With the Copa Libertadores Final being played in the home of football, the Centenario, it seemed the perfect opportunity to delve into my memories of the 15 games I have seen there. Just having been once at this magnificent historical venue would be phenomenal, but my passion for futbol in Uruguay and Argentina has pulled me back, again and again. Putting those 15 visits into context, at least 25% of Scottish league grounds have never been visited that often, and only Doncaster and Ancona have been visited more anywhere else in the world.
The Libertadores has finally gone across to a one off final, a decision probably expedited with haste after the Boca v River debacle that ended up being concluded in Madrid. Ironically since that final, only River made the Lima final the following year, with Brazil in total control these days. The number of sides from Brazil and Argentina entering largely means teams from the other eight countries will increasingly struggle to make the final, let alone win the competition. For the second year on the trot it’s an all Brazilian affair, with the winners of the last two editions going head to head, with Rio’s Flamengo playing Sao Paolo’s Palmeiras. The pandemic seems to have particularly affected the standard of play on offer in Argentina, but the game in general is sliding into the realms of Europe in South America, with only a strong River or Boca likely to have the necessary weaponry to see off the larger pool of reasonable Brazilian sides, perhaps not surprising given the population disparity.
The Centenario is our focus however, a magnificent ellipse of a stadium towering above all in the vicinity in a relatively central area of Montevideo in Parque Batlle, dewarfing two little canchas (grounds) across the road, Parque Mendez Piana (Miramar Misiones) and right next to it, Parque Palermo (Central Espanol). It was built for the 1930 World Cup, the first International tournament of its kind, with the Olympics having been its forerunner. Uruguay had won the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Football Gold medal and it seemed only right they would be chosen to host the first ever World Cup. The Centenario wasn’t quite ready at the outset of the competition, but was completed in time for the sharp end of the competition, with Uruguay triumphing 4-2 in the final versus Argentina. I read recently that someone wants to strip the Uruguayans of two of their four stars on the National shirt, as two were Olympic victories. It was agreed with FIFA many years ago that they would be recognised, why do people have to meddle and get upset over nothing?!
The sense of history can be enjoyed in full in the Museo de Futbol inside the stadium with many artefacts and souvenirs capturing the glory days of Uruguayan football. It all adds to the sense of importance of this venue as FIFA acknowledged the Centenario as “The Home of Football”. Many of the glory days might be a long time in the past, but for a country with such a small population (3.3 million) compared to every other South American land, they still punch well above their weight and size on the football front.
My first ever game in the Centenario was on 5th March 2002, appropriately enough a Copa Libertadores match, the first of 9 such games in the grand old cancha. I bought a ticket for the central Palco area, where concrete seats with armrests proliferate the lower level section of the main stand area and can also be found on the opposite side. It was an awe inspiring sight, the colour and pageantry at both ends was a sight to behold too, this was a Rio de la Plata (River Plate) derby with Club Nacional hosting Velez Sarsfield from Liniers, Buenos Aires.
Nacional have always had their own stadium, Parque Central, now a thing of beauty and now hosts any Bolso (meaning pocket, nickname of the club, as the shirt used to have a pocket under the badge) Libertadores game, but in 2002 it was still a relatively basic stadium with quite a small capacity, so these big International club games, as well as local derby days with Penarol, would always be played at the Centenario.
South American crowds, even to this day, haven’t been priced out by corporate greed (although the Libertadores Final is pricey) and the atmosphere can be edgy, wild and exhilarating. If Racing Club v Boca Juniors had been a baptism of fire in 2000 to the South American game, my Centenario debut wasn’t going to disappoint either. While absorbing the whole experience at the time, it has doubtlessly taken the recollection of many of the events away, but I recall that Velez were leading 2-1 going into added on time when Bolso struck a dramatic late equaliser, sending the throngs of Tricolor (white, blue and red are the club colours) hinchas (fans) into exuberant celebration, the perfect end to a first game at the stadium.
Twenty four hours later I was back again! The same gig, Uruguay versus Argentina in the Libertadores, this time Penarol versus San Lorenzo. I was in the Palco once more, and the only difference was the home fans, in this case La Manya de Penarol were filling the opposite end from the Nacional fans the night before, and indeed, with red and blue being the colours of the Almagro club from Buenos Aires, the Nacional end was still largely looking unchanged. An early indicator for my preference in the giants of Montevideo debate sorted itself out that night, and little has ever changed to alter my view. Penarol are a chips on shoulders, street fighting mob. Garra (sly tactics) is in the clubs DNA, and even watching them play Cerro Largo online last night, the constant need to bicker and get angry with the opposition and referee is draining and unnecessary. If Nacional’s game had been hostile, this one was played on a war footing right from the off, it was terrifying, even the sedate Palco from the night before was awash with foaming at the mouth for every single tackle. Carbonero (Penarol nickname from the yellow and black colours) ultimately won this game 1-0, but quite how was a mystery, San Lorenzo had seemed the better team.
