Another weekend, another milestone for our club. After a weekend full of football, our muchachos took a well-deserved break from the pitches, but that didn’t mean they had real intentions to rest outside it. This time, they decided to canalise their efforts to find a way to raise funds and re-buy their beloved and mysteriously lost Veo camera (for more context go to our previous entry), so they organised the first fundraising event for the club.

The formula was simple: gather with friends and families to eat asado, play some games, and enjoy the day. Since this comes naturally to us, it turned out to be a total success. Neither the distance to The Windmill, our cherished Thursday pub in Acton, nor the sub-zero temperatures altered the development of a spectacular day where over 65 guests competed in different activities and enjoyed the culinary skills of our MVP of the day, Marian.

Highlights of the event

Truco: There are few things more Argentine than Truco. Everyone believes they are the best at it until it's time to prove it. Finally, the moment arrived, and the competitors lived up to expectations. It was a long day of heated discussions but also full enjoyment in every match. The title ended up in the hands of Juli and Fede, who defeated Tibu and Uber in a final that felt like pay-per-view.

Beer Pong: What initially was a mystery for many, quickly turned into a passionate competition (sometimes too much so). This tournament saw a high level of external participation, with standout performances of mixed couples. After a tough final, the winners of the 1st Beer Pong Tournament were Pablo and El Chino, who showed their skills are not limited to their feet. We'll see if they can defend the title in the next edition.

FIFA: With probably the best set up in the whole event, the FIFA tournament felt like an invitation to sit and play as if you were in your own living room playing with your friends. However, once the match started and the players didn’t respond in line with your expectations, the nerves started to kick in and suddenly became a slightly different experience. There was one player who remained as calm and skilled as in the football pitch and managed to easily beat every opponent sitting next to him: congrats Hernan!

Bingo: Another highlight of the day was the bingo, which captured everyone's attention to the extent that we ran out of cards. Tincho hosted an electrifying session: suspense filled the air, and the winner wasn't determined until Juli shouted 'CHANGOOO' with only 12 numbers remaining in the cage. We'll definitely have more of this in the future.

Raffle: A proof that Argentina FC is a club that embraces everyone, and you don’t have to be physically present to be part of it, is that Hache was the winner of our raffle while being in Argentina. He will soon enjoy his personalised mate with the Arg FC badge.

Last but not least, the star of the day and a Sunday classic for our team… Asado: Marian managed to fill the air with asado smell and heated the entire pub with his parrilla and cuarteto music. There were moments where he was unreachable behind the multitude lining to get a steak sandwich blessed by him. Together with JR they were the heart of the event, and we are so grateful to them.

Even if we hadn’t raised a single pound, this event would have been an absolute success because people got together, met new people, had fun, and enjoyed an authentic Argentinian day in the frozen London weather. Nevertheless, it was even a greater success because we raised enough money to achieve our initial objective: re-buy the VEO camera.

A Massive Thank to Chango Empanadas, who very generously donated numerous empanadas and alfajores for our new champions; La Malafamera, who donated five tickets but actually ended up hosting much more of us at the after-event party; ASART, who donated decks of Truco cards for the competition; to all those who voluntarily dedicated their time to organise and run the event; and of course, to everyone that joined us in this 2023 Farewell reunion and enjoyed a nice time with our community. We couldn’t do any of it without your support.

PS: This was the first of many, so fasten your seat belt because this is just the kick off!

Lucas Gil Raniti and Facundo Pierro