A highlight in the history of Boca Juniors was their 1925 European tour, where the club toured Europe, playing a series of friendly matches from March 5 to June 7, 1925, becoming the first Argentine team to play there.EN 1925, NACÍA EL "JUGADOR NRO 12" EN HISTÓRICA GIRA on La Izquierda Diario, 4 Feb 2015 Boca Juniors played a total of 19 matches, 13 in Spain, 5 in Germany, and 1 in France, winning 15, with 3 losses and 1 draw. The squad scored 40 goals and conceded 16, with a win percentage of 78.95%.La Vida Color de Boca, published by La Nación Deportiva, Buenos Aires, 2005
The delegation included executive representatives such as vice president Adelio Cariboni and secretary Vicente Decap. The roster was Américo Tesoriere, Ludovico Bidoglio, Ramón Muttis, Segundo Médici, Alfredo Elli, Mario Busso, Domingo Tarasconi, Antonio Cerrotti, Dante Pertini, Carmelo Pozzo, Carlos Antraygues and Alfredo Garasini. Some players from other clubs were also added to the team especially for the tour: Manuel Seoane (El Porvenir), Cesáreo Onzari (Huracán), Luis Vaccaro (Argentinos Juniors), Octavio Díaz (Rosario Central) and Roberto Cochrane (Tiro Federal). Tarasconi and Elli were designed as managers.
Manuel Seoane was the topscorer of the tour, with 12 goals in 16 games played. Because of the successful result, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) crowned Boca Juniors as "Champion of Honor".Gira de 1925 in the Historia de Boca
Background
Inspired by the recognition gained by the Uruguay national football team in the 1924 Olympic Games after their squad won the tournament, the Argentine Football Association planned to send the Argentina national team on a tour of Europe. However, the project was not carried out, so the executives of Boca Juniors offered to send their club's team to replace the Argentine side. The request was accepted by the AFA and Boca followed in the footsteps of Uruguayan team Nacional, that had toured Europe a few months before."Boca Juniors: a noventa años de la conquista de Europa", La Izquierda Diario, 4 Feb 2015"Nacional: 100 Años de Gloria", El Gráfico Extra edition n° 158, May 1999
The tour was organised by three representatives of Spanish immigrants to Argentina: Zapater, Isasmendi and Ibáñez, who thus became the first entrepreneurs in Argentine football. It is also believed that the original idea of a tour came from Natalio Botana, director of Crítica, the main newspaper of the day."Cuando Boca se hizo Boca", Clarín, 3 Apr 2013 The club had to pay each player A$10 per day as expenses."El día que Boca conoció el viejo mundo", Universidad del CEMA Finally, on February 4, 1925, the team departed for Europe aboard the steamship De la Carrera, with a large number of fans (about 10,000) saying goodbye to the players at the port. In Montevideo the delegation transhipped to a passenger ship, the Formosa, which took 22 days to reach Vigo, in Spain.
The delegation was accompanied by a Boca Juniors fan named Victoriano Caffarena, who not only financed part of the tour, but also helped the players as an occasional masseur and kit manager. Caffarana was recognised as the 12th player (the nickname was given by Tesoriere and Cerrotti),"El Jugador Nº 12 en la gira de 1925" , Diario Uno, 14 Aug 2014 an appellation that would be later applied to every supporter of Boca Juniors ."El jugador número 12" by Fabio Dana and Cristian Infanzón, Olé, 26 Nov 2002Toto Caffarena: la historia, Conexión 2000, Dec 2012
Touring squad Source:Gira por Europa 1925 at historiadeboca.com.ar Player Pos. Américo Tesoriere GK 13 0 Octavio Díaz GK 60 Ludovico Bidoglio DF 18 0 Roberto Cochrane DF 12 0 Ángel Médici DF 19 0 Ramón Muttis DF 10 0 Mario Busso MF30 Alfredo Elli MF 17 0 Luis Vaccaro MF 15 0 Carlos Antraygues FW5 2 Antonio Cerrotti FW 19 10 Alfredo Garasini FW 123 Cesáreo Onzari FW 17 3 Dante Pertini FW 80 Carmelo Pozzo FW 2 3 Manuel Seoane FW 16 12 Domingo Tarasconi FW 18 7
Notes
Tour summary
Spain
The first match of the tour was played on March 5, 1925, v. Celta de Vigo before an attendance of 25,000 spectators. Antonio Cerrotti opened the scoring after only 2 minutes, becoming the first Argentine footballer to score a goal in Europe.Antonio Cerrotti, primer futbolista en marcar un gol en Europa Historiadeboca During the match, the roof of a nearby factory collapsed under the weight of several workers watching the match, causing the game to be suspended for 16 minutes.Celta de Vigo 1 – Boca Juniors 3, match report Boca Juniors went on to win the match by 3–1. Three days later, a second game was played between Boca and Celta, and the local team won by the same score.
