Angels with Dirty Faces: How Argentinian Soccer Defined a Nation and Changed the Game Forever

by Jonathan Wilson

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Book cover for Angels with Dirty Faces

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The Masterful, Definitive History of Argentinian Soccer

Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Alfredo Di Stefano: 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 Peron led the country, a hardening into the brutal methods of anti-futbol, the fusion of beauty and efficacy under Cesar 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
  • ISBN10 1568585527
  • ISBN13 9781568585529
  • Publish Date 23 August 2016 (first published 20 August 2015)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Publisher Avalon Publishing Group
  • Imprint Nation Books
  • Format eBook
  • Pages 