For Argentina, football is not just a game. It is its very existence.
More than any other nation, Argentina lives and breathes football, along with its theories and myths. The subject sparks fierce debate everywhere, from street corners and cafés to the country’s greatest writers and intellectuals. This book is a journey into the passion, madness, paradoxes and melancholy of a country that lives and breathes for the beautiful game.
From the dirt pitches of Buenos Aires to the summit of the world in Qatar, Argentina’s national team has followed an epic path full of contradictions: Di Stéfano’s aristocratic elegance meets Maradona’s “cunning”, while Riquelme’s melancholy contrasts with Messi’s explosive genius.
In this monumental study, award-winning author Jonathan Wilson—the most authoritative voice in modern football analysis—unravels the story of a country obsessed with the beautiful game. Through five historical periods, Wilson shows how football in Argentina became the ultimate reflection of its political and existential identity: from the appropriation of the British game, Perón’s populism and the darkness of dictatorship to the eternal clash between Menotti’s romanticism and Bilardo’s cynicism.
