Angels with Dirty Faces

I just finished the book "Angels with Dirty Faces", by Jonathan Wilson. It is the footballing history of Argentina, and it is told vividly and in fascinating detail, from the early days of football in Argentina, brought over by the British, and in particular Alexander Watson Hutton, a Scottish teacher who was the spearhead in setting up the Argentinean league and founding the Football Association in 1893. It is indeed fascinating how the love-hate relationship of Argentina with England appears as a recurring theme, from the early adoption of the game to the legendary 1986 World Cup quarterfinal when Maradona scored his two most memorable goals, which are very much put in context in the book; the boy from the poor South American background who could do magic with the ball: "...a pibe with a dirty face, a mane of hair rebelling against the comb; with intelligent, roving, trickster and persuasive eyes and sparkling gaze that seem to hint at a picaresque laugh that does not quite manage to form on his mouth, full of small teeth that might be worn down through eating yesterday's bread. His trousers are few roughly sewn patches; his vest with Argentinian stripes, with a very low neck and with vmany holes eaten out by the invisible mice of use. A strip of material tied to his waist and crossing over his chest like a sash serves as braces. His knees covered with scabs of wounds disinfected by fate; barefoot or with shoes whose holes in the toes suggest they have been made through too much shooting. His stance must be characteristic; it must seem as if dribbling with a rag ball. That is important: the ball cannot be any other. A rag ball is preferable bound by an old sock. If this monument is raised one day, there will be many of us who will take off our hat to it, as we do in church".

This was written by a journalist in 1928 describing the ideal of a "criollo" footballer, made not by the British, but in the Argentinean "potreros", born in the street with cunning and magic. The book dwells a lot into Maradona, but does not fail to mention many of the legendary players that preceded him, from Guillerom Stabile, Luis Monti, Roberto Cerro, Bernabe Ferreyra, Antonio Sastre, Omar Corbatta, Jose Sanfilippo, and many others. 

The book puts all the history of Argentinean football in the context of the Argentine society, from its early days as a magnet for European migrants and growing rich amid the problems in EUrope, and also the time when Argentine football started to grow its own identity, not only in relation to the British, but also in relation to its little neighbour, Uruguay, who was the first seeing international success, and winning the first World Cup against an Argentina side who had many clashes against the arch-rivals, a rivalry that was later replaced by Brazil, something that also gets some great stories in the book.

In the 1940s Argentine football, and particularly club football, was perhaps the best in the World, but the national team did not perform, and strangely the political winds under Peron did not allow Argentina to play the 1954 World Cup. And in the 1958 World Cup when Argentina was humiliated 6-1 by Czechoslovakia, a wave of so-called "anti-football" went through Argentina, the first hints of the footballing schizophrenia of "Mennotism" versus "Bilardism" (style versus result) that becomes a theme in the book from the 1960s, and Estudiantes de la Plata victorious but largely hated team, for its football. In parallel with this, Argentina is going from crisis to crisis, economically, socially and politically.

The 1978 World Cup of course gets special mention, as it was held under a violent military dictatorship that wanted to win the cup at home, despite a Menotti who was largely seen as against the dictatorship. And even the reflection of how many political prisoners celebrated the victory against the Netherlands; as it was more than about a political victory for the regime, but more a victory for all Argentines in a country of paradoxes.

The book ends in 2016, shortly after the defeat in the 2014 World Cup final and the 2015 Copa America, when hopes were being put into a young Lionel Messi, who many still criticised for not being from the "potreros", and perhaps didn't fit in the Argentinean ideal of their players (and never having played in Argentina). The book is therefore not as optimistic when it ends; but it would be interesting to hear about the changes that led to the 2022 World Cup with Messi as its architect, and the enormous political changes that led to the election of Milei in 2023. A more cosmopolitan Argentina relying on players playing in Europe? Because while more and more Argentinean players were going abroad the quality of Argentinean clubs was decaying, with hooliganism rampant, something that sadly seems to be more the case today.

So even though the book ends some ten years ago, it is perhaps one of the best books to learn about the fascinating  history of Argentinean football, and in the context of the complex schizophrenia of Argentinean society. So I highly recommend it.

Savages

Sad images from the Libertadores match in Buenos Aires between Independiente de Avellaneda and Universidad de Chile where savages entered into a massive fight in the stadium. It looked like scenes from Mad Max as fans attacked one another, notably Independiente fans who stormed the stands of the away side. Not that the savage away fans were innocent: from the upper decks they had been burning seats and throwing bottles, rocks at the home fans below, leading to the other savages attacking the stands. Most appallingly, as you see in the images, police was nowhere to be seen as the savages from both sides were allowed with impunity to commit their crimes.

