I think Jon thinks we only came to Buenos Aires because of the football. In fact I think it's the only reason he agreed to come to South America in the first place. He had grand plans to go to a game in every country but hadn't realised we would be doing most of our travelling in the mid season break that runs from December to February across the contintent. So far we had only made it to a game in Ecuador, although he's watched a few on TV to make up for the disappointment.

So when we got to BA, we booked a football stadium tour through our hostel to go and see the stadiums of great rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors. Most tours we have booked involve us and a medium sized group of antipodean travellers and a mini bus. They do things different here - it was us and a middle aged man who got in a taxi with us and took us to the tour at River Plate, then in a taxi to the tour at Boca Juniors. It was a bit odd. Maybe they thought we couldn't get taxis. But he knew his football trivia - his cousin is on the Board at AFC Wimbeldon and he had heard of the mighty Birmingham City - so we had a very pleasant chat while he sat in the taxi with us. Then we tipped him as we thought it might be the done thing, and as a thank you for taking taxis with us while we all had a nice chat…not bad work if you can get it hey.

River Plate's stadium in the North of the City is also the national stadium of Argentina. What I hadn't realised until this tour is that while everyone in the UK knows that Argentina cheated their way to victory in the 1986 world cup; they also cheated their way to its first world cup victory in 1978 when they bribed the Peruvian FA to let them win a crucial match. Dirty rotten scoundrels.

But while the national game is big, it's club football that is passionately followed across the country. River Plate is one of the most consistently successful teams in Argentina with a history to rival that of large European clubs. It's an athletic club, owned by members, not shareholders. They also have a basketball team, swimming teams and hockey teams, but it's the football where the big money is. Actually, there isn't that much money in South American football. Because the teams are owned by members there is no Russian or Middle Eastern oligarchs deep pockets to fund players wages. The Argentian government owns the TV rights and splits them equally across all clubs in the premier league. The member ownersgip structure means clubs have to keep ticket prices down and because the price of official merchandising is so high, most fans simply buy the unofficial things which are on sale everywhere. Most of the income therefore comes from player transfer fees which is why so many promising young Argentinian players are sold to European clubs.

Boca Juniors are based in La Boca, the port area in the south of BA. It is very much a working class club, and like River Plate, is a club owned by members not shareholders. They used to play in a different kit to the distinctive bue and yellow they are now famous for. Back in the day they decided they wanted a new kit and decided they would take their club colours from the next ship that sailed into the port - and it came from Sweden. The rivalry with River Plate is so intense that Coca Cola, who have sponsorship all over the ground - have had to change its logo to black and white rather than red and white.

When we were at Boca we heard whisperings of a game due to be played at the weekend, and later found out it was a testimonial for Martin Palermo. Most people outside of Argentina probably haven't heard of Martin Palermo - he played in Europe for a couple of seasons in Spain, but spent most of his time at Boca Juniors. The best analogy Jon could come up with is that he is a bit like Ian Rush. Outside of Argentina he is probably best known for two things:

· Missing three penalties in one game for the national side; and

· A freak injury that ended his time in Europe - after scoring a goal he was celebrating with fans on a wall at the side of the pitch and the wall collapsed underneath him, breaking his leg.

This was a testimonial we wanted to see.

So, having paid a ridiculous amount over the face value of the ticket (including the protection premium you pay to the hooligans- although this isn't explicitly covered in any price breakdown) we found ourselves queuing to get in to La Bombonera an hour before kick off. We had our obligatory tour guide with us, who was deeply surprised by the length of the queue and the popularity of the game. It took a while to get in, but eventually he led us to the back of the terraces where we pretty much had to stay. It was packed with hot and sweaty Boca fans who had turned out in their thousands to honour their hero. It's an odd sort of tour - "These people are the main hooligans. Don't stand over there." - but useful knowledge. We probably tipped him too, I forget.

For us, and the other English and Irish people in the group , we didn't really know who many of the players were. Palermo played in number 9, so all the players who he had selected also played in number 9. The girl next to me hadn't been to many games before and asked her boyfriend which number Palermo was. There were rumours that Tevez was going to put in an appearance which seemed vaguely likely as he didn't get sold in the January transfer window and pretty much has nothing else to do. He did come on to the pitch and wave but I think playing would probably have further invalidated his contract with Man City. He was the only player to have signs up around the pitch - I think they were for sale signs. Apparently he wants to come back to play here but no one can afford his wage demands.

The game was pretty shocking, as you would expect for a testimonial. It was only 30 mins each way, and I think there were about 45 people who played throughout the match. But we didn't really come here to see the game, we came to see the fans and they didn't disappoint. Considering this was just a testimonial, the passion they have for the game and this club is like nothing you will ever see in Europe. There are people who come in and spent their entire game with their back to the pitch, directing the band and the singing of the fans. It was over 30 degrees and there were more people than terrace space crammed in the North stand. When they jumped we jumped. When they sang we tried to sing, although only the catchy 'Muchos Gracias Palermo' ditty caught on amongst the non-Spanish speakers. When they got hosed down by the fire brigade we wished we had made it further into the terraces so we could get some of that too.

Because of the terraces, Argentina will never be able to host a World Cup - they are technically banned under FIFA regulations, but like most things in South America these things are here to be ignored. Jon loved being on the terraces, and although scenes from the European footballing disasters kept popping into my head, it was an experience like no other and one I wouldn't have missed. Muchos gracias Senor Palermo for waiting until we got to BA to have your testimonial. You made my husband a very happy man.