Angels With Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina by Jonathan Wilson

Angels With Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina Reviews

• 
  Chris Steeden

  You know you’re in for a detailed account when the prologue goes into the history of Don Pedro de Mendoza setting off across the Atlantic from Cadiz in 1535. The Spaniard founded Buenos Aires in 1536 and called it Nuestra Senora Santa Maria del Buen Aire (Our Lady St. Mary of the Good Air).
  
  Wilson says ‘I wanted to include the theory and place the sport in its social, economic and political context, and I wanted to include the people, the players and coaches whose lives are so remarkable that they seem to have fallen from a magic-realist novel, but I didn’t want to stint on the football, on the games and the goals that actually make us watch in the first place, on the culture that provides the currency in which so much of Argentinian life is transacted. But while this is primarily a history of football, so entwined are the political and socio-economic strands, so inextricably is football bound up with all public life, that this is also a book about Argentina’.
  
  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?
  
  I tend to go off into a different land when some books go into political detail. You know the thing when you read 5 pages but have taken nothing in at all. This did not happen with this book. From the spawning of the game by the British in Argentina back in the 1860s to 18 teams becoming professional in 1931. Wilson provides short biographies of key players and those he meets in their later years.
  
  The first World Cup I remember was the 1978 one in Argentina. The ticker tape final. I loved it but also remember all the fuss on the news about the clean-up of Argentina. The concrete wall hiding the shanty towns into Buenos Aires. The Junta making people disappear (8,960 at least) that spoke up against them. ‘It’s estimated as many as 500 babies were taken from dissident parents and adopted by military families.’ Last, but not least, that result against Peru.
  
  Along with the World Cups there is, of course, Peron, Maradona, the Falklands, Messi and all those great Argentinian clubs like Boca, River Plate, Indipendiente (king of the cups), Racing, San Lorenzo (Pope Francis is a fan) and Estudiantes. It was actually reading about the club sides that did not quite hit the mark for me. Would have been different, I am sure, if I was more up on Argentinian club sides.
  
  I was looking forward to getting to the Maradona shenanigans. This is not a Maradona biography but how can you not have a large section about him. Wilson does, and the memories come flooding back. YouTube videos really took a hit while I was reading this.
  
  Verdict: Certainly not a 0-0 but not quite a 5-4. I enjoyed it. Be warned. This is not for the casual reader. You do need a love of football and all the craziness that comes with it. You get it all with a footballing history of Argentina. The book goes up to 2015.
• 
  Stephen

  Detailed book looking at social political and footballing history from the origins of anglo to modern day
• 
  Jack

  Took me a year to finish this, partly because it’s big and I am lazy, but also partly because there’s a lot of stuff to digest in the book that I wasn’t totally into. The soccer bits (that is, the game action and such) are actually dullest parts of it. This, of course, is likely due to my overall ignorance of Argentinian soccer aside from Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, so not exactly the book’s fault. But I’m way more into stuff about their lives (more Maradona mafia stories please). Actually the most interesting stuff to me are the parts where sport and politics intersect — for example, the way how the right wing military junta attempted to use the national team to advance political propaganda and distract citizens from people the people they were disappearing. This is a book that begins in 1535 with Spanish conquistadores, so sometimes a whole chapter on how San Lorenzo beat some Bolivian team in the Copa Libertadores can feel a little trite. Again, not necessarily the book’s fault, but it’s not perfect.
• 
  Chris

  Wilson writes as well or better than anyone about how technical choices by soccer players turn into narrative, myth, and ideology. He is at his absolute best on the pausa, the creative midfielder's moment of vision before the decisive throughball; the pibe, the amoral urchin who is the archetypal Argentinian forward; and how both creative and regimented soccer philosophies became politically freighted under various national regimes. Unlike
  Inverting the Pyramid, which has a dialectical structure and an arc described right in its title, this history is relatively shapeless. It is still full of incident and interest, especially for readers like me, who know only the barest outline of the South American game.
• 
  Matt Wrafter

  An entertaining and thorough - if at times bloated - history of Argentinian football, blighted at times by Wilson’s insufferable I’m-smarter-than-you radical-centrist political analysis that patronises the entire populace of the country he’s documenting. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand what inspired him to write a book about a country he so obviously despises.
• 
  Alexander

  Fascinating overview of the football history and surrounding socio-political background of Argentina. From the pioneering Scotsman, Alexander Watson Hutton, who gets the ball rolling in this football-obsessed land through to the totemic ‘pibe’ figures of Diego and Leo, an enriching and educational read. The early chapters are particularly interesting in setting the picture for the foundations of the country identity.
• 
  Amr Fahmy

  
  Top read! Quite long but worth it.
  