The authorities who let this happen are as guilty as the savages themselves. 

CONMEBOL cancelled the match and the clubs are looking at "harsh" penalties. I say "harsh" because the most likely is a fine and maybe play a few matches without fans. But if anything is to be done about this the message must be stronger, and must include the local authorities. To the clubs I would recommend forceful relegation and suspension from all international tournaments for 10 years. Or harsher still: What about teams from both countries get suspended from all international tournaments? Or that all clubs from either country are not allowed to play any home matches, including national teams?

I know many will say that it is not the clubs' fault or that many fans are innocent. 

But are they? Don't they pour gasoline onto the fire that drives the savages? Are they not standing behind those savages to protect the fraught tribal image of their second-rate football club? 

Galaxy still alive

At my office we are doing a small pot on the League Cup. Eight of us drew a random team of the eight left in the quarterfinals and in the end the winner get the pot if your draw wins the tournament. Happy to say that I am still in the competition as I drew LA Galaxy, who defeated the current Mexican champions of Toluca 2-1, with the new signing Marco Reus scoring his first goal for the Californians. 

It was all in all a dreadful day for the Mexican sides, who were all eliminated. I watched Inter Miami eliminate Tigres of UANL 2-1. Luis Suarez´s scored both Miami goals on penalty kicks, both called for handball. I personally think they were both very weak calls, specially the second penalty, which came at the end of the match when Tigres were dominating following Angel Correa´s equaliser for the Monterrey side. Not that it was undeserved that Miami won; they had a good first half, but with Tigres´strong second half the match could have gone to either side, and it is a pity it is decided on a penalty kick that should not have been given as it was not a danger situation and the ball hit the player´s arm in a random situation. But in VAR times any handball is defensible, no matter the intention or situation. 

I guess now to support LA Galaxy, who will face Seattle Sounders!

What country to represent

What are we? Where are we from? From where we are born? Where we grew up? The fact is that most people tend to put you in boxes according to how they see you, most often a “nationality box” that is fixed and closed. 

But they could not be more wrong; there is no box; identity is open, flexible, and in constant movement. 

The footballing world provides an interesting insight into this apparent nationality paradox. According to FIFA rules, footballers are only allowed to play for one national team at Senior level. This means that while they may have played for a different youth national team, they eventually must select the side they will play for the rest of their footballing lives. 

Recently Diego Luna, a young player of Mexican background said he preferred to play for the USA rather than Mexico: “Nací y me crie aquí, este país me dio lo que tengo ahora. Creo que es justo jugar para el país que me hizo quien soy” (“I was born and raised here [USA], this country gave me what I have today. I think it is fair to play for the country that made me who I am”). Some people may call him a “Mexican playing for the USA”, but this ignores the diversity of backgrounds that is the reality in this world with more people of diverse backgrounds than not. 

Alfredo Di Stefano is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time and may be the reason that the eligibility rules were changed. During his career Alfredo di Stefano played for three different national teams: Argentina, Colombia and Spain. The issue never became major as he made his career in Real Madrid, but his changes of teams would never have been possible today, and other players have had to choose their national teams. 

Owen Hargreaves was a one of the most important players of the English national team and Bayern Munich in the early 2000s. He was born in Canada to a Welsh-English couple, and could have been eligible for Canada and Wales as well. In fact, he played for Wales youth sides, but in the end chose England, playing the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, something that would not have been possible with Wales or Canada. Ben Breterton is another English player, born and raised, but with a Chilean mother. He played for England at youth level, representing them at U-17 and U-19 tournaments. But never having made his debut at Senior level he was called up by Chile, and made his debut in 2021, despite of the fact that he did not speak Spanish. He nevertheless became a popular addition to a team that took him to a Copa America, something that would surely have been impossible with England. 

The many migrations between Europe and Africa have meant that there are many players with mixed identities. France is often accused of playing with “non-French” players, but the truth is that this is much more nuanced, and players' choices of national team depend on a wide range of individual circumstances. Before Ngolo Kante became one of the world’s best footballers he had played a few years at lower level French sides Boulogne and Caen. Born in France to Malian parents he was approached by the Mali football federation, but said he preferred to wait for a possible call-up from France. In 2015 Kante changed to Leicester, becoming one of the best players in the world, and never looking back. He was called up for France and became one of the most important players in the World Champion side of 2018 with the country where he was born and grew up. 

