While this might have seemed over-ambitious were he writing about any other country, Argentina has seen such an inter-mingling of football and politics that it would perhaps be impossible to fully tell the story of one without the other. And, as the early sections of the book make clear, football was integral to the early myth-making of a country still trying to form an identity having only gained independence in the 19th Century. Football was first imported to Argentina, as elsewhere, by British immigrants, and Wilson gives prominence to Glaswegian schoolteacher Alexander Watson Hutton in organising structured games which led to the formation of a league in 1891 (making it the oldest football league outside Britain). Yet, with the country’s population growing rapidly through immigration from Italy and Spain, by the early 20th Century football had established itself as the game of ‘the people’ rather than a reminder of home for British expats. Mogul, Fred. "Luring Tourists Up the River to The Big House", WNYC, published January 8, 2005. Retrieved December 12, 2015.

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES | Kirkus Reviews ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES | Kirkus Reviews

Alas, such is brief when it comes to the overall landscape of unfulfilled dreams. The almost laughable repulsion to be exposed on the international stage in the 40s and 50s before undergoing a shameful exit in Sweden on their return before Menotti finally oversaw glory with the 70s team and was succeeded as a herald by Maradona before returning to the status quo in the 90s. The book also tells the tale of the folk hero Martin Palermo, the tactical problems of deploying both Messi and Tevez, the enigma of how to best use Riquelme, the role that Mascerano mastered, why Saviola never quite made it in Barcelona, and other technical stuffs. It tells the romantic story of a returning heroes like Veron to his old Argentinian club Estudiantes, or what happened with Carlos Roa after Dennis Bergkamp scores THAT goal against him in World Cup 1998. Along the way he discovered that football is also a lucrative dirty business for the so-called “barra bravas”, the violent gangs controlling football in the country. Inflation and neoliberalism also dictate the way business are approached and this in turn spillover to how football management are handled, which partly explains the many exports of players to elsewhere in search for a better future. Indeed, it’s hard to escape the darkness of the history of Argentina, even in football where violence, rape cases, drug abuse, even murder became part of its horrifying past. Argentina in short has always had excellent players but never an excellent team – a conundrum that coaches and managers from the entire expanse of their history have been unable to solve.This has to be the most comprehensive book of Argentine footballing history out there. It was wonderful to recall my own knowledge of Argentine history and identity and learn how they are both completely intertwined with football. Wilson points out how distinctly Argentine traditions like tango and ‘Martín Fierro’/gaucho culture are entrenched in the footballing style and evolution of Argentina, a country with an unfortunately fraught history full of corruption, disillusionment, and economic turmoil, where “when the present is such a disappointment, there is always the past” (xv). So, there you have it. This book could have gone one of two ways for me. An absolute struggle to get through like 0-0 draw where no team has anything to play for or a gem of a book that is all engrossing like a World Cup Final that is won 5-4 after extra time. I knew which one I was hoping for. Did I get it? p. 239: The Camorra: an Italian Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania p. xv: "The whole of Buenos Aires has an air of wishing the past had never ended; the only question is which past it is."

Bittersweet memories of England and Argentina where football Bittersweet memories of England and Argentina where football

More than any other nation Argentina lives and breathes football, its theories and myths. The subject is fiercely debated on street corners and in cafes. It has even preoccupied the country's greatest writers and philosophers. p. 58: "He played at a time when soccer was played for the glory of love, and was also part of the time when soccer was played for the love of glory." To really get the feel of the soul, Wilson went down to the grassroots by living in Argentina, doing what the locals do, attending the many different football matches, meeting many of the legends himself for a first-person vantage point interviews.

On a club level, the hooliganism continues in its modern avatar and clubs, like South America in general, always become great manufacturers of talent but never it’s polishers. A highly personalized and intimate portrait by a courageous writer who goes beyond clichés and platitudes. This book is a bracing, clear-eyed exploration of one of the most important issues of our time: the growing incarceration rate in the US, and the consequences of this for citizens both inside and outside prison walls.” —T.J. English, New York Times best-selling author of Where the Bodies Were Buried and The Westies