1997–98 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season

The 1997–98 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season was the 68th consecutive Primera División season played by the senior squad.

Boca Juniors

1997–98 season
President	Mauricio Macri
Manager	Héctor Veira
Stadium	La Bombonera
Apertura Tournament	2nd.
Clausura Tournament	6th.
Top goalscorer	League: All: Martín Palermo (20)
Home colours Away colours
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Summary

The club reinforced the squad with several players: Claudio Caniggia ^[1] came back after a brief retirement, forward Martin Palermo ^[2] from Estudiantes La Plata, twins Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Gustavo Barros Schelotto ^[3] arrived from Gimnasia LP, Colombian centre back Jorge Bermúdez from Benfica, goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba ^[4] from America de Cali, defender Walter Samuel ^[5] from Newell's Old Boys, Mexican striker Luis Hernandez^[6] and Peruvian midfielder Nolberto Solano.^[7]

In Apertura Tournament the squad finished on 2nd spot just one single point below champions River Plate. On 25 October 1997 Diego Maradona announced his retirement being in fact, the last official match that he played.^[8]

For the Clausura Tournament, the club was reinforced with Rodolfo Cardoso, Sergio Castillo and Colombian midfielder Mauricio Serna. In spite of being heavily favourites the squad sank to the 6th spot prompting coach Veira to quit as head coach on 2 May 1998.^[9] Chairman Mauricio Macri wanted to appoint Daniel Passarella- then coach of Argentina National team- as new head manager, however, after a majority of Boca fans rejected him due to his past a River Plate idol,^[10] the club board did not sign a contract.

Meanwhile, former Velez Sarsfield head coach Carlos Bianchi rejected an offer from Julio Grondona Chairman of AFA to be the Argentina National team coach after the 1998 FIFA World Cup not accepting Jose Pekerman as manager and his high influence on Grondona.^[11] On 27 May 1998 Bianchi took the vacancy out at Boca appointed by Macri as new head coach of the club with a contract signed until December 1999.^[12]

Special uniforms

Alternate kits worn only in 1997 Supercopa Libertadores

Home

Away

Squad

Permanent squad numbers entered into force since 1997 Apertura:
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   COL Oscar Córdoba 2 DF   COL Jorge Bermúdez 3 DF   ARG Mauricio Pineda 4 MF   PER Nolberto Solano 5 MF   ARG Alfredo Berti 6 DF   ARG Néstor Fabbri 7 FW   URU Sergio Martínez 28 MF   ARG Julio Cesar Toresani 8 FW   ARG Claudio Caniggia 9 FW   ARG Martín Palermo 10 FW   ARG Diego Maradona 11 MF   ARG Diego Latorre 12 GK   ARG Roberto Abbondanzieri 13 GK   ARG Emanuel Ruiz

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 DF   ARG Nelson Vivas 16 DF   ARG Christian Traverso 17 DF   ARG Walter Samuel 18 DF   ARG Rodolfo Arruabarrena 19 MF   ARG Diego Cagna 20 MF   ARG Juan Román Riquelme 21 MF   ARG Gustavo Barros Schelotto 22 MF   ARG César La Paglia 23 FW   ARG Guillermo Barros Schelotto 25 GK   ARG Christian Muñoz 26 MF   ARG Pablo Islas 15 DF   ARG Aníbal Matellán 24 FW   ARG Sebastián Rambert 27 FW   MEX Luis Hernández

Transfers

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
GK	Oscar Cordoba	America de Cali
MF	Nolberto Solano	Sporting Cristal
FW	Martin Palermo	Estudiantes La Plata
DF	Jorge Bermudez	Benfica
FW	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)
MF	Gustavo Barros Schelotto	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)
DF	Walter Samuel	Newell's Old Boys
FW	Luis Hernandez	Necaxa	loan

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
FW	Sergio Daniel Martinez	Deportivo La Coruña
FW	Sebastián Rambert	River Plate
MF	Gabriel Cedrés	Club América
DF	Héctor Pineda	Udinese Calcio