After their matches against Celta, Boca Juniors moved to La Coruña to play two games against the local team, Deportivo de La Coruña, on March 12th and 15th respectively. Boca Juniors won the first game by 3–0; and Tesoriere became the first Argentine goalkeeper to make a save from a penalty kick. Boca also won their second game against La Coruña by 1–0. Following these victories, Boca travelled to Madrid where the squad defeated Atlético de Madrid by 2–1 and three days later beat Real Madrid by 1–0."Los argentinos vencen de nuevo en España", Diario La Libertad on Hemeroteca Digital King Alfonso XIII and his son Alfonso, Prince of Asturias were among the spectators at the match. After 10 minutes play, the referee stopped the game to allow players to salute the royal pair.
The last match played by Boca Juniors in the city was against Sociedad Gimnástica Española, where Vaccaro was injured, and so missed the rest of the tour.
Boca Juniors then moved on to Bilbao, where the team lost first to Real Unión de Irún by 4–0 and then Athletic Bilbao by 4–2. In the match against Athletic, the players abandoned the field as a protest over a penalty kick awarded to the local team. However, the squad returned shortly after and the game was completed.
Their tour of Spain continued in Pamplona, where Boca Juniors defeated Osasuna by 1–0, and finished in Barcelona where Boca defeated RCD Espanyol twice (1–0 and 3–0) and then a Catalonia combined XI by 2–0.
Germany and France
Boca had planned to continue their tour in France after their last game in Spain. However, the two consecutive losses to Real Unión and Athletic Bilbao made the French organisers to turn their back on their decision. As a result, the team went to Munich, Germany.La gira de Boca por Europa en 1925, Imborrable Boca There,Boca played Bayern Munich on May 9, then moved to Berlin where they defeated Nord West. Some days later, in Leipzig, Boca achieved their largest victory of the tour when the squad thrashed SpVgg Leipzig 7–0.
Finally, the team finished their tour in Frankfurt where they played two further games. The good results in Germany caused the French organisers to reconsider, with a friendly match arranged between a French team and Boca Juniors. Therefore, the team extended the tour, playing one more game in Paris, where Boca Juniors defeated a local combined XI by 4–2 with three goals from Manuel Seoane.
List of results Complete list of games and results:Gira Europea on Informe Xeneize
Details #DateRival Res. ScoreVenue City Boca Juniors goals 5 Mar Celta Vigo W Campo de Coia Vigo 8 Mar Celta Vigo L Campo de Coia Vigo 12 Mar Deportivo La Coruña W Parque de Riazor La Coruña 15 Mar Deportivo La Coruña W Parque de Riazor La Coruña 19 Mar Atlético Madrid W At. Madrid Stadium Madrid 22 Mar Real Madrid W Estadio Chamartín Madrid 29 Mar Sociedad Gimnástica W Estadio Chamartín Madrid 2 Apr Real Unión L Estadio de Amute Irun – 5 Apr Athletic Bilbao L San Mamés Stadium Bilbao 19 Apr Osasuna W Osasuna Stadium Pamplona 26 Apr Espanyol W Sarrià Stadium Barcelona 1 May Espanyol W Sarrià Stadium Barcelona 3 May Catalonia Combined W Sarrià Stadium Barcelona 9 May Bayern Munich D Teutonia Platz Munich 16 May Norden-Nordwest W Norden-Nordwest Plast Berlin 21 May Greuther Fürth W Karl Enders Sportspark Leipzig 24 May Frankfurt Combined W Municipal Stadium Frankfurt 27 May Eintracht Frankfurt W Municipal Stadium Frankfurt 7 Jun Paris Combined W Stade Bergeyre Paris
Statistics Summary P W D L Gf Ga 19 15 1 3 40 16
Topscorers # Player Goals Manuel Seoane Antonio Cerrotti Domingo Tarasconi Alfredo Garasini Cesáreo Onzari Carmelo Pozzo Carlos Antraygues
Return to Argentina The team arrived in Buenos Aires on July 12, 1925, after a trip that took over a month. The squad was awaited by a crowd of people that received them as heroes."1925 – La gira europea de Boca" on El Gráfico – historic coverages The Argentine Association crowned Boca Juniors as "Champion of Honor", an honorary title (unofficial) in recognition to the great campaign during the tour. Boca Juniors did not participate in the 1925 championship that was won by Huracán.
After the players came back to their clubs, Boca returned to the official competition in 1926, when the squad won the Primera División championship remaining unbeaten at the end of the tournament. Boca won 15 matches over 17 played.Argentina 1926 – Copa Campeonato on RSSSF.com
Financial cost Despite being successful in terms of sports results, the tour caused a large deficit in Boca Juniors' finances and was followed by a huge controversy that forced Manlio Anastasi to resign as president of the club. Nevertheless, most of blame was on club executive and businessman Félix Isasmendi. He was accused of bad negotiation so Boca Juniors earned low payments from the European clubs, apart from not taking percentage of ticket selling.La gira de Boca por Europa en 1925 on Abri la Cancha
Summarizing, Boca Juniors was paid near MN$60,000. On the other hand, costs were MN$54,000 for boat tickets and player salaries plus NN$32,000 for accommodation and trip expenses.
Social impact The huge success achieved by Boca Juniors brought immediate consequences for the club. The team was acclaimed by both, media and fans, gaining recognition and popularity. Before the tour, Boca Juniors was a club that represented a neighborhood (La Boca), being considered a local team. As a result of the great campaign in Europe, Boca Juniors became a national institution, with fans through the country.
References