This is football crazy boy Lawd.http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=335592&cc=5901Boca disgraced in defeat again
Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 15 (Reuters) - For the second year running Boca Juniors have disgraced themselves following failure in the Libertadores Cup.
Martin Palermo: Off in disgrace (NealSimpson/Empics)
Last year, Argentina's most popular club were criticised around the continent after snubbing the awards ceremony on the pitch after losing to Colombia's Once Caldas in the two-leg final.
On Tuesday, their quarter-final exit at home to Mexico's Guadalajara was abandoned after an on-pitch brawl sparked a crowd riot. Boca, 4-0 down from the first leg, were being held 0-0 with 11 minutes to play.
On Wednesday, La Nacion newspaper carried a photograph in which Boca coach Jorge Benitez appeared to spit at Guadalajara striker Adolfo Bautista during the confusion.
'If it happened, I don't remember,' said Benitez at the post-match media conference.
Guadalajara's provocative behaviour also contributed to another sad episode in the history of South America's explosive equivalent of the Champions League.
Flamboyant owner Jorge Vergara had gloated about their first leg win and promised his side would silence the Bombonera by winning the return as well.
Vergara's wind-ups are regarded as good-natured fun in the tamer world of Mexican domestic soccer but he clearly miscalculated when he tried it on Boca's fanatical players and supporters.
BAUTISTA ATTACKED
Trouble broke out in the 79th minute when Boca midfielder Raul Cascini head-butted Bautista, who raised four fingers at the crowd to remind them of the score.
This enraged the Boca players and sparked a brawl in which Baustista and Boca striker Martin Palermo were sent off.
Despite police protection, Bautista was punched from behind by a fan who had scaled the five-metre fencing around the field while missiles rained down on visiting goalkeeper Jesus Corona.
Referee Martin Vazquez took the players to the centre circle and, after waiting 20 minutes, attempted to restart the match despite Corona's pleas.
Television pictures vividly showed the look of sheer terror on the Mexican goalkeeper's face as he was coaxed back into the goal with a wall of Boca fans in the three-tier stand only two metres behind.
When the first object was thrown, play was called off.
Boca had attempted to unsettle their opponents with late tackles and non-stop provocation from the start.
Referee Vazquez, who had another torrid experience only three days earlier when he refereed a stormy Penarol-Nacional derby in his native Uruguay, was criticised for being too lenient, especially with the Boca ringleaders Palermo, Cascini and striker Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
Schelotto vehemently protested every decision against his team but was not even warned for his persistant dissent. Vazquez also allowed several shocking late tackles to go unpunished.
The defeat appeared to signal the end of an era for Boca, who won the competition three times between 2000 and 2003 under Carlos Bianchi, Benitez's elegant predecessor who is now at Atletico Madrid.
The South American Football Confederation (CSF), often criticised for being too lenient in similar cases in the past, will have the final say but Boca have already been handed their biggest punishment.
Their dismal domestic form means that they have no hope of qualifying for next year's Libertadores and must wait until 2007 before launching another assault on the continent's biggest prize.
