Boca Juniors prides itself as the Argentine club of the commoner. River Plate has built a heritage out of its workmanlike approach to scoring goals. But Rosario club Newell’s Old Boys can be characterized simply as an organization that values its own unpredictable nature.
Last Sunday they missed a glorious opportunity to climb atop the league standings, surrendering their lead and losing 2-1 to Estudiantes de La Plata, a rival that was coming off three consecutive losses.
Though Newell’s six-match undefeated streak came to an abrupt end, the “Leprosos” (who stuck with the nickname after helping a leprosy fund in the 1920s) are still a good bet to fight for the championship.
Nearing the halfway mark of the season, the club sits in third place, one point behind River and two points behind league leader Boca. But the big-money question is whether it can keep pressure on the big two.
First, let’s get into why Newell’s is considered such an unpredictable bunch. In 2004, the signing of majestic dribbler Ariel Ortega inspired the club to its first championship in 12 years. Strangely enough, it finished in the bottom half of the table for the next two seasons, including a disappointing 16th-place finish in last year’s Apertura.
This year they’ve stepped up again and are challenging for the honors, although most observers originally had labeled them as relegation material. Curiously, the club’s financial situation forced it to get rid of half a dozen of its key players, while it added only two reinforcements to the side for the new season.
Much of the praise for Newell’s turnabout should go to the club directors, who showed faith in manager Nery Pumpido (Argentina’s ’86 World Cup-winning goalkeeper) and kept him. One of the reasons Pumpido wasn’t axed last season was his good relationship with Newell’s faithful after last November’s crucial 2-1 derby victory over archrival Rosario Central. Perhaps coincidentally, Newell’s rise has been simultaneous with the downfall of the Canallas, who currently languish in 17th place.
That match late last season was a huge turning point for Newell’s Old Boys. I have attended several top South American derbies, but the showdowns between these Rosario nemeses are definitely up there with the best. The magnificent atmosphere generated by the opposing supporters that packed the Coloso del Parque last November intensified the tension on the field. As in any top Argentine derby, there was a dramatic twist — Newell’s came from a goal down to snatch a miraculous victory from the feet of the outstanding Ortega.
In Argentina, the result of a derby game often differentiates a good season from a bad one. In Newell’s case, that win seemed to resurrect the club, which at the time was stranded in second-to-last place. In any league, a match of that significance has the potential to motivate a team in crisis. In this case it worked in extending Pumpido’s reign at the club.
But Newell’s hasn’t just improved on last season’s campaign — it has proven that it’s capable of knocking off the best in the league, having convincingly defeated powerhouse clubs River Plate and Vélez Sarsfield. Perhaps more important, it also put an end to a miserable run of 21 away matches without tasting victory when it edged out Arsenal earlier this month in Sarandí with a lone strike from Adrián Lucero.
Pumpido should get a lot of credit. He withstood heavy criticism and stuck to the game plan he brought with him when he took charge of the club midway through last season. An imperative factor in his success is his idea of promoting youth players to the senior team — that gamble led to the emergence of talented striker Ignacio Scocco, who has become the league’s leading scorer with six goals. Attacking midfielder Damián Steinert has also shown sparks of potential and, along with Scocco, is likely to continue the successful line of players who make a name for themselves and follow riches in Europe.
Newell’s may not be Argentina’s leading club when it comes to youth development, but it has definitely produced several top players, including soccer legends Jorge Valdano, Americo Gallego, Abel Balbo and Gabriel Batistuta. Argentina’s greatest player of all time, Diego Maradona, wasn’t a product of the club, but he briefly donned the red and black of Newell’s in ’93 and ’94.
More recently the club has produced players of the caliber of Barcelona’s teenage prodigy Lionel Messi, Walter Samuel and Santiago Solari of Inter Milan, as well as Manchester United’s Gabriel Heinze. They add to a stable of successful Argentine internationals who have found success across Europe.
Although Pumpido must make do with a relatively small squad, he has assembled a top-quality side that looks good enough to fight for the championship. A key element of the team is experienced captain Justo Villar, who will feature in goal for Paraguay at this year’s World Cup.
In front of him is a solid but slightly inexperienced defense, but the nucleus of the side is its midfield, congested with talent. Fernando Belluschi is a standout performer, and his awesome vision and eye for goal has helped Newell’s overcome stiff opposition so far this season. He is complemented by the dazzling skills of Ortega and the tireless efforts of Claudio Husain, Ariel Zapata and new recruit Diego Gavilán (another Paraguayan international). This is a unit comparable in talent with those of Boca, River and Vélez.
Although Newell’s tends to line up with a solitary striker, Scocco has proven to be decisive when most needed. He has also proven invaluable in the Copa Libertadores, having scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over Chilean club Unión Española last month.
Newell’s is currently in second place in Group 3 of South America’s most prestigious club competition, with three points from two matches. It’s highly likely that its fate in the competition will be determined when it faces group leader Goiás of Brazil twice within the space of a week, starting with the first match in Goiânia on Wednesday.
A jam-packed agenda means that Newell’s must return to Rosario in time for Saturday night’s league clash with Sergio Aguero‘s Independiente, a direct rival that it must overpower. It’s probably safe to assume that Pumpido will rotate his lineups between matches to prevent any season-killing injuries. How Newell’s performs over the next few days may go a long way in determining if they’re in this for the long haul.
Gregory Sica
Article at Si.com
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