• 
  Jack M

  Needs some trimming. Cut out the play by play of Copa Libertadores and other tournaments from the last century, leave in only the controversies, politics, Diego Armando Maradonna and Messi. Speaking of which, folks, you heard it here first: The 2022 World Cup Winners will be Argentina. A triumph for all the sweat shop workers and those who have had their human rights violated, or given their lives in preparation for this spectacle.
  
• 
  Vuk Trifkovic

  Typical Wilson - detailed, well researched, comprehensive...
• 
  Ming Wei

  One of the great footballing nations, lets hope Lionel messi wins something big before he retires, for all the pleasure he as given football fans during the past decade. Great book.
• 
  Avishek Chatterjee

  Sometimes a team is less than the sum of its parts. The beautiful game conjures up moments of delicious individual effort, even though those are always rare and brief in their presence – what eventually sustains is the team.
  
  And Argentina, since the start of its football journey in a delayed match played between 22 players of British origin, has struggled with identity – especially when it came to its European origins. Like a rebellious kid making art in their room, the country battled football hooliganism, political maneuvering and a temperamental individuality seeped into its game plan to emerge with fragments of promise that didn’t always deliver.
  
  Starting from the late 19th century to the present day, Jonathan Wilson charts a country as it finds a voice in every sphere of its existence. From the first time Jose Alcosta shakes a football figure’s hand to mix politics and football, to campaigns being run on the strength of sporting accomplishments – Argentina traverses a philosophical landscape.
  
  Every story begins somewhere. And for this one, it begins with Watson Hutton circa 1880, and continues on Motti then Maradona then Messi. The greatest intrigue lies at the heart of the country, as you come to understand not just the frailties and triumphs of the national team – but also of the fragmented club structure and the battles of amateurism and professionalism.
  
  There has always been a love/hate relationship for me when it comes to players from this region – coloured by my repulsion of Barcelona with the figurehead of Messi as they denied my club two Champions League titles in early 21st century. But this is an intriguing read if only to see that Argentina has always been that force – a bringer of joy and sorrow at equal opportunity.
  It wasn’t meant to be like this.
  
  Difficult as it is to pit passionate countries against each other, Argentina would hold up its own in beautiful godhood. Footballers emerged as royalty from the country, and then had to abandon the same for the luxuries and temptations of Europe.
  
  The history of Argentinian football comes with numerous false dawns, and one glorious period in which, led by a diminutive and divisive genius, they were the conquerors of the World.
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  Wilson ends on a mournful note in reflection of how all Argentina has in its hold is promise.
  
  And nothing more.
• 
  Yossi Khebzou

  La historia del fútbol no se puede entender sin Argentina. De la misma manera, la historia de Argentina no se puede entender sin el fútbol.
  
  Argentina, entonces, es patrimonio del fútbol. En “Ángeles con Caras Sucias”, Jonathan Wilson hace una carta de amor al deporte escribiendo la historia del fútbol argentino en toda su complejidad. Los factores sociopolíticos que se entretejen con el balompie, la tumultuosa vida de sus brillantes atletas, el simbolismo de sus clubes más populares y las discusiones técnicas o filosóficas que construyen una de las tradiciones futbolísticas más importantes del mundo.
  
  Desde aquellos aficionados del Rosario Central que recrean el gol de palomita de Poy cada año hasta los excesos de Diego Armando Maradona y la tensión entre el pragmatismo de Bilardo con la estética de Menotti, que a su vez se contrapone con la corrupta dictadura de Videla, Wilson demuestra la riqueza temática que conlleva hablar de fútbol. El panorama cultural es tan amplio que requiere recapitular la historia, hablar de literatura, de tácticas, de sociología, de globalización, de economía, de atletismo y de identidad.
  
