“This is a dream day,” were the words of hat-trick hero Fanny Rodríguez after the veteran’s beloved Boca Juniors emphatically defeated former club and fierce rivals River Plate.

Rodriguez may well have been talking from a personal standpoint as a lifelong Boca fan scoring a hat-trick at La Bombonera in a Superclásico but this was far bigger than any usual derby victory.  The first Superclásico of Argentina’s new professional women’s soccer league at La Bombonera, live on television and in front of a passionate crowd of around 4,000 was a huge step forward.

Argentina’s women at the World Cup earlier this year were one of the stories of the tournmaent and after years of neglect and an absence of funding, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced the start of a professional league in March.

Since 1991 this had been amateur but the beginning of a new professional era is reason for optimism and it could not have been a better start for Boca Juniors.

Dominant from the outset Boca broke the deadlock shortly before half time when captain Florencia Quiñones headed in unmarked.

Fanny Rodríguez, who had only come off the bench after an injury to Yamila Rodríguez, tapped in the second shortly after the break when River failed to deal with another cross from the right and the floodgates opened.

A foul on Fanny Rodríguez allowed Fabiana Vallejos to fire in from the penalty spot before Rodríguez hammered in Boca’s fourth and fifth to complete a memorable hat-trick.

Meanwhile, San Lorenzo kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 win over Lanús. Macarena Sánchez, one of those at the forefront of the campaign to push women’s football forward, was on target for her new club.