January

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
MF	Mauricio Serna	Atlético Nacional
MF	Rodolfo Cardoso	Hamburg SV
MF	Sergio Castillo	Deportivo Español

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
MF	Diego Maradona		retired
FW	Luis Hernandez	Necaxa	loan ended
DF	Nelson Vivas	FC Lugano	loan
MF	Gustavo Barros Schelotto	Unión de Santa Fe	loan
MF	Julio Cesar Toresani	Independiente

Competitions

Main article: 1997–98 Argentine Primera División

Torneo Apertura

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	River Plate	19	14	3	2	43	17	+26	45
2	Boca Juniors	19	13	5	1	35	12	+23	44
3	Rosario Central	19	10	5	4	35	20	+15	35
4	Vélez Sársfield	19	8	8	3	42	23	+19	32
5	San Lorenzo	19	9	5	5	42	32	+10	32

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Position by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	W	D	W	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	W	D	W	W	W	D	W	W
Position	3	4	2	6	4	7	4	2	2	1	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

Source: www.afa.com.ar
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Boca Juniors v Argentinos Juniors

24 August 1997 1	Boca Juniors	4–2	Argentinos Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Latorre   6', 71' Arruabarrena   12' Maradona   62' (pen)	Report	Gómez   10' Vespa   80' (pen)	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Daniel Giménez

Platense v Boca Juniors

30 August 1997 2	Platense	2–2	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Spontón   10', 54'	Report	S. Martinez   40' Arruabarrena   72'	Stadium: Jose Amalfitani Referee: Francisco Lamolina

Boca Juniors v Newell's Old Boys

14 September 1997 3	Boca Juniors	2–1	Newell's Old Boys	Buenos Aires
	Maradona   40' (pen) Guillermo B.S.   79'	Report	Lujambio   67'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Rubén Pascualino

Velez Sarsfield v Boca Juniors

16 September 1997 4	Velez Sarsfield	0–0	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
		Report		Stadium: José Amalfitani Stadium Referee: Angel Sánchez

Boca Juniors v San Lorenzo

21 September 1997 5	Boca Juniors	2–1	San Lorenzo	Buenos Aires
	Latorre   19', 25'	Report	Biaggio   37'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Horacio Elizondo

Estudiantes (LP) v Boca Juniors

27 September 1997 6	Estudiantes (LP)	0–0	Boca Juniors	Avellaneda
		Report		Stadium: Independiente Referee: Javier Castrilli

Boca Juniors v Independiente

30 September 1997 7	Boca Juniors	2–1	Independiente	Buenos Aires
	Palermo   1' Arruabarrena   13'	Report	Rojas   52'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Angel Sánchez

Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) v Boca Juniors

4 October 1997 8	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	0–3	Boca Juniors	Jujuy
		Report	Bermúdez   55' Palermo   56' Latorre   72'	Stadium: 23 de Agosto Referee: Oscar Sequeira

Boca Juniors v Colón

19 October 1997 9	Boca Juniors	2–1	Colón	Buenos Aires
	Fuertes   6' (o.g.) Latorre   44'	Report	Ibarra   56'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Francisco Lamolina

River Plate v Boca Juniors

25 October 1997 10	River Plate	1–2	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	S. Berti   40'	Report	Toresani   47' Palermo  67'	Stadium: Estadio Monumental Referee: Horacio Elizondo

Boca Juniors v Lanús

1 November 1997 11	Boca Juniors	0–1	Lanús	Buenos Aires
		Report	Clotet   60'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Aníbal Hay

Rosario Central v Boca Juniors

8 November 1997 12	Rosario Central	0-3 ^[13]	Boca Juniors	Rosario
		Report	Solano   47' Latorre   58' Guillermo B.S.   61'	Stadium: Gigante de Arroyito Referee: Javier Castrilli

Boca Juniors v Ferro Carril Oeste

20 November 1997 13	Boca Juniors	1–1	Ferro Carril Oeste	Buenos Aires
	Guillermo B.S.   36'	Report	Bustos   46'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Oscar Sequeira

