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Angels with dirty faces : how Argentinian soccer defined a nation and changed the game forever / Jonathan Wilson.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Nation Books, [2016]Description: xviii, 411 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781568585512
  • 1568585519
Subject(s):
Contents:
Prologue: Utopias and their discontents, 1535-2016 -- Part one: The birth of a nation, 1863-1930 -- This English game -- A second birth -- The global stage -- Argentinidad -- The coming of money -- The Rioplatense supremacy -- Part two: The golden age, 1930-1958 -- Days of glory -- The coming of professionalism -- The rise of River -- Modernity and the Budapest butcher -- The knights of anguish -- The rise of Juan Perón -- El Dorado -- Back home -- Our way -- The zenith and beyond -- The last of the angels -- Part three: After the fall, 1958-1973 -- The death of innocence -- The contrarian and the growth of anti-fútbol -- The mouse's nest -- The open market -- The consecration of pragmatism -- Back on the horse -- El Caudillo -- The moral victory -- A peculiar glory -- Scorning the path of roses -- Part four: Rebirth and conflict, 1973-1978 -- A tainted triumph -- The gypsy, the car salesman, and the old ways -- The little pigeon -- The miracle of Huracán -- The return of Perón -- Of heroes and chickens -- The age of the devils -- Lorenzo and the Boca fulfillment -- The first steps to glory -- Glory in a time of terror -- Part five: A new hope, 1978-1990 -- The nativity -- The unlikeliest champions -- The pride of the nation -- The return of anti-fútbol -- Maradana in Europe -- Optimism and the Libertadores -- His finest hour -- Burying the chicken -- The Neapolitan glory -- Moral champions again -- Part six: Debt and disillusionment, 1990-2002 -- The third way -- Tabárez and the Boca revival -- The fatal urine of Foxborough -- The rise of Vélez and the River revival -- The failure of neoliberalism -- The dwindling of a genius -- The lure of the past -- Boca's age of glory -- The crash -- Part seven: Over the water, 2002-2015 -- The second coming -- The ascent from the abyss -- The growth of the legend -- The list in the sock -- The ecstasy of gold -- The end of the affair -- Messi and the Messiah -- Distrust and short-termism -- Home discomforts -- The little witch, the Pope, and the gleeful chicken -- The ongoing drought -- The eternal laurels.
Summary: Argentina has produced Alfredo Di Stéfano, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messi--some of the greatest soccer players of all time. The country's rich, volatile history is by turns sublime and ruthlessly pragmatic. A nation obsessed with soccer, Argentina lives and breathes the game, its theories, and its myths. Jonathan Wilson lived in Buenos Aires, in an apartment between La Recoleta Cemetery--where the country's leading poets and politicians are buried--and the Huracán stadium. Like his apartment, Angels with Dirty Faces lies at the intersection of politics, literature, and sport. Here, he chronicles the evolution of Argentinian soccer: the appropriation of the British game, the golden age of la nuestra, the exuberant style of playing that developed as Juan Perón led the country into isolation, a hardening into the brutal methods of anti-fútbol, the fusing of beauty and efficacy under César Luis Menotti, and the emergence of all-time greats in Maradona and Messi against a backdrop of economic turbulence.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 796.334 W749 Available 33111008458792
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The Masterful, Definitive History of Argentinian Soccer



Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Alfredo Di St'fano: in every generation Argentina has uncovered a uniquely brilliant soccer talent. Perhaps it's because the country lives and breathes the game, its theories, and its myths. Argentina's rich, volatile history -- by turns sublime and ruthlessly pragmatic -- is mirrored in the style and swagger of its national and club sides. In Angels with Dirty Faces , Jonathan Wilson chronicles the operatic drama of Argentinian soccer: the appropriation of the British game, the golden age of la nuestra , the exuberant style of playing that developed as Juan Perón led the country into isolation; a hardening into the brutal methods of anti-fútbol; the fusing of beauty and efficacy under César Luis Menotti, and the emergence of all-time greats.



Praise for Inverting the Pyramid



"Here, for the first time in decades, is a top-notch soccer book on how soccer is actually played on the field." -- Simon Kuper



"An outstanding work. . . . The soccer book of the decade." -- Sunday Business Post

Argentina has produced Alfredo Di Stéfano, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messi--some of the greatest soccer players of all time. The country's rich, volatile history is by turns sublime and ruthlessly pragmatic. A nation obsessed with soccer, Argentina lives and breathes the game, its theories, and its myths. Jonathan Wilson lived in Buenos Aires, in an apartment between La Recoleta Cemetery--where the country's leading poets and politicians are buried--and the Huracán stadium. Like his apartment, Angels with Dirty Faces lies at the intersection of politics, literature, and sport. Here, he chronicles the evolution of Argentinian soccer: the appropriation of the British game, the golden age of la nuestra, the exuberant style of playing that developed as Juan Perón led the country into isolation, a hardening into the brutal methods of anti-fútbol, the fusing of beauty and efficacy under César Luis Menotti, and the emergence of all-time greats in Maradona and Messi against a backdrop of economic turbulence.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 386-400) and index.

Prologue: Utopias and their discontents, 1535-2016 -- Part one: The birth of a nation, 1863-1930 -- This English game -- A second birth -- The global stage -- Argentinidad -- The coming of money -- The Rioplatense supremacy -- Part two: The golden age, 1930-1958 -- Days of glory -- The coming of professionalism -- The rise of River -- Modernity and the Budapest butcher -- The knights of anguish -- The rise of Juan Perón -- El Dorado -- Back home -- Our way -- The zenith and beyond -- The last of the angels -- Part three: After the fall, 1958-1973 -- The death of innocence -- The contrarian and the growth of anti-fútbol -- The mouse's nest -- The open market -- The consecration of pragmatism -- Back on the horse -- El Caudillo -- The moral victory -- A peculiar glory -- Scorning the path of roses -- Part four: Rebirth and conflict, 1973-1978 -- A tainted triumph -- The gypsy, the car salesman, and the old ways -- The little pigeon -- The miracle of Huracán -- The return of Perón -- Of heroes and chickens -- The age of the devils -- Lorenzo and the Boca fulfillment -- The first steps to glory -- Glory in a time of terror -- Part five: A new hope, 1978-1990 -- The nativity -- The unlikeliest champions -- The pride of the nation -- The return of anti-fútbol -- Maradana in Europe -- Optimism and the Libertadores -- His finest hour -- Burying the chicken -- The Neapolitan glory -- Moral champions again -- Part six: Debt and disillusionment, 1990-2002 -- The third way -- Tabárez and the Boca revival -- The fatal urine of Foxborough -- The rise of Vélez and the River revival -- The failure of neoliberalism -- The dwindling of a genius -- The lure of the past -- Boca's age of glory -- The crash -- Part seven: Over the water, 2002-2015 -- The second coming -- The ascent from the abyss -- The growth of the legend -- The list in the sock -- The ecstasy of gold -- The end of the affair -- Messi and the Messiah -- Distrust and short-termism -- Home discomforts -- The little witch, the Pope, and the gleeful chicken -- The ongoing drought -- The eternal laurels.

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