As I walked back to my hotel, having sampled both clubs in the space of a day, I resolved to pin my distant tail on Nacional of the two, but that was before the extraordinary world of the rest of Uruguayan football started to chip away at the notion of enthusiasm for either, However in International club competitions and games between the two, I always cheer for Nacional.
The following year I was back, this time the games were spaced out by a week, and Penarol this time had the 2-2 scoreline versus Gremio, a first sighting of a Brazilian team! A week later, my great buddy Juan Manuel, who I had met in El Bolson the year before, had travelled across from Buenos Aires and we both headed for the away section at the Centenario for the visit of Racing Club de Avellaneda. What was odd about this situation was the away “end” was the left hand portion of the seats and terracing of the centre stand. All other visitors had been given the opposite end of the ground from the home side, but not this particular night for some reason. Had we been housed in one of the curva we might have avoided the unsavoury masonry being chucked at us from the nearby curva Nacional fans (the other end was largely empty).
This was the first time that Racing had played at the Centenario since beating Celtic in the World Club Championships final of 1967. That resulted in a 1-0 win, and in late February 2003, they would repeat the feat beating Bolso 2-1, with all three goals in a mad seven minute passage of play halfway through the second period. While the vast majority of Racing hinchas were ferried on buses down to the port or off on the lengthy trek north to cross without need of a boat, we casually sauntered over to a Chori-pan van (a tasty sausage in baguette style bread) and munched away with some Nacional fans as we were without colours!
There is a theme developing, 12 months later, I saw the same two clubs jousting in the Libertadores again. This time the games were two days apart, with the two visitors for the first time being smaller clubs with limited away support, as up until now, all four previous clubs had huge support. Sao Caetano (where are they now?) drew 1-1 with Penarol, while I saw Nacional win for the first time with a narrow 1-0 win over Cusco side Cienciano, who despite the loss of altitude that home affords, acquitted themselves very well in this game. These more disappointing scores from a Uruguayan perspective are symptomatic, perhaps of a gradual decline in both these giants making an impact internationally. They might have eight Libertadores trophies between them, but I would be astonished if either wins the enormous trophy again.
Penarol had been homeless hobos for years. They once had a ground in the Pocitos area of the capital, a cancha that hosted the first ever World Cup match, but that’s long gone, and for too many years they rented the Centenario. In order to get a bigger gate versus the big duo, all the other sides would also hire the Centenario. This resulted in Penarol almost playing every game here! In my 7th Centenario game, four years on from my last visit, Penarol were hosting Juventud Las Piedras in my first ever domestic game in the old stadium. The away fans were few in number, but they rightly went crazy when their side scored a cracking goal from the halfway line. They ultimately lost 3,2, but provided sufficient nuisance value for the Penarol foaming aggression to be on display once more!
In 2009 I got greedy and enjoyed four games in the Centenario. I had arrived so early that year in January that the season hadn’t officially started. In 2008 I had met a Uruguayan lady, and throughout the end of that year and 2009 we tried to make our relationship work with two visits both ways, but ultimately the distance tempered any progression, but we are still friends to this day. The pre-season diet saw the hilariously named Bimbo Cup (it’s a bread apparently) being played. This meant a double bill of evening action on a balmy summer’s night at the Centenario, with the Montevideo giants taking it in turn to play the two big teams from Belo Horizonte, and both got absolutely taken to the cleaners 4-1 by Cruzeiro and Atletico Mineiro respectively. These were relaxed occasions, and the amazing sunset, a wonderful regular occurrence in coastal Uruguay, was quite a sight for my first venture to the opposite side of the stadium, under the high iconic tower. Fans didn’t stay for both predominantly, but despite a 90-minute gap between the games and an after midnight finish, I wasn’t going to leave until the very end.
Ten days later Penarol had a more important Libertadores qualifying match versus Independiente Medellin. The atmosphere was ramped up, but this one ended 0-0, and was a futile exercise as the Colombians had won the first leg 4-0. The next week, Defensor Sporting were playing America Cali in the Centenario, and I had convinced Nuria to take her camera to her first football game to capture the action. This would have been a nice ‘drug cartel city’ double in Montevideo, but why this was moved from Defensor’s Franzini stadium seemed odd. As it was, a truly horrendous storm broke out in the lead up to the game, and with no cover available it was decided to skip it, much to Nuria’s delight. The game went ahead, and while we did watch it on TV, those present were largely hiding in the exit concourses sheltering from a night of biblical wind and rain.
Seven months on, I was back, this time autumn was still ongoing, and my next match at the Centenario was the coldest I have ever been at a football game. Liverpool were hosting Penarol at the Centenario instead of their more compact Belvedere. I was amongst the Liverpool fans tucked into one corner, constantly buying cups of sickly hot coffee, not to drink but just to hold to ward off shivers, although the 2-2 scoreline was warming, and much angst and foam could be viewed across the divide, the Carboneri weren’t happy, oh dear what a shame!
