Argentinian soccer has been blessed with some of the world’s greatest players over the years, easily making it one of the best nations for the beautiful game. Jonathan Wilson’s Angels with Dirty Faces: How Argentinian Soccer Defined a Nation and Changed the Game Forever is Argentina’s story from start to finish, an epic read of the highest quality. It all starts with Wilson, who is easily one of the world’s most beloved soccer writers. Most of you will remember him from Inverting the Pyramid, which was widely celebrated by critics and consumers alike.
Everyone knows Messi, Maradona, and Di Stefano, but this is a story about them and so many more. You’ll hear about those that inspired the title of this book, the quintet of Omar Orestes Corbatta, Humberto Maschio, Antonio Angelillo, Omar Sivori, and Osvaldo Cruz. There’s also Tomas Carlovich, Martin Palermo, and Juan Roman Riquelme to name just a few, but there are dozens and dozens more.
This title is unquestionably the definitive text when it comes to the Argentinian game, but it is also better than all the books I’ve read on Messi, Maradona, and Di Stefano. Wilson’s discussions of these greats is second to none and is worth the purchase alone.
Angels with Dirty Faces is the perfect title for this book as Argentina’s history in politics and soccer is also a bit cloudy and dirty. Argentina is, after all, a country stained by protests, coups, economic distress, military rule, and the worst of all, The Dirty War.
The book covers the entire history of soccer in Argentina, growing from a foreign game to something beautifully unique. It is a massive text of over 400 pages and 68 chapters, but it reads well and flows nicely from point to point.
You’ll hear about Uruguay’s early dominance of the South American game as the country raced to win a gold medal and the first World Cup. You’ll see how soccer in Argentina became an escape for an entire nation, a few hours free from a difficult life. You’ll learn about the River Plate of the 1940s, the most dominant side in the country’s history, and the birth of professionalism among the biggest clubs.
The latter sparked a change in the game, a change that sent players to the top five clubs and all over Europe. Not everyone, including the great Roberto Cherro, was thrilled with the direction of the game.
“I liked soccer as it was before. Soccer was art, theater, music, and those had already gone by the time I retired.”
Soccer continued to intertwine with politics in good and bad ways, and the country continued to equate their way of playing with their national character. The country’s identity and prestige were forever bound up with the results of the national team; some things clearly haven’t changed. You’ll gain a better understanding of Argentina’s biggest rivalries, including Brazil, Uruguay, England, and Germany.
Two World Cup wins over 16 appearances meant they didn’t bring home the Jules Rimet Trophy home until 1978 and 1986.
No World Cup victory was more difficult than the one in 1978 as the success of the national team equaled the success of the junta. We’re talking about General Videla, a dictator responsible for the deaths of 15,000-30,000 Argentinian citizens. It was a terrible regime, a group that made people “disappear” and sadly 29 people did just that during the World Cup alone.
The story of soccer and Argentina is a great one and finally it has a book that is equally as great. Angels with Dirty Faces is one of the best soccer titles we’ve been in contact with and we know that people around the world will share our humble opinion.
