1996–97 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season

The 1996–97 Club Atlético Boca Juniors season was the 67th consecutive Primera División season played by the senior squad.

Boca Juniors

1996–97 season
President	Mauricio Macri
Manager	Carlos Bilardo (until 16 December 1995) Héctor Veira (Jan. 1997–)
Stadium	La Bombonera
Apertura Tournament	10th.
Clausura Tournament	9th.
Top goalscorer	League: All: Sergio Martinez (17)
Home colours Away colours
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Summary

Macri reinforced the club with several players: Diego Latorre, Julio César Toresani, Néstor Lorenzo, Sandro Guzmán, Facundo Sava, Sebastián Rambert, Gabriel Cedrés, Diego Cagna, Mauricio Pineda, Hugo Guerra, Silvio Carrario, Fernando Cáceres and Christian Dollberg. Owing to health issues club star Diego Maradona took another retirement.^[1] Meanwhile, forward Claudio Paul Caniggia suffered his mother' suicide in Henderson ^[2] and announced his own retirement for the next Apertura Tournament. Also, left winger Kily González,^[3] Juan Sebastián Verón^[4] were transferred out to Europe. 17-yr-old playmaker and future club legend Juan Román Riquelme made his debut in this Apertura tournament.

In Apertura Tournament, the squad was a total failure sinking down to the middle of the table far below of champions River Plate prompting Bilardo to be sacked during December.^[5]

In spite of rumors about Miguel Ángel Brindisi as new trainer, the club appointed Héctor Veira as new head coach^[6] and reinforced the squad with goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri (returned from a loan Rosario Central), midfielder Christian Traverso, Alfredo Berti and Pedro González. However, in Clausura the team just reached a miserable ninth spot despite Sergio "Manteca" Martinez scored 15 goals being the Clausura top striker. Finally, by July 13 Diego Maradona came back from his brief retirement and played against Racing ^[7] for the joy of Boca fans.

Special uniforms

Alternate kits worn only in 1997 Supercopa Libertadores

Home

Away

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  COL Carlos Navarro Montoya — GK  ARG Sandro Guzmán — DF  ARG Nelson Vivas — DF  ARG Julio César Toresani — DF  ARG Fernando Cáceres — DF  ARG Néstor Fabbri — DF  ARG Mauricio Pineda — DF  ARG Néstor Lorenzo — DF  ARG Aníbal Matellán — DF  ARG Christian Dollberg — DF  ARG Walter Del Río — MF  ARG Kily González — MF  ARG Diego Maradona — MF  ARG Diego Latorre — MF  ARG Juan Román Riquelme

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ARG José Basualdo — MF  ARG Diego Cagna — MF  ARG Roberto Pompei — MF  ARG Ariel Rosada — MF  ARG Raúl Peralta — MF  ARG Pablo Trobbiani — FW  URU Sergio Martínez — FW  ARG Claudio Caniggia — FW  CMR Alphonse Tchami — FW  URU Gabriel Cedrés — FW  URU Hugo Guerra — FW  ARG Sebastián Rambert — FW  ARG Facundo Sava — DF  ARG Silvio Carrario — FW  ARG Luis Darío Calvo

Transfers

Players in
Pos.	Name	From
MF	Diego Latorre	Racing Club
MF	Julio César Toresani
DF	Néstor Lorenzo
GK	Sandro Guzmán
DF	Facundo Sava
FW	Sebastián Rambert	Real Zaragoza
MF	Gabriel Cedrés
MF	Diego Cagna
DF	Hector Pineda
MF	Hugo Guerra
MF	Silvio Carrario
DF	Fernando Cáceres
MF	Christian Dollberg

Players out
Pos.	Name	To
DF	Carlos Mac Allister
DF	Fabián Carrizo
FW	Darío Scotto	Rosario Central
MF	Juan Sebastián Verón	Sampdoria
MF	Kily González	Real Zaragoza

