Politics and soccer forever linked in the history of Argentina
ITHINK most of us would agree that sport and politics shouldn’t mix in an ideal world. However, it would be incredibly naive to believe that is actually the case, and that stark reality is unlikely to change any time soon.
So, while Jonathan Wilson’s compelling tome of over 500 pages, ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’, has a sub-heading of ‘The Footballing History Of Argentina’, in actual fact the tale of how the game has developed in this often volatile South American hotbed is directly linked to the back story of the country itself.
This is particularly true of the events of 1978 when Argentina hosted the World Cup and won the trophy for the first time, consigning Holland to a second successive final defeat.
This was achieved amid a backdrop of severe political unrest after the takeover of the country by a military junta.
Left-wing guerrillas clashed with paramilitary groups tacitly backed by the state and, just two years earlier, a bomb went off in Buenos Aires on average every three hours while there was a political assassination every five hours.
In a seven-year spell over 30,000 people were killed, with many of them ‘disappeared’ and never seen again by their distraught families.
It left Argentina’s chain-smoking manager Cesar Menotti with a crisis of conscience after his side’s triumph in 1978 as, while the political powers-that-be gloried in the victory, he didn’t want to be associated with their actions in any way.
He was at pains to point out that the success was a triumph for the proud traditions of Argentinian football rather than being in any way linked to the frightening manner in which the country was governed at the time.
Jonathan Wilson is one of the foremost authors on football, and this is his eighth book on the topic. He has a reputation for really getting into the nuts and bolts of a story and delving deep, a point underlined by his must-read on the tactics of the game, ‘Inverting The Pyramid’.
His modus operandi is the same here, with the subject tackled in impressive detail. His interviews with a host of the stars of the 1950s and 1960s are particularly interesting as they shine a light on a less well-known period in the development of Argentinian football around these parts.
We learn that the 1958 World Cup was a key turning point in the game as, although they hadn’t been involved since 1934, there was a genuine belief that the country would go all the way and win the tournament.
Numerous successes on their own continent lulled them into a false sense of security, but this was shattered when Czechoslovakia humiliated them 6-1 in the group stages.
Up to that point Argentina had a reputation for playing with an adventurous spirit and a joie de vivre, and many of their star players were notorious womanisers with drink problems.
The entire outlook changed though after that crushing disappointment, giving way to a dour, defence-dominated approach termed anti-fútbol and typified by the likes of the legendary Antonio Rattin whose reluctance to leave the pitch after his sending-off against England during the 1966 World Cup is explored in some detail.
In more recent times we have all become familiar with Maradona and Messi, but this book shines a light on the earlier years and it makes for compelling reading. ALAN AHERNE Visit The Book Centre on Wexford’s Main Street for the very best selection of sports books.