  No cabe duda de que, como bien dice la portada del libro, “quien ama el fútbol ama a Argentina”. En esta Copa del Mundo de Catar 2022 en el que el fútbol se ha homogeneizado hasta el grado en el que las distinciones tácticas son prácticamente inexistentes y en una ola de anti-argentinismo los aficionados pretenden que se tiene que reaccionar con la compostura de los equipos ingleses del Siglo XIX, es fresco ver a una selección albiceleste que se destaque por sus individualidades, por su picardía y por su singular sentido de emoción. Leyendo a Wilson, es posible darse cuenta porque la celebración de un Messi que evoca a Riquelme enfrente de Louis Van Gaal reivindica toda una tradición futbolística.
  
  Desde México, aunque dolorosamente nos hayan ganado en la fase de grupos, externo mi apoyo en la final a una Selección Argentina que encarna el siglo de tradición relatado en “Ángeles con Cara Sucia”. Muchacho’, ahora no’ volvimo a ilusionar...
• 
  Daniel Pritchard

  A great book. The history and politics of Argentina that is woven into chapters really gives you a feel for the country. Visiting the grounds and teams mentioned will now forever be on my bucket list.
• 
  Maćkowy

  Napisać sześciuset stronicową książkę na, było nie było hermetyczny, temat jakim jest historia piłki nożnej w obcym kraju, w taki sposób aby czytelnik podczas lektury nie umarł z nudów, a wręcz dał się wessać w opowieść, to nie lada wyczyn. Całe szczęście Jonathan Wilson okazał się w tym temacie profesorem, a jego aniołowie mogą posłużyć za podręcznik.
  
  Strasznie bałem się, że książka będzie nudnym zbiorem faktów i statystyk, wzbogaconych notkami biograficznymi zawodników i trenerów rodem z Wikipedii, a oryginalny tytuł i ciekawa okładka okażą się tylko marketingowym wabikiem na frajerów. Wilson napisał jednak książkę nie tyle o samej piłce nożnej, co o umęczonym kraju, dla którego ten sport jest częścią tożsamości narodowej, tak jak dla Polaka Biedronka i pierogi.
  
  Nie chodzi też o to, że w Aniołach nie ma suchych faktów i statystyk, bo są, ale książka jest na tyle niejednorodna w treści, że zanim czytelnik zdąży przysnąć, Wilson już opowiada o czymś innym. Autor podzielił książkę chronologicznie na części, części zaś na rozdziały. Każda część zaczyna się od wprowadzenia w sytuację ogólną kraju (gospodarka, polityka i tak dalej), co było niezwykle interesujące i w sumie niezbędne do zrozumienia jak ważną częścią życia Argentyńczyka jest piłka nożna i dlaczego (młody kraj nie miał kiedy wyhodować innych mitów i bohaterów narodowych).
  
  Na koniec chciałbym przestrzec osoby, które chcą przeczytać książkę, ale nic a nic nie interesują się kopaną - pomimo ciekawej struktury i lekkiego pióra Jonathana Wilsona, Aniołowie o brudnych twarzach, to nadal książka o piłce nożnej i piłkarzach i jeśli interesujecie się Argentyną jako taką, to radziłbym sięgnąć po jakieś bardziej ogólne opracowanie, natomiast fani sportu po piłkarską historię mogą sięgnąć bez żadnych obaw.
• 
  Charlie Pritchard

  In typical Wilson style, this book chronicles the history of Argentinian football with rigorous detail and unmatched insight.
  
  Although dense, certain sections of the book are compelling, namely the more contemporary chapters; the fury of Argentina‘s World Cup victory on home soil in 1978, the enigma and addiction of El Diego, the journey of Marcelo Bielsa, and of course, the rise of Leo Messi and his seismic impact on modern football from the mid-2000s.
  
  Wilson is a meticulous scholar of the game and showcases another of his specialist areas with this story. Although I resonated greater with ‘The Barcelona Legacy’ (no doubt due to my age and recollections of that era/recency bias), this definitive footballing history of Argentina is alluring and comprehensive, another triumphant work.
  
  Wilson’s closing passage links everything together brilliantly. It is in these final lines of the book that his authoritative and convincing argument concludes: ‘Football is another Argentinian dream that slipped away... Argentinian football has become something that is played elsewhere’.
  
  The grandeur of El Monumental (home of River Plate) and La Bombonera (home of Boca Juniors) has declined to an extent and the stadiums have become relics of the past as the best Argentine players succumb to the allure (and money) that Europe has to offer.
  
