Back to the International Newsfeed

Lionel Messi, Ever Banega and the Rosario Fighters That Fuel Argentina

Argentina have the luxury of knowing that whatever the result in their final Copa America 2016 group game, they are guaranteed passage to the quarter-finals, and most likely in first place. And their road to the last eight in the United States, once again, has been fired by the contributions of one city in particular.

Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe some 180 miles from Buenos Aires, is a football town. Its 1.2 million inhabitants are roughly divided into two distinct camps, those who follow Newell's Old Boys and supporters of Rosario Central, making for arguably Argentina's fiercest derby rivalry after Boca Juniors and River Plate.