Interview with Boca Juniors coach, Claudio Borghi.

The post-match press conference from the friendly match against Melbourne Victory for coach Claudio Borghi was an interesting and memorable one.

Borghi commended the facilities at Etihad stadium quoting as a "fantastic venue to play football" and found it difficult to get his head around the fact that the stadium is not primarily used for the round ball. He found that many were complaining about the pitch, explaining that it is understandable due to the other football codes that use the surface but it still comes up as a pitch similar to those in Brazil, with short, clean-cut grass. He added using examples, "there is no reason to complain, here you have all the facilities to play and if a pitch isn't up to standard, it's the same for all 22 players on the field."

Amongst his answers from a series of questions asked about Melbourne Victory's vigorous play, nasty tackles and the way his players retaliated, he said he did find it concerning. It goes to show the nature of what it means to play at Boca Juniors, he reaffirmed.

He also added, "this Oceania tour is like a rehearsal for a main theatre performance." He has confidence in his new-look young side and looks forward to returning back to Buenos Aires after the Wellington Phoenix match at Westpac stadium on Friday to reintegrate the remainder of the squad with the confirmation of new signing, Chilean World Cup international Gonzalo Fierro.

Along with the return from fitness of key and experienced midfielder Sebastián Battaglia whilst fellow World Cup representatives, Chilean defender-midfielder Gary Medel and star striker Martín Palermo were given a break coming back from South Africa. And, of course, midfield wizard and club idol Juan Román Riquelme is negotiating his contract extension.

On another topic, Borghi was asked about his candidacy for the top job of Chile. He answered that his compatriot Marcelo Bielsa has done a superb job managing the national side of Chile with a World Cup where young players stepped up and this is the way to work. His chances to have coached Chile have passed and at the time Marcelo Bielsa was being approached and in hindsight proved to be the best fit. Borghi missed out, and right now his time is with Boca Juniors.

Borghi missed out on any possibility. Later, Borghi reinstated that in football, "anything can happen and one must remain open to last-minute moves, changes and transfers".

Regarding the match played at Docklands in Melbourne, Borghi took te opportunity to give the chance for many squad players to step up and take this tour onto their shoulders, gain match fitness. For Boca, he reiterated it is exciting to represent the club abroad and also play in front of fans in their famous blue and yellow colours.

He said he found it rewarding and pleasing to see the response as they did not take Melbourne Victory lightly and the goal by creator Marcelo Cañete was a superb finish he added. He looks forward to working with the team and finalising details regarding the structure of his line-up as he intends to play the up-coming Apertura season with three defenders in the back line.

The following interview with Boca Juniors coach Claudio Borghi was conducted for newspaper Goal Weekly during their stay in Melbourne.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daniel Campos: Claudio, with all due respect and for those who don't know who you are: you played your senior career for both Boca and River, spent time with Sao Paulo, with AC Milan under Arrigo Sacchi, and at Como too in Italy's Serie A. What was that experience like at an early age?

Claudio Borghi: Yes, that was a long time ago but that was fresh coming from the memorable 1986 World Cup winning title in Mexico. I was a World Cup champion, in fact, I will always be. That was an incredible squad and experience and Italian football came calling. I had issues because there were no EU foreign rules at the time and Silvio Berlusconi at Milan preferred the Dutch trio of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten.

Daniel Campos: Then you had stints in Mexico before a long-term stay playing across various clubs in Chile not before experiencing successful seasons with titles won as a coach with the country's biggest club, Colo-Colo. What does it feel like to have arrived at Boca already as a champion in the Argentinean domestic Clausura league and to be brought 11,600 kilometres away for a tour?

Claudio Borghi: Well firstly it's good to be able to share some friendly words without dealing with a translator because it can be a headache after such a long flight and hence can be annoying as we arrived Tuesday night under what we find freezing temperatures. Melbourne is a clean cosmopolitan city. It is cold and windy though. We kind of expected this only until it hit us coming out of the airport terminal. This is a country that happens to be pretty well far away from the rest of the world yet you can appreciate so many different cultures, where it seems to me that people in this country live very well you know with the latest technologies, you can tell things are accessible and things are in order. I am also enjoying this stay with my family and the anonymity, something I have already mentioned to my players - to enjoy the low-profile anonymity whilst strolling around town.

DC: What about the complicated time zone difference?

CB: That's complicated you know. On a flight one gets accommodated, offered drinks and what not, being professionals involves having the capacity to also say no at times. Boca has been to Japan and won so those who have been at this club since that time can also testify what it is like to carry the club's colours and mix in with people from such different, contrasting cultures. We are also sleeping more during daytime than at night but that doesn't matter. What I need to also make mention is that everybody so far have been nice, welcoming, approachable and have shown respect. I think a little too much respect.

