Boca Juniors

Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Boca Juniors is mostly known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División. Boca Juniors is the current champion of football in Argentina, and is historically considered one of the greatest football clubs in the world.

Boca Juniors is the most successful football team in Argentina and one of the most in the world, having won 51 official titles at the national and international level. Boca's last official title obtained is the 2011 Apertura tournament. Internationally, the team has won eighteen international titles, a record shared with A.C. Milan. Their international trophy haul includes six Copa Libertadores, four Recopa Sudamericana, three world club titles (Intercontinental Cup), two Copa Sudamericana, one Copa Oro, one Supercopa Sudamericana, and one Supercopa Masters. Boca Juniors is also one of only eight teams to have won CONMEBOL's treble (the others being Olimpia, São Paulo, Independiente, Vélez Sársfield, Cruzeiro, Internacional and LDU Quito). Their success usually has Boca ranked among the IFFHS's Club World Ranking Top 25, which they have reached the top position six times (mostly during the coaching tenure of Carlos Bianchi). Boca was also named by the IFFHS as the top South American club of the 1st decade of the 21st century (2001–2010).
The club was founded on April 3, 1905 by five Italian immigrants. Boca has always had a fierce rivalry with River Plate, also from Buenos Aires and currently playing in the B League. Matches between the two clubs are known as the Superclásico and is one of the most heated rivalries in Argentina and the world as both clubs are the two most popular in the country. 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 Nicolás Burdisso, Carlos Tévez, Ever Banega, and Fernando Gago, who have played or are playing for top European clubs.

History

Foundation

The first recorded photo of Boca Juniors taken in 1906, after winning the Copa Reformista.

On April 3, 1905, five Italian boys met in order to found a club. The house where the meeting was arranged was Esteban Baglietto's and the other four people who attended were Alfredo Scarpatti, Santiago Sana and brothers Juan and Teodoro Farenga. After some hours of discussions Baglietto's father threw the boys out of the house and they had to continue with the project in the Plaza Solís, which is recognized today as the place where Boca Juniors was finally founded.
Other important founders members include Arturo Penney, Marcelino Vergara, Luis Cerezo, Adolfo Taggio, Giovanelli, Donato Abbatángelo, Bertolini. The use of English language in football team names was commonplace, as British railway workers had originally introduced association football into Argentina.

The first title

The 1919 team posing with the trophies won. This was the first Boca's championship for the club.

On January 20, 1920, Boca Juniors reached its first championship (which belong to 1919 season). after defeating Sportivo de Almagro by 4–0. The match was played in Boca stadium, located in Ministro Brin and Senquel streets. Boca Juniors line-up was: Tesoriere; Cortella, Ortega, López, Busso, Elli; Calomino, Bozzo, Garasini, Martín, Miranda. Miranda and Martín were the scorers of the match (2 goals each). Boca Juniors obtained a new title the following year (corresponding to the 1920 season but played in 1921), after a victory of 2–0 against Banfield. The next championship achieved was in 1923 and it took 4 matches to decide which team (Boca or Huracán) would be the champion, so Boca won the first match but was defeated in the 2nd game; the 3rd match finished in a tie and a 4th game had to be played (at Sportivo Barracas stadium, on April 27, 1924), finally won by Boca 2–0 obtaining a new title. Both goals were scored by Garasini.
Boca was the unbeaten champion of the 1924 season, winning 18 matches over 19 disputed. The team finished with a total of goals scored of 67 (an average of 3.52 per game) and only received 8.