Deportivo Español v Boca Juniors

23 November 1997 14	Deportivo Español	0–4	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
		Report	Palermo   7' Palermo   8' Palermo   47' Cagna   71' Riquelme   Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Stadium: Nueva España Referee: Angel Sánchez

Boca Juniors v Huracán

30 November 1997 15	Boca Juniors	2–1	Huracán	Buenos Aires
	Latorre   15' Solano   75'	Report	Biscay   90'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Daniel Giménez

Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) v Boca Juniors

7 December 1997 16	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	0–1	Boca Juniors	La Plata
		Report	Palermo   89'	Referee: Horacio Elizondo

Boca Juniors v Racing

10 December 1997 17	Boca Juniors	0–0	Racing	Buenos Aires
		Report		Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Angel Sánchez

Gimnasia y Tiro (S) v Boca Juniors

14 December 1997 18	Gimnasia y Tiro (S)	0–1	Boca Juniors	Salta
		Report	P. Islas   77'	Stadium: Gigante del Norte Referee: Francisco Lamolina

Boca Juniors v Unión (SF)

21 December 1997 19	Boca Juniors	4–0	Unión (SF)	Buenos Aires
	Arruabarrena   5' Palermo   22' Solano   51' (pen) Latorre   71'	Report		Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Daniel Giménez

Torneo Clausura

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	19	9	5	5	23	20	+3	32
5	San Lorenzo	19	9	3	7	36	27	+9	30
6	Boca Juniors	19	8	5	6	38	30	+8	29
7	River Plate	19	7	8	4	32	24	+8	29
8	Argentinos Juniors	19	7	7	5	26	17	+9	28

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Position by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	L	W	L	L	D	W	D	D	W	L	D	L	L	W	W	W	W	D
Position	4	11	5	9	12	14	11	8	9	7	10	11	13	14	12	10	7	6	6

Source: www.afa.com.ar
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Argentinos Juniors v Boca Juniors

19 February 1998 1	Argentinos Juniors	1-3	Boca Juniors	Caballito
	Brizuela   80'	Report	Latorre   6' Fabbri   Arruabarrena   Solano   Cardoso   31' Palermo   Palermo   50' Latorre   67'	Stadium: Ricardo Etcheverri Referee: Elizondo

Boca Juniors v Platense

22 February 1998 2	Boca Juniors	0-4	Platense	La Boca
	Bermudez   Cagna   Cardoso   Caniggia   89'	Report	Hanuch   2' Godoy   74' Hanuch   81' Sponton   89'	Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Ruscio

Newell's Old Boys v Boca Juniors

25 February 1998 3	Newell's Old Boys	2-4	Boca Juniors	Rosario
	Franco   43' Quiroga   55'	Report	Serna   14' Solano   21' (pen) Palermo   31' Guillermo Barros Schelotto   38' Solano   Fabbri   Arruabarrena	Stadium: El Coloso del Parque Referee: Castrilli

Boca Juniors v Velez Sarsfield

28 February 1998 4	Boca Juniors	2-3	Velez Sarsfield	La Boca
	Palermo   39' Latorre   61' Fabbri   86'	Report	Castroman   27' Arruabarrena  53' (own goal) Chilavert   87' (pen)	Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Sanchez

San Lorenzo v Boca Juniors

8 March 1998 5	San Lorenzo	2-1	Boca Juniors	Almagro
	Basavilvaso  14' Biagio   34'	Report	Palermo   7' Bermudez   86'   Palermo   89'   Samuel	Stadium: Nuevo Gasometro Referee: Gimenez

Boca Juniors v Estudiantes La Plata

15 March 1998 6	Boca Juniors	0-0	Estudiantes La Plata	La Boca
	Fabbri   Serna   Cagna   Palermo	Report		Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Lamolina

Independiente v Boca Juniors

22 March 1998 7	Independiente	0-4	Boca Juniors	Avellaneda
		Report	Arruabarrena   19' Caniggia   39' Solano   44' Guillermo Barros Schelotto   65' Guillermo Barros Schelotto   70'	Stadium: La Doble Visera Referee: Madorran