  This is the somewhat sad tale of Argentinian football, from becoming the self-acclaimed pioneers of the game to a now curious footballing nation that, it would be fair to say, are left to cling to the glories of their past as time goes by.
• 
  Alfonso Alfaro

  Great book looking at the Argentinian National Soccer Team from a cultural and political angle. It connects a the great history of the national team with the history of the nation and makes it very interesting. Everyone already knows the fact that Argentinians (weather we like it or not), have given us the greatest soccer players of all times with the likes of Maradona, Batistuta, Kempes, Pasarella, Gallego, Ortega, Riquelme, Crespo, Delgado, and of course d10s Messi the G.O.A.T. This is where it all began.
  
  
• 
  Ash

  Wilson writes with such knowledge of his subject, and clearly a wealth of research has gone into this book. The best parts are when he puts himself into the stories, when he details his time in Argentina, meeting and chatting with the legendary figures. Sadly these moments are brief, and the majority of the book reads like a very thorough report of each year in the country’s footballing (and socio-political) history. Impressively thorough of course, but lacking the heart that makes his personal pieces so great.
• 
  Paul Foley

  Good book on Argentinean football, includes a good mix of club and international levels and shows the people of Argentina's obsession with the beautiful game. Also touches on the social and political history of Argentina and how that influenced, and still does, the game. Especially during the 1978 World Cup.
  
• 
  Edwin Setiadi

  The dramatic tale of the soul of Argentina
  
  This is a story about a society that have football running through its veins. It is the history of the founding of a country that was followed by the introduction of its footballing soul not long after. And it is about how the brutal politics, the constantly chaotic economy, and the cultural background of a nation have shaped their footballing style, and in return this style becomes a part of the national identity.
  
  At a first glance, it’s almost impossible to see the glories and despairs of its football matches alongside the country’s hyperinflation rate and series of political turmoils. But this is what happened in Argentina, and Jonathan Wilson did one heck of a good job in illustrating the ups and downs of the national team in each era alongside the context of the country’s environment.
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  It is within this chaos that multiple generations of talents emerge, from a population of just 25 million people. From Alfredo Di Stefano, to Daniel Passarella, Mario Kempes, Maradona, Lionel Messi, and to so much more within their respective generations.
  
  This book tells it all. It is like the history of the Argentinian national team, River Plate, Boca Juniors, Newel Old Boys, Estudiante, Velez Sarsfield, etc, all combined into one big narration. It is also a biography of the legends such as Maradona and Messi, and the many great coaches such as Cesar Luis Menotti, Carlos Bilardo, and the ever eccentric and influential Marcello Bielsa. No wonder it takes a huge effort to write, resulting a big book of 600+ pages, longer than intended by Wilson.
  
  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.
  
  There are also some quirks every now and then, such as the way Boca Juniors ended up wearing their iconic jersey colour due to losing a bet in a match and had to adopt the colour of the first ship they saw entering the harbour (which happened to be a Swedish vessel), or how River Plate got its name from the name of a container that the local guys supposed to move (but they played football instead).
  
  But the biggest revelation from this book for me is how bizarre and chaotic Maradona was. He breaks rules wherever he went, started mayhems, abused drugs, but then blame his loss or shortcomings on the paranoia conspiracy he had in his mind that everyone is trying to take him down. He always picks a fight with the club he’s in, ends his career at each club with a catastrophic disagreement. Indeed, trainwreck always follows him wherever he goes, but yet he still get chance after chance into good footballing positions as a player and as a manager, and he’s so loved by many and elevated into a status of “God.”
  
  But I guess Maradona is the physical embodiment of the soul of the nation, a character trait that the people can relate to. Yes he’s an utter mess at times but he’s magical and brilliant at other times, just like the politics. He has wild mood swings and paranoia just like the hyperinflation. He came to any new club as a hero and leave like a president who just got toppled by yet another military coup in the country. He’s somebody with a huge potential but often crash and burn at the worst possible timings.
  
  And perhaps that’s Argentina in a nutshell, a wonderful mix of chaos, highs and lows, perfectly reflected in its football. And for a relatively struggling nation, Argentina has an almost incomparably rich history. As Wilson pointed out, as at the time of the writing in 2016, “They’ve won two World Cups and lost in three finals; they’ve won fourteen Copa Américas (six more than Brazil). Their clubs have lifted the Copa Libertadores twenty-four times (seven more than Brazil’s).”
  
