The Legend and the Let Down
This was the title of an article in The New York Times yesterday. The article discusses the rise and current fall of Diego Maradona and the Agentina soccer population’s general dissatisfaction and...
View ArticleArgentina ’78
Here is an interesting take on the ’78 World Cup in Argentina that took place under a violent military dictatorship. It highlights how FIFA can be used for political means – what should FIFA’s response...
View ArticleAño maradoniano: On Emir Kusturica’s Maradona
That Kusturica’s documentary Maradona, chronicling perhaps world football’s biggest personality, begins with shots of the director playing his guitar at a concert, is telling. Introduced by his band as...
View ArticleArgentinian Government Guarantees the Right to Football
Do citizens have a right to watch football? The Argentinian government has recently proposed that they do. The Washington Post – which as the previous post on this blog attests has recently been...
View ArticleHomage to Catalonia
Perhaps cribbing the title of George Orwell’s famous 1938 account of the Spanish Civil War is a little much. But, seventy years on, with the question of the what status Catalonia has and should have...
View ArticleMaradona Makes Me Happy
I’m here in South Africa, and last night went to the see the Argentina-Mexico game at Soccer City. I’ll warn you that a portion of this post will sound a bit like FIFA propaganda, so if you can’t stand...
View ArticleArgentine Soccer Politics: Fútbol Para Todos, Continued
Presidential interest in national soccer is nothing new to us. With so much popular will and attention fixated on national teams, national soccer has long been mixed with executive politicking. The...
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Temples of the Earthbound Gods
The Football Scholars forum, organized by Alex Galarza at Michigan State University, recently hosted a discussion with Chris Gaffney about his marvelous book on stadia in Latin America. You can read...
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The Impact of FIFA World Rankings
After the conclusion of the World Cup, a new cycle of FIFA World Rankings begins. Every month, FIFA releases an updated list ranking every national football team — #1 to #207. For most fans, myself...
View ArticleDiego Maradona Today
Our Diego, who is on the pitches, Hallowed be thy left hand, bring us your magic. Make your goals remembered on earth as in heaven, Give us some magic every day, forgive the English, as we have...
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El Gráfico
Una de las revistas de futbol más leidas en Chile es la revista El Gráfico. Esta publicación mensual relata lo ocurrido durante el mes previo en el futbol Chileno e internacional. La revista da énfasis...
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Riquelme: The Artist Lays Down the Brush, One Month Later
When Boca Juniors manager Héctor Veira decided to give 18-year old Juan Román Riquelme his senior-level debut on November 10, 1996, he knew exactly what he was doing. What he saw was a young, strong,...
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Temples of the Earthbound Gods
Christopher Gaffney’s book Temples of the Earthbound Gods offers us a rich geographical, culture, and ethnographic look at the way lives in Brazil and Argentina intersect with and our transformed by...
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Temple of the Earthbound Gods (Français)
Original Discussion in English: http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/2015/03/02/temples-of-the-earthbound-gods/ En discutant ce livre dans la section française, nous étions fascinés par le développement de...
View ArticleRespuesta al libro de Gaffney
El argumento principal del libro de Gaffney es que los estadios son aspectos importantes de todos los sociedades y culturas del mundo. Los estadios nos impresionan porque son espacios donde se puede...
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The Barrabrava – Crusaders Turning Exploiters
As I read Christopher Gaffney’s Temples of the Earthbound Gods, one issue that particularly struck me was the excessive nature of the barrabrava, the fierce fan group that exists in most of the...
View ArticleThe World Cup and the Dirty War
In 1978, Argentina hosted the World Cup in the midst of a period of tremendous political repression. Grant Farred’s book Long Distance Love tells this story, and reflects on what it means for the way...
View ArticleEl estadio, el templo
En 2012, fui a mi primer partido de fútbol a mirar los Red Bulls de Nueva York versus los Tottenham Hotspurs. Era el tercer verano Thierry Henry, un jugador francés muy famosa, jugó por los Red Bulls....
View ArticleEl mundial de 1986 y la mano de dios de Maradona
Fue el cuarto de final del mundial de 1986. Inglaterra y Argentina se enfrentaban en el Estadio Azteca en la cuidad de México. Ningún equipo había metido un gol en la primera mitad del juego pero ambos...
View ArticleForgiving Maradona
Emir Kusturica’s film Maradona follows the internationally acclaimed football star in all of his enigmatic, outrageous glory as he gives his own perspective on his life of fame: political outrage,...
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