Boca Juniors v Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)

27 March 1998 8	Boca Juniors	0-0	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	La Boca
	Latorre   20' Matellan  52' Arruabarrena	Report		Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Elizondo

Colon v Boca Juniors

5 April 1998 9	Colon	2-2	Boca Juniors	Santa Fe
	Sandoval  2' Fuertes   25' Ulambre   74'	Report	Palermo  55' Bermudez   Serna  Caniggia	Stadium: Cementerio de los Elefantes Referee: Scime

Boca Juniors v River Plate

11 April 1998 10	Boca Juniors	3-2	River Plate	La Boca
	Fabbri   13' Guillermo Barros Schelotto  16' Caniggia   56' Serna  64' Palermo   69' Arruabarrena   73' Palermo  87'	Report	Solari  36' Salas   53' Berizzo   80'   Salas   89'	Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Castrilli

Lanús v Boca Juniors

14 April 1998 11	Lanús	2-1	Boca Juniors	Lanús
	Serrizuela   55' Siviero   74'	Report	Latorre   37'	Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de Lanús-Néstor Díaz Pérez Referee: Gimenez

Boca Juniors v Rosario Central

17 April 1998 12	Boca Juniors	1-1	Rosario Central	La Boca
	Latorre   12'	Report	Bustos Montoya   58' Gaitan   68'	Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Mendez

Ferro Carril Oeste v Boca Juniors

26 April 1998 13	Ferro Carril Oeste	4-1	Boca Juniors	Caballito
	Bustos   35' Bustos   50' Yaque   54' Bustos   85'	Report	Palermo   27'	Stadium: Estadio Ricardo Etcheverri Referee: Scime

Boca Juniors v Deportivo Español

2 May 1998 14	Boca Juniors	2-3	Deportivo Español	La Boca
	Caniggia   68' Solano  72' (pen)	Report	Galvan   41' Parodi   44' Parodi   48'	Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Bongianino

Huracán v Boca Juniors

5 May 1998 15	Huracán	2-4	Boca Juniors	Parque Patricios
	Guerra   26' Montenegro   42'	Report	Palermo   36' Fabbri   39' Fabbri   80' La Paglia   81'	Stadium: El Palacio Referee: Lamolina

Boca Juniors v Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)

10 May 1998 16	Boca Juniors	3-1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	La Boca
	Fabbri   7' Palermo  50' Palermo   64'	Report	Sosa   32'	Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Sanchez

Racing v Boca Juniors

12 May 1998 17	Racing	0-2	Boca Juniors	Avellaneda
		Report	Fabbri   75' Caniggia   90'	Stadium: Cilindro de Avellaneda Referee: Elizondo

Boca Juniors v Gimnasia y Tiro (S)

31 May 1998 18	Boca Juniors	4-0	Gimnasia y Tiro (S)	La Boca
	Palermo   3' Caniggia   10' Cardoso   25' Navas   81'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: Ruscio

Unión de Santa Fe v Boca Juniors

6 June 1998 19	Unión de Santa Fe	1-1	Boca Juniors	Santa Fe
	Castillo   90'	Report	Ortiz   57'	Stadium: Estadio 15 de Abril Referee: Guerra