  You see, football breathe differently in this part of the world. It is not merely a sports entertainment, but a way of escape, both mentally and, for many, literally a physical ticket to come out of the slumps. Football is a 90 minute distraction from reality. Football is a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak living condition. Football is the pride of their nation. Simply put, football is the life and soul of Argentina.
• 
  Kevin Coaker

  Angels with Dirty Faces is wonderfully segmented into bite-sized chapters. Wilson provides a wonderful narrative as to how the game took off and why – Maradona, dictators, corruption, Messi et al are all in here. And why in a country so used to division, football is often the unifying force.
• 
  John Costello

  A brilliantly researched book exploring the history of Argentina and its football
• 
  Finbarr

  One of the best football books I've ever read. Also one of the best history books I've ever read. Brilliant.
• 
  Rob

  This book is reviewed at The Two Unfortunates website
  here
• 
  Andrew

  When it comes to powerhouses of the world of football Argentina is well and truly up there in the first rank. Di Stefano, Maradona, Messi are just three of a legion of famous players' names that come to mind when one reflects on the achievements of Argentine soccer. However, as outlined with a combination of forensic focus on specific players and clubs, a comprehensive vision of the cultural complexity of the subject, a desire to place the specific history of the sport into the context of national identity, and a love of the game and perhaps of Argentina itself, football means more than just a game to Argentinians. Wilson has captured in 'Angels with Dirty Faces' the remarkable correlation of football as an expression of being Argentinian, and how Argentina defines soccer both on and off the pitch. This is a major achievement in the nice of national football histories.
  
  There is no doubt that Wilson has both an empathy for and a detailed knowledge of his subject, and throughout this book he acts as a facilitator for the outsider, explaining or depicting so many facets of the relationship between football and Argentina. At times a narrative of the political, social and economic history of Argentina, at times a paean to how great certain players and clubs were, at times an indictment on where the country and the sport have lost their way, 'Angels with Dirty Faces' does what the best sporting history books do. It doesn't just give names, dates, scores; this book actually challenges the reader to consider how something that is nominally superficial (i.e. the game of soccer) can become a sophisticated metaphor or explanation for a national consciousness.
  
  Wilson takes his study along two major narrative streams. The first is the ebbs and flows of Argentinian soccer, as seen through the achievements of numerous famous players, the domestic clubs (including the famous Boca, River Plate, and others not so illustrious outside Argentina) and the national team. The second thread is that which considers the broader national history, with all the problems and lost opportunities that have presented since at least the late 19th century. It takes a bold and inventive sports writer to try and align constructs such as gaucho culture and the political impact of the military junta with the 'game' of football. This book reminds the more informed or aware reader that sport can and should be considered as integral to how we see ourselves, and how our societies, our nations can be defined by the playing of games. To paraphrase a cliche, Argentinian soccer is more than just a matter of life and death.
  
  The depth of Wilson's study is immense and thankfully his narrative and prose does not fall victim to the weighty nature of his subject. He writes with the pace and accuracy of a highly skilful attacking midfielder, directing attention where he wants, orchestrating the flow of his material to the best effect. There are times when the reader might feel a little overwhelmed, especially when trying to recall the panoply of key figures that Wilson speaks of or to as part of his history. However in some respects it's not the specifics that count; its the overarching trends, the broader meanings created by the players and their clubs that will form the bulk of what one takes away from this text.
  
  Wilson's most significant achievement in the view of this reviewer is that 'Angels with Dirty Faces' provides the non-Argentinian with a window into what makes that country's people who they are. In a similar, if more in depth and detailed manner, the author does for Argentinian football and society what Joe Gorman did for Australian soccer in his magnum opus
  'The Death and Life of Australian Soccer'. I suspect those who come at Wilson's book with little to no understanding of the Argentinian psyche will think they may now have at least an inkling of what makes that nation's people tick, how they interpret life through soccer.
  
  There is so much to admire about this book and I am sure it will find a receptive audience among those who love football's global history and social meaning, and students of Argentine history. It is a weighty tome, and that did reduce my pleasure in reading it, though not my intellectual appreciation of what Wilson has written. There are possibly better books on the subject published in Argentina, however for Anglos such as I and those like me there would probably be no more accessible or nuanced a book. It is well worth the read indeed.