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Rounding off our FM2011 Tours is a trip to a hotbed of football know as the capital of tango.
A place where you need good footwork on the pitch as well as on the dancefloor. Welcome to Buenos Aires, Argentina!
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The Club
The club was founded on April 3, 1905 by five Italian immigrants. The club currently has a fierce rivalry with River Plate, who are also from Buenos Aires. Boca are traditionally regarded as the club of Argentina's working class, in contrast with the supposedly more upper-class base of their cross-town arch rival, and matches between the two clubs are known as the Superclasico - known worldwide for their heated displays both on and off the pitch. Boca's home stadium is Estadio Alberto J. Armando, which is colloquially known as La Bombonera.
The youth academy has produced many Argentine internationals such as Nicolas Burdisso, Carlos Tevez, and Fernando Gago, who have played or are playing for top European clubs. The original jersey colour was pink, but this was quickly abandoned for thin black-and-white vertical stripes. Legend has it that in 1906, Boca played another team that used this strip to decide who would get to keep it. Boca lost, and decided to adopt the colors of the flag of the first boat to sail into the port at La Boca. This proved to be the 4146 ton freighter "Drottning Sophia", a Swedish vessel sailing from Copenhagen. As a result, the yellow and blue of the Swedish flag were adopted as the new team colours. The first version had a yellow diagonal band, which was later changed to a horizontal stripe.
The League
The Primera División (English: First Division) is Argentina's premier football division, sitting at the top of the Argentine football league system. The Primera División was founded in 1893 and turned professional in 1931 when 18 clubs broke away from the amateur leagues to form a professional league. Since then, sixteen clubs have been the Argentine champion, although only four clubs have won ten or more titles. The most successful club are your arch-rivals River Plate, who have won 33 titles to date. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Primera B Nacional.Each season is divided into two tournaments, the Apertura (Opening stage) and Clausura (Closing stage), each with its own champion. In each stage the 20 teams play each other once, and the team with the best record is champion of that stage.
The average records are compared over the year to see who the best four teams are (who qualify for the Copa Libertadores), the fifth placed team (for the preliminary round of the Copa Libertadores), and the top six to qualify for the Copa Sudamericana. This aggregate table is also used to determine the two teams with the worst records over the course of the year, who are then relegated.
The match day squad may contain a maximum of four foreign players, with eleven starters and seven named substitutes to pick from. This promotes the development of youngsters in Argentina and ensures they continue to hold their place as one of the most consistent producers of young stars in world football.
The Job
Chairman Jorge Ameal has offered you a chance that comes along but once in a lifetime, to manage the great Boca Juniors! Julio Cesar Falcioni has been dismissed at short notice and you have been chosen to take charge. The fans are notably loud and proud when it comes to their club and you must provide the success they both crave and deserve.
The Staff
Both Javier Sanguinetti and Omar Piccoli are hired at the club as assistants, both are willing to be your number two - however it's unlikely that both will continue to co-exist so a wise course would be to choose one, or bring in your own man.
There are wealth of youth coaches at the club which is why they are known for producing such fabulous players. However few of them seem to hold any real coaching skill and this might be an area you need to rebuild. And finishing the tour of the backroom staff you can see that chief scout Ramon Maddoni and head Physio Jose Veiga are good at their jobs but it would be worth your while hiring them some help.
The Players
Known for their all-action 442-Diamond formation, the Blue and Gold's thrive with a good playmaker in their ranks. Juan Roman Riquelme is that man in the Boca team, capable of stringing together plays that lead to goals every game. Even with an injury to the star man however, Walter Erviti is more than capable of causing problems in this league.
Captaining the side is Martin Palermo, the legendary striker provides a wealth of experience and also still one of the star players - even at 36 years old! Luckily for you there is a young star ready to take Palermo's place up front by the name of Sergio Araujo, the highly rated striker is just 18 but could develop into a world class player. It's also been said that the squad is unbalanced at times by it's lack of depth at fullback, something the new manager must deal with.
KEY HISTORY
Copa Sudamericana (2): 2003-04, 2004-05
Copa Libertadores (6): 1976-77, 1977-78, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07
Primera Opening Stage (4): 1975-76, 1980-81, 1998-99, 2005-06
Primera Closing Stage (9): 1968-69, 1969-70, 1975-76, 1991-92, 1997-98, 1999-00, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2007-08 .
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La Bombonera
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The Estadio Alberto J. Armando is a stadium located in the La Boca district of Buenos Aires. Widely known as La Bombonera (the Chocolate Box) due to its shape, with a "flat" stand on one side of the pitch and three steep stands round the rest of the stadium. It has a capacity of 49,000 and thanks to it's unusual shape has excellent acoustics - the Boca support being nicknamed "La Doce" (The 12th man).Three sides of the Bombonera are made up of traditional stands. However, the fourth side had to be built vertically, with several seating areas stacked one on top of the other, to stay within the stadium's property. La Bombonera is renowned for vibrating when fans start to jump in rhythm. In particular, the unique vertical side will sway slightly, leading to the phrase " La Bombonera doesn't shake: it beats (like a heart)." It's also worth noting that the pitch at La Bombonera is the minimum length required under FIFA regulations at just 105m x 68m.
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CHALLENGE DYNAMICS
This challenge will last for three years, upon completing your third season in Argentina (1st July 2013), you can no longer collect points for this destination.
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You must start set your manager experience as "Automatic" and be playing in a new save from June 2010.
You have until the midnight of 31st October 2011 to submit your screenshots in this thread, and accumulate as many points as you can within the confines of a maximum of 3 seasons in the game.
You must use the Official 11.3.0 database.
You may not manage any other teams, or use other programs to aid you in this challenge
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HOW TO SCORE POINTS
Submit screenshots via reply within this thread of your progress.
Unclear or doctored screenshots will not be rewarded with points.
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Primera Aggregate Table
Relegated: -10 points
18th-11th: 0 points
10th: 1 point
9th: 2 points
8th: 3 points
7th: 4 points
6th: 5 points
5th: 8 points
4th: 10 points
3rd: 15 points
2nd: 20 points
1st: 30 points
Apertura Title: +15 points
Clausura Title: +15 points
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Copa Sudamericana
First Round Exit: 0 points
Second Round Exit: 2 points
Losing Quarter Finalists: 5 points
Losing Semi Finaists: 8 points
Losing Finalist: 10 points
Winner: 15 points
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Copa Libertadores
Group Stage Exit: 0 points
Second Round Exit: 5 points
Losing Quarter Finalists: 10 points
Losing Semi Finaists: 15 points
Losing Finalist: 20 points
Winner: 30 points
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RIVALRIES (Competitive Fixtures Only)
Beat River Plate: 5 points
Beat Independiente: 3 points
Beat San Lorenzo: 3 points
Beat Racing Club: 3 points
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POINT DEDUCTIONS
Sacked: -25 points (and the challenge is over)
LEADERBOARD
dichrott - 220
ChrisOrmie - 149