Statistics

Players statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Apertura 97^[14]		Clausura 98^[15]
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	COL	Oscar Cordoba	25	0	17	0	8	0
	DF	PER	Nolberto Solano	32	5	18	3	14	2
	DF	COL	Jorge Bermudez	31	1	17	1	14	0
	DF	ARG	Nestor Fabbri	27	4	12	0	15	4
	DF	ARG	Rodolfo Arruabarrena	35	6	18	4	17	2
	MF	ARG	Diego Cagna	33	1	19	1	14	0
	MF	ARG	Diego Latorre	30	14	18	9	12	5
	MF	ARG	Rodolfo Cardoso	11	1	0	0	11	1
	FW	ARG	Claudio Paul Caniggia	22	5	5	0	17	5
	FW	ARG	Martin Palermo	32	20	17	8	15	12
	FW	ARG	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	33	6	16	3	17	3
	GK	ARG	Roberto Abbondanzieri	13	0	2	0	11	0
	MF	ARG	Christian Traverso	13	0	12	0	1	0
	MF	ARG	Juan Roman Riquelme	19	0	13	0	6	0
	DF	ARG	Nelson Vivas	8	0	8	0
	MF	ARG	Pablo Eduardo Islas	9	1	6	1	3	0
	DF	ARG	Hector Pineda	6	0	6	0
10	FW	ARG	Diego Maradona	5	2	5	2	-	-
	MF	ARG	Gustavo Barros Schelotto	5	0	5	0	0	0
	MF	ARG	Alfredo Berti	13	0	13	0
	DF	ARG	Emanuel Ruiz	9	0	5	0	4	0
	DF	ARG	Walter Samuel	12	0	4	0	8	0
	DF	ARG	Cesar Osvaldo La Paglia	9	1	3	0	6	1
	DF	ARG	Julio Cesar Toresani	16	1	16	1
	FW	URU	Sergio Daniel Martinez	1	1	1	1
	DF	ARG	Anibal Matellan	6	0	1	0	5	0
	GK	ARG	Christan Fernando Muñoz	1	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	ARG	Sebastián Rambert	1	0	1	0
	FW	MEX	Luis Hernandez	0	0	0	0	-	-
	MF	COL	Mauricio Serna	9	1	0	0	9	1
	DF	ARG	Sergio Castillo	13	0	0	0	13	0
	DF	ARG	Luis Darío Calvo	12	0	0	0	12	0
	DF	ARG	Ariel Rosada	8	0	0	0	8	0
	DF	ARG	Fernando Rodolfo Navas	6	1	0	0	6	1
	MF	ARG	Hernan Vigna	3	0	0	0	3	0
	FW	ARG	Fernando Ortiz	2	1	0	0	2	1
	DF	ARG	Hernan Florentin	2	0	0	0	2	0
	MF	ARG	Sebastián Battaglia	1	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	ARG	Héctor Andrés Bracamonte	1	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	ARG	Hugo Darío Dominguez	1	0	0	0	1	0

• Source:^{[citation needed]}

References

1. "Caniggia arrives to Boca" (in Spanish). clarin.com. 9 August 1997. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
2. "First Palermo' goal in his Boca debut" (in Spanish). clarin.com. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
3. "Barros Schelotto twins a special date" (in Spanish). clarin.com. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
4. "The unbelievable comment of Macri when Cordoba was signing his agreement with Boca" (in Spanish). ole.com.ar. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
5. "Walter Samuel, his fan side, the River streak, Boca, Bianchi and ..." (in Spanish). ole.com.ar. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
6. "I chose to play in Boca because Maradona was over there". record.com.mx. 12 July 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
7. "Peruvian footballers who played with Boca" (in Spanish). espndeportes.espn.com. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
8. "1997:The Last Match of Maradona" (in Spanish). elgrafico.com.ar. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
9. "The Day Passarella was meeting with Boca". ole.com.ar. 3 May 1998. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
10. "A fascinating story, the day when Macri sent Passarella a contract for being Boca Juniors coach" (in Spanish). infobae.com. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
11. "Why Did Bianchi Never Manage Argentine National Team?" (in Spanish). 2 April 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
12. "The 1000 Days of Bianchi". lanacion.com.ar. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
13. Suspended on 68' due to Rosario Central fans throwing fireworks onto the field. AFA did not modify the final score. "Violence emerged to stop the Boca landslide". lanacion.com.ar. 9 November 1997. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
14. "Plantel Boca Torneo Apertura 1997". historiadeboca.com.ar. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
15. "Plantel Boca Torneo Clausura 1998". historiadeboca.com.ar. Retrieved 20 November 2020.

External links

• (in Spanish)