Yacine Brahimi was also born in France and played consistently for all French youth national teams from the age of 15 to 20. Born to Algerian parents he was contacted by the Algerian football federation in 2010, but turned them down, expecting to be called up for France at Senior level. When this did not happen, Brahimi opted for Algeria, and in 2014 represented the North African side in the World Cup. The Moroccan star, Achraf Hakimi was born in Spain to Moroccan parents, and was spotted early on by the Real Madrid youth academy, who immediately took him in alongside other future Spanish stars. He was offered to play for Spain’s youth side, but he rejected it, and went on to play for Morocco youth teams, and was a key player in Morocco’s historical semifinal side at the World Cup in 2022. 

Germany is unlike France not often accused of using “foreigners” in their national team, but have a history of players with diverse backgrounds as well. Miroslav Klose, the most scoring player in World Cup history, was born in Poland (his mother represented the Polish national handball team). Klose arrived in Germany as a child speaking no German, and was raised in the country he came to represent, although he later stated that he would have liked to play for Poland. The large Turkish diaspora in Germany have provided players both for Germany and for Turkey. A notable case is the great Mesut Ozil, born and raised in Germany, he has stated that it was a dilemma for him who to choose to play for. He ended having a successful career with Germany, winning the World Cup in 2014, but has also faced a lot of controversy following his involvement in Turkish politics, showing the complex diversity of his background. 

Another interesting case is that of Kevin Prince-Boteng who was born and raised in Germany to a Ghanaian father and a German mother. Alongside his brother Jerome, he played on German youth national teams, but after some disciplinary problems he chose to play for Ghana at Senior level, stating that he felt more Ghanaian, despite the fact that he had never lived in the West African country. In the meantime Jerome became an important player in the German national team, and in the 2010 World Cup the two brothers faced one another when Ghana and Germany clashed in the first round. 

These are just some example, but there are so many more: Thomas Christiansen (Denmark-Spain), Valon Berisha (Sweden-Kosovo), Gonzalo Higuain (France-Argentina), Timothy Weah (Liberia-USA), Diego Costa (Brazil-Spain), Jorginho (Brazil-Italy), etc. 

It is simplistic to assert that a certain national team has “foreigners” on their side; the fact that players are “forced” to choose a national team does not take away the fluidity of multiple identities that is a reality in a world of fluent borders and identities.

Results in a strange tournament

The 2025 League Cup is happening, and I have been watching some of the matches in a strange tournament that officially is a "friendly" tournament, but the winner qualifies for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, also despite the fact that the tournament is not sponsored by CONCACAF.

The tournament started in 2019 as a confrontation between the MLS and the Liga MX. 18 teams from each league participate and only play teams from the other league, three matches, with three points for a win, two points for a win on penalty kicks (it goes straight to penalty kicks if it ends in a tie), and one point for a tie (so you keep it if you lose on penalty kicks). The top eight teams, four from each league, then progress to play-off quarterfinals.

Yesterday the league stage ended with two top teams, firstly the Mexican champions from Toluca, and secondly Seattle Sounders, who won three straight matches, one a 7-0 destruction of the CONCACAF Champions Cup winners Cruz Azul. Besides Toluca, Pachuca and Tigres the Mexican sides have appeared very weak indeed; mighty America only managed three ties against Real Salt Lake, Minnesota United and Portland Timbers, while other sides than Cruz Azul also suffered big defeats to MLS sides such as Necaxa, Atlas and Santo Laguna. Regarding the latter I watched their 0-4 defeat against an LA Galaxy side with the German veteran star Marco Reus in midfield, and frankly 0-4 was too little in a match where Santos Laguna looked more like a Danish 3rd division side, and on top of that got two well-deserved red cards.

What Santos Laguna showed was perhaps the worst side of Mexican football.

While MLS sides did well overall, there was not much difference between the top four teams, amongst which Messi's Inter Miami ended on second place. In their last match they also proved better than the Mexico City side Pumas UNAM, who may have gone ahead, but then were vastly outplayed by a Miami side with Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul as goalscorers and architects of the goals. I must admit that I have had reserves against Miami, but this was one of the best matches I have seen them play, and are really worth following.

The quarterfinals are in a couple of weeks, and fully replace the league matches in both leagues. All this said, it is more a comparative tournament between two leagues, perhaps more valuable for MLS to show the significant advances that the league is going through.