January

Players in
Pos.	Name	From
GK	Roberto Abbondanzieri	Rosario Central
MF	Christian Traverso

Players out
Pos.	Name	To
GK	Carlos Navarro Montoya	Extremadura UD
MF	José Basualdo	Extremadura UD

Competitions

Main article: 1996–97 Argentine Primera División

Torneo Apertura

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
8	Colón	19	6	8	5	26	24	+2	26
9	Newell's Old Boys	19	7	5	7	24	26	−2	26
10	Boca Juniors	19	7	4	8	36	33	+3	25
11	Estudiantes (LP)	19	7	4	8	27	28	−1	25
12	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	19	6	7	6	18	19	−1	25

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	River Plate	19	12	5	2	37	20	+17	41
2	Colón	19	9	8	2	36	28	+8	35
3	Newell's Old Boys	19	10	5	4	23	20	+3	35
4	Independiente	19	9	5	5	38	21	+17	32
5	Vélez Sársfield	19	9	3	7	25	18	+7	30
6	San Lorenzo	19	9	3	7	32	22	+10	30
7	Racing	19	7	6	6	24	22	+2	27
8	Platense	19	6	8	5	21	22	−1	26
9	Boca Juniors	19	6	7	6	34	32	+2	25
10	Ferro Carril Oeste	19	5	9	5	24	22	+2	24
11	Lanús	19	6	6	7	22	21	+1	24
12	Unión	19	6	6	7	31	36	−5	24
13	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	19	6	5	8	19	25	−6	23
14	Huracán	19	5	7	7	22	33	−11	22
15	Huracán (C)	19	4	9	6	21	28	−7	21
16	Estudiantes (LP)	19	5	4	10	22	26	−4	19
17	Deportivo Español	19	4	7	8	19	25	−6	19
18	Rosario Central	19	4	6	9	24	27	−3	18
19	Banfield	19	4	4	11	20	32	−12	16
20	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	19	2	8	9	21	35	−14	14

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	A	H	A	H
Result	W	L	L	D	L	W	L	W	D	L	D	W	L	W	D	L	W	L	L

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

Matches

Estudiantes (LP) v Boca Juniors

25 August 1996 1	Estudiantes (LP)	2–3	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Fúriga F. Verón	Report	Basualdo 24' Latorre 34' Pompei 51'	Stadium: José Amalfitani Referee: Aníbal Hay

Boca Juniors v Colón

3 September 1996 2	Boca Juniors	2–3	Colón	Buenos Aires
	Fabbri 44' Martínez 83'	Report	Muller 45' Cuberas 49' Aquino 53'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Horacio Elizondo

Lanús v Boca Juniors

7 September 1996 3	Lanús	3–1	Boca Juniors	Lanús
	Serrizuela 59' Enría 79' Belloso 90'		Cedrés 42'	Stadium: Lanús Stadium Referee: Daniel Giménez

Boca Juniors v San Lorenzo

15 September 1996 4	Boca Juniors	1–1	San Lorenzo	Buenos Aires
	Rambert 49'		Abreu 61'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Ángel Sánchez

Huracán (C) v Boca Juniors

21 September 1996 5	Huracán (C)	1–3	Boca Juniors	Corrientes
	Amato 83'		Guerra 9' Pompei 57' Vivas 80'	Stadium: Huracán (C) Referee: Luis Oliveto

Boca Juniors v River Plate

29 September 1996 6	Boca Juniors	3–2	River Plate	Buenos Aires
	Pompei 5' Cedrés 61' Guerra 90'	Report	Salas 21' Sorín 72'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Daniel Giménez

Ferro Carril Oeste v Boca Juniors

13 October 1996 7	Ferro Carril Oeste	3–1	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Piaggio 56', 86', 88'	Report	Rambert 87'	Stadium: Ferro C. Oeste Referee: Aníbal Hay

Boca Juniors v Newell's Old Boys

20 October 1996 8	Boca Juniors	2–1	Newell's Old Boys	Buenos Aires
	Guerra 25', 81'	Report	Giménez 12'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Francisco Lamolina

Vélez Sarsfield v Boca Juniors

27 October 1996 9	Vélez Sarsfield	1–1	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Camps 5'	Report	Toresani 78'	Stadium: José Amalfitani Referee: Ángel Sánchez

Boca Juniors v Independiente

3 November 1996 10	Boca Juniors	0–1	Independiente	Buenos Aires
		Report	Guerrero 66'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Roberto Ruscio

Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) v Boca Juniors

7 November 1996 11	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	1–1	Boca Juniors	La Plata
	Guillermo B. Schelotto	Report	Rambert	Stadium: Juan C. Zerillo Referee: Francisco Lamolina

Boca Juniors v Unión (SF)

10 November 1996 12	Boca Juniors	2–0	Unión (SF)	Buenos Aires
	Guerra 39' Cáceres 64'	Report		Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Luis Oliveto

Banfield v Boca Juniors

17 November 1996 13	Banfield	3–1	Boca Juniors	Banfield
	Lemma 7' Alvarenga 34' Arce 75'	Report	Rambert 78'	Stadium: Florencio Sola Referee: Javier Castrilli

Boca Juniors v Huracán

24 November 1996 14	Boca Juniors	6–0	Huracán	Buenos Aires
	Toresani 16' Rambert 40' Fabbri 44' Cedrés 68' Latorre 71' Riquelme 82'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Alberto Cichero (La Bombonera) Referee: A. Sánchez

Deportivo Español v Boca Juniors

26 November 1996 15	Deportivo Español	1–1	Boca Juniors
	Guede 77'	Report	Cedrés 35'	Referee: Humberto Dellacasa

Racing v Boca Juniors

1 December 1996 16	Racing	4–2	Boca Juniors	Avellaneda
	Brusco 34' Delgado 48' I. González 77' Marini 80'	Report	Toresani 15', 67'	Stadium: Racing Club Referee: Aníbal Hay

Boca Juniors v Platense

6 December 1996 17	Boca Juniors	4–1	Platense	Buenos Aires
	Toresani 5' Cedrés 30', 82' Latorre 57'		Coria 54'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Hugo Cordero

Rosario Central v Boca Juniors

18 December 1996 18	Rosario Central	4–2	Boca Juniors	Rosario
	Cardetti 1', 26' Carbonari 43' Da Silva 53'	Report	Riquelme 17' Latorre 67'	Stadium: Gigante de Arroyito Referee: Javier Castrilli

Boca Juniors v Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)

22 December 1996 19	Boca Juniors	0–1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	Buenos Aires
			Trimarchi 40'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Méndez

Torneo Clausura

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Racing	19	7	6	6	24	22	+2	27
8	Platense	19	6	8	5	21	22	−1	26
9	Boca Juniors	19	6	7	6	34	32	+2	25
10	Ferro Carril Oeste	19	5	9	5	24	22	+2	24
11	Lanús	19	6	6	7	22	21	+1	24

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	H	A	H	A
Result	W	L	D	D	W	D	D	D	L	L	W	D	W	D	L	W	L	W	D
Position	3	8	9	15	9	11	12	12	14	15	11	11	10	11	11	9	10	8	9

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

Matches

Boca Juniors v Estudiantes (LP)

23 February 1997 1	Boca Juniors	2–1	Estudiantes (LP)	Buenos Aires
	Fabbri 44' Latorre 57'	Report	Arruabarrena 55' (o.g.)	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Francisco Lamolina

Colón v Boca Juniors

1 March 1997 2	Colón	1–0	Boca Juniors	Santa Fe
	Castillo 61'	Report		Stadium: Colón Referee: Ángel Sánchez

Boca Juniors v Lanús

4 March 1997 5	Boca Juniors	1–1	Lanús	Buenos Aires
	Latorre 80'		A. López 5'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Horacio Elizondo

San Lorenzo v Boca Juniors

9 March 1997 4	San Lorenzo	4–0	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Gorosito 22', 29' Silas 41', 79'	Report		Stadium: San Lorenzo Referee: Aníbal Hay

Boca Juniors v Huracán (C)

14 March 1997 5	Boca Juniors	4–1	Huracán (C)	Buenos Aires
	S. Martínez 23', 55', 63', 83'	Report	Lujambio 71'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Hugo Cordero

River Plate v Boca Juniors

23 March 1997 6	River Plate	3–3	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	Cedrés 5' S. Martínez 17', 29'	Report	S. Berti 42' Villalba 76' C. Ayala 87'	Stadium: Monumental Referee: Javier Castrilli

Boca Juniors v Ferro Carril Oeste

6 April 1997 7	Boca Juniors	1–1	Ferro Carril Oeste	Buenos Aires
	S. Martínez 47'	Report	Flores 82'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Rubén Pascualino

Newell's Old Boys v Boca Juniors

12 April 1997 8	Newell's Old Boys	1–1	Boca Juniors	Rosario
	Dalla Líbera 30'	Report	Latorre 41'	Stadium: Newell's O.B. Referee: Francisco Lamolina

Boca Juniors v Vélez Sarsfield

20 April 1997 9	Boca Juniors	1–2	Vélez Sarsfield	Buenos Aires
	Riquelme 3'	Report	Chilavert 45' (pen.) Moriggi 80'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Daniel Giménez

Independiente v Boca Juniors

4 Mat 1997 10	Independiente	2–0	Boca Juniors	Avellaneda
	Burruchaga 31', 83'	Report		Stadium: Independiente Referee: Javier Castrilli

Boca Juniors v Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)

7 November 1996 11	Boca Juniors	6–1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	Buenos Aires
	Sava 23' Latorre 26', 35' S. Martínez 60', 62', 73', 88'	Report		Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Rubén Pascualino

Unión (SF) v Boca Juniors

14 May 1997 12	Unión (SF)	3–3	Boca Juniors	Santa Fe
	Garate 28' Perezlindo 43' Magnin 54'	Report	S. Martínez 30', 48' Toresani 84'	Stadium: 15 de Abril Referee: Daniel Giménez

Boca Juniors v Banfield

16 May 1997 13	Boca Juniors	3–1	Banfield	Buenos Aires
	S. Martínez 69' Toresani 77' Tchami 90'	Report	Campodónico 12'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Alejandro Sliwa

Huracán v Boca Juniors

26 May 1997 14	Huracán	1–1	Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires
	C. García 77'	Report	S. Martínez 35'	Stadium: Tomás Ducó Referee: Luis Pasturenzi

Boca Juniors v Deportivo Español

1 June 1997 15	Boca Juniors	1–3	Deportivo Español	Buenos Aires
	Cedrés 22'	Report	Almirón 4' Galván 51' Parodi 90'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Roberto Ruscio

Boca Juniors v Racing

13 July 1997 16	Boca Juniors	3–2	Racing	Buenos Aires
	Rambert 15', 21' Fabbri 34'	Report	I. González 23' (pen.) Delgado 80'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Aníbal Hay

Platense v Boca Juniors

7 August 1997 17	Platense	1–0	Boca Juniors	Florida
	Loyola 88'	Report		Stadium: Vicente López Referee: Guerra

Boca Juniors v Rosario Central

10 August 1997 18	Boca Juniors	4–3	Rosario Central	Buenos Aires
	Rambert 13', 69', 86' Riquelme 90'	Report	Da Silva 39' Cardetti 50', 61'	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Oscar Sequeira

Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) v Boca Juniors

12 August 1997 19	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	0–0	Boca Juniors	Jujuy
		Report		Stadium: Gimnasia y Esgrima Referee: Carlos Salado

Statistics

Players statistics

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Apertura 96[8]		Clausura 97[9]
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ARG	Carlos Fernando Navarro Montoya	13	0	13	0	-	-
		ARG	Nelson Vivas	27	1	16	1	11	0
	DF	ARG	Néstor Fabbri	29	4	16	2	13	2
	MF	ARG	Kily González	1	0	1	0	-	-
	FW	URU	Sergio Daniel Martinez	17	16	2	1	15	15
	FW	ARG	Claudio Paul Caniggia	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW	ARG	Diego Maradona	1	0	0	0	1	0
		ARG	Raul Alejandro Peralta	8	0	2	0	6	0
	MF	CMR	Alphonse Marie Tchami	12	1	7	0	5	1
		ARG	Luis Darío Calvo	6	0	2	0	4	0
	MF	ARG	José Horacio Basualdo	9	1	9	1	-	-
	MF	ARG	Walter José Del Río	2	0	1	0	1	0
	FW	ARG	Sebastián Rambert	27	10	18	5	9	5
	MF	ARG	Diego Latorre	35	9	19	4	16	5
	DF	ARG	Roberto Pompei	30	3	18	3	12	0
	DF	ARG	Julio César Toresani	31	7	16	5	15	2
	DF	ARG	Fernando Cáceres	15	1	15	1	-	-
	MF	ARG	Diego Cagna	29	1	15	1	14	0
	MF	URU	Gabriel Cedrés	28	8	13	6	15	2
	MF	URU	Hugo Romeo Guerra	12	5	12	5
	DF	ARG	Cristian Dollberg	12	0	12	0
	DF	ARG	Héctor Pineda	17	0	9	0	8	0
	MF	ARG	Juan Román Riquelme	22	4	8	2	14	2
	FW	ARG	Facundo Sava	7	0	7	0	-	-
	DF	ARG	Silvio Carrario	6	0	6	0	-	-
	GK	ARG	Sandro Daniel Guzman	18	0	6	0	12	0
	DF	ARG	Néstor Gabriel Lorenzo	13	0	6	0	7	0
	MF	ARG	Pablo Marcelo Trobbiani	4	0	4	0
	DF	ARG	Aníbal Matellán	12	0	2	0	10	0
	DF	ARG	Ariel Rosada	3	0	1	0	2	0
	MF	ARG	Christian Traverso	14	0	0	0	14	0
	DF	ARG	Rodolfo Arruabarrena	12	0	0	0	12	0
	MF	ARG	Pedro Enrique González	12	0	0	0	12	0
	GK	ARG	Roberto Abbondanzieri	8	0	0	0	8	0
	MF	ARG	Blas Giunta	8	0	0	0	8	0
	DF	ARG	Alfredo Jesus Berti	7	0	0	0	7	0
	DF	ARG	Ruben Darío Cantero	2	0	0	0	2	0
	DF	ARG	Emanuel Ruiz	2	0	0	0	2	0
	DF	ARG	German Gallo	1	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	ARG	Diego Gastón Herrera	1	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	ARG	Gustavo Hernan Scolari	1	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	ARG	Carlos Alcides Zapella	1	0	0	0	1	0

• Source: ^{[citation needed]}

References

1. "I'm about a mere 10% from my retirement as player" (in Spanish). lanacion.com.ar. 14 September 1996. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
2. Alba Piotto (13 September 1996). "Caniggia returned to his town for his mother's funeral" (in Spanish). clarin.com. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
3. "The confessions of Kily González" (in Spanish). ar.marca.com. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
4. "Veron transferred out to Sampdoria" (in Spanish). clarin.com. 20 July 1996. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
5. "At the end, Bilardo remained without Boca" (in Spanish). clarin.com. 15 December 1996.
6. "Did Macri meet with Brindisi?". clarin.com. 12 September 2002. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
7. "Maradona is back to the field against Racing". clarin.com. 13 July 1997. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
8. "Plantel Boca Torneo Apertura 1996". historiadeboca.com.ar. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
9. "Plantel Boca Torneo Clausura 1997". historiadeboca.com.ar. Retrieved 20 November 2020.