DC: Melbourne Victory, what did you know first-hand and the match itself, what did you expect?

CB: Australians from what I gather are like what we are in Argentina, generations of citizens descending from immigrants. About Melbourne Victory, I know that they are the team in Melbourne that has provided a sense of identity in its football, (amongst the different footballs that are played here to which I don't understand) and that is pretty-well placed in the competition but I was informed before this tour that they were hungry, eager looking forward and excited to play Boca so this makes the two of us gearing up for up-coming seasons.

DC: And about the game itself?

CB: It's a clash of styles, a clash of expressions. Football provides you an opportunity to express your mind, your body. This is why myself and my coaching staff encourage to nurture the players' minds so to be enjoyable, relaxed and that the tempo of the game may provide such expression, it is all about the ball. We knew from reports, (because here at Boca we do our research), that Melbourne Victory boasts players who are more athletes than football players. The pressing is a key element in their game whilst our priorities in marking when without the ball are more rotational and zonal. We are going to try under my instructions to let the ball dictate play, that is the way I work and this is the way I have achieved results. In South America this is what we do but not forgetting that the marking game is important when there are counter-attacks applied that can definitely cause damage.

DC: For your players, how are they dealing with a tour under their wing? Having to deal with constant managerial changes particularly this past season and having to now adapt to your work ethic?

CB: You're right about the changes and that denotes the seriousness and the demand that Boca has. The results are paramount and the expectations are high because this is a club that reached the summit of what a football club can reach. Boca won everything. There was simply nothing else that a football club could possibly win. The expectations have to do with the way our football, our game is played. You see, for some players as you say, this is their first tour abroad so I have told them to treat it as an experience as a whole because my players are young and we do not boast of a full squad. I have also stressed that this is a theatre rehearsal because the real show, the real performance is yet to come. It is a time for me to try some positions, to try some different avenues that can only now be tested because in-season during the league championship, during the Apertura, there is no time on your hands. This is a time to gain experience, to expose ourselves to Australia and take that on board for when we return to Argentina.

DC: Personally, how would evaluate your own coaching credentials, even results-wise coming today as current defending champion?

CB: Good, (smiles). Boca you know is very similar to Colo-Colo and you told me that you know me from back then when you lived in Chile and I was at the helm with Chile's most popular team. It is the team that you either love or hate, and see because the essence is similar but not the same mind you, (because Boca is an even greater club), my work does not differ. Whether I am dealing with a big or small club, the work ethic remains the same. I did this with Argentinos Juniors for the last two seasons. The way I treat and expect my players are the same to what they should expect from me and the coaching staff. You know I am used to these things.

DC: About the tour, after you complete it by next weekend against Wellington Phoenix, do you see a possible repeat in the next coming seasons?

CB: Firstly what needs to be considered are the great distances, you see? There are those particular people involved who are interested in organising another tour, yes. See, everybody wants to play Boca - especially River Plate (laughs). If they have to arrange more "friendly" matches to beat us, they will. Now as a club we are offered tours around the world every year and this means we have to be conscious of what it means. There is an hinchada, that is more than 50% of a nation behind us, a history, a philosophy and the opportunity to showcase ourselves say, in England or in Europe, in Japan or in the USA just like here as well, why not?

There is a difference though in all of this regarding the players, as I played myself you can relate to the fact when you're a player then a coach that wherever you happen to be before or after the actual season does not really matter as long as the preparation for it is done professionally.

To just come here for one match is a bit daunting but this other game in Wellington is important to us. It would be nice to repeat it all again but staging a proper pre-season with 15-20 days to work with other clubs and play. This tour was scheduled before I arrived at the club and I accepted it excitedly as part of a verbal agreement before I put pen to paper with the conditions and the task that lays ahead. Fulfilling promises, in this case a verbal agreement is very important to me.

DC: Going back to what I mentioned on anonymity, what does it feel. Is it a sense of relief?

CB: For us, it is a condition that we are currently enjoying. We get mobbed back home by fans, by rival fans. We're under security check with guards at times because we are instantly recognisable and so this is what I mean by respect.

I find that with only a few days spent here in Melbourne, in Australia that people show a little too much respect. There needs to be respect but only to a certain degree.

Perhaps this explains why there are athletes instead of football players at Australian (A-League) clubs. We like to compete back home, not participate. See, there is a difference. It is great to be able to feel free here and we have got to visit some very pleasing attractions and locations like the Melbourne Aquarium for example and I notice the diversity, the protocol-like manner in which people carry themselves. This without a doubt is very different to what we have back home in our own continent. It is funny the way we have to look right as traffic directs from right-to-left if you're a pedestrian or having to look to the other side, to open a vehicle door on the left to find that the steering wheel and the driver's seat is the other way round, on the right. They're just details for us to accustom but all-in-all, a friendly and enjoyable place to be.