend a fraction of their annual budgets on players and coaches (excepting the basket case which is San Lorenzo, naturally). But they all choked, one after the other, and will have to settle for watching at home while these two duel it out in the Madre de Ciudades stadium.
Because it drives the talking heads crazy
How many ESPN panellists does it take to change a lightbulb? We'll let you know after the break, along with the latest from Boca and River. The ‘Bover’ domination in the mainstream media is infuriating, but not as much so as the suggestion, explicit or implied, that if any team outside of the aforementioned grandes does well, it somehow reflects poorly on the league and country as a whole. Try as they might, they are going to have to grit their teeth and talk about Huracán and Platense this week, and that is an opportunity nobody should miss.
Because goals are overrated
Football isn't just Barcelona's ridiculous nine-goal thrillers or the defensively challenged Premier League. Keeping out goals is just as important as scoring them, and in that field our two final participants are experts. El Globo shut out Central and Independiente on their way to the decider and Franco Mastontuono's very last-gasp penalty was the only blotch on Platense's record in games against Racing, River and San Lorenzo. These two masters of catenaccio are pushing back against the goal epidemic and I am all for it.
Because it'll make that friend happy
It's easy to be a River or Boca fan, even supporting Racing has become less excruciating in recent years. But there is little joy in following one of the smaller clubs through thick and thin, up and down the divisions, and yet they still turn out year after year hoping for the impossible. This is for that one Huracán or Platense fan in your friendship circle, or maybe from the kiosk on the corner, that you know and love: do it for that long-suffering individual and share in their pain for one afternoon, you owe them that much.
Because this time it won't be decided by corners
Huracán and Platense do in fact have a bit of history, and it came in one of those marvellous, curious episodes that makes Argentine football such fun. The pair went head-to-head in the final of the 1943 Copa Escobar, a cup competition organised by the AFA in the forties which had some, let's say interesting rule variations. For starters, the games only ran for two 20-minute halves, and if the scores were still level after 20 minutes of extra time the team who had accumulated most corners would progress.
The semis and final were also both scheduled for December 11, which is how Huracán – who beat Independiente after drawing lots, having finished with the same amount of goals and corners – and Platense met for their second game in the same day in San Lorenzo's Gasómetro home. An hour passed with neither team scoring, but el Globo were crowned champions with four corners to Platense's rather underwhelming tally of one.
Because what else are you going to do on Sunday?
Let's be realistic here. The Premier League is done, Spain and Italy have shut up shop for the summer, the Champions League final is on Saturday. Argentina has been wiped out of the French Open already and Colapinto is racing in the morning. And it's freezing outside. Just stay on your sofa and stick the game on, how bad can it be?
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