By 2010 I was such a regular in Uruguay, that little by little, a swathe of my friends had taken advantage of the unusual possibility of a Scottish tour guide in Montevideo to pop across for a weekend or longer from Buenos Aires. Andrea stayed a week, we hired a car; Monica was on a day trip; Malena and Mariano came across for a few days, as did Osvaldo and his sister Susana, but they’d timed their trip to coincide with a Banfield match at the Centenario. The only main player missing from the Uruguayan visit CV is my greatest friend Laura, but we did try, however another storm turned the River Plate into a tormented sea and all sailings were cancelled that particular day, and our luck was out.
The 2010 Centenario diet of two games are possibly the two great other occasions at the venue, aside from the opening match in 2002, and the Nacional v Racing Club game in 2003. The 2010 games were once more one night after another, but this time, the opening joust on the 9th March was Montevideo’s Racing playing their first ever Copa Libertadores group match. Parque Roberto in Sayago was never going to be able to host this match. However, I was told it was going ahead at Nacional’s Parque Central. It was just as well I arrived early, as this obviously wasn’t the venue, and thankfully, the walk from here to the Centenario isn’t a long one. Another game at the great venue! I still arrived in plenty of time for kick-off.
Aside from the big two in Montevideo, Defensor and Danubio will have reasonable support, but the rest (easily more than 20 clubs) have quite small followings. A crowd of 5,000 in the Centenario is lost in the surroundings, but only one section opposite the main stand was open adding to the atmosphere, save a corner for the visiting support from Asuncion, Paraguay, with Cerro Porteno providing the opposition. The Racing crowd might have been small in number but the passion and pride were visible, and the team responded. A famous win was secured 2-1, with only a few nervy moments at the end after a late Cerro Porteno goal. Racing would finish the group in second place after the six games, but in 2010 it wasn’t enough to make the knockout phase as it usually does, because CONMEBOL had promised two Mexican sides who had been chucked out of the 2009 edition due to swine flu, a place in the last 16, and the two lowest points haul sides in second place were denied progression. This was desperately harsh after such a magnificent effort. Who knows when we will see the likes again.
The following day, the old stadium was as full as I have ever seen it thus far, with a huge following across from Banfield in Gran Buenos Aires. Osvaldo and Susana had enjoyed the city, and I am sure they enjoyed this match with Nacional too. My fourth 2-2 draw at the Centenario was a pulsating affair, certainly in the first half when all four goals were scored. A Taladro (clover, nickname of Banfield, I guess given the green kit) penalty put them 2-1 up after 36 minutes, having fallen behind in just 5 minutes, but a diving header just four minutes later saw everyone trot off level at the break. No one could score again, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying. The atmosphere had been absolutely electric. A week later I was at the return match at Banfield when Nacional bagged a brace but Taladro couldn’t score, and Bolso scampered back across the water with the win and qualification.
2010 was a real high, and yes I was back in 2011 with my nephew Scott this time, a reward for doing well at school! (His 8 games in Uruguay might be the most seen by a Highland lad yet!). By journey’s end in Argentina and Uruguay he had counted up he’d met 27 different friends of mine, testimony to the many years of contact and joy these two lands have provided me. The decade of high profits my Bank had enjoyed aided my travels but was starting to unravel and while I didn’t know it then, this would be my penultimate game at the Centenario on my penultimate visit to the country. Here on the last night of our stay in Montevideo, we witnessed a fairly run of the mill 1-0 win for Nacional over nominal “home” side Bella Vista. I has seen the reverse of this fixture years before when I saw the two sides draw 1-1 in my first ever game at Gran Parque Central.
In 2015 I was back, and the gap of four years added a greater sense of rediscovery to that trip, culminating appropriately in the last game of a three game Sunday being my last to date in the Centenario, with El Tanque Sisley hosting Nacional. It was a poor game, a 1-0 Bolso win, but El Tanque had given them some real problems, and the Bolso fans weren’t happy.
The plan was to be back in 2020, but obviously, the pandemic hit and has denied all of us the chance for easy travel. I will be back, but realistically, I am thinking February 2026 now, with the hope I can add even just one more game to my Centenario CV. I have been lucky in life to have travelled as much as I have. Many would prefer to go to new lands and experience new places. My roster of travel tends to get bogged down in places. I feel a strong and deep connection, something not everyone gets, but that’s not important. I miss my Argentine friends, my South American futbol, and while I have gorged on action online from Uruguay in particular through these trying months, it’s not the same as being in the cancha, and I can’t wait to get back. The Centenario is truly the home of my South American football experience, and rightly is ‘The Home of Football’.
I hope the Brazilian visitors for the Copa Libertadores final fully appreciate the history of the venue where they’ll watch their sides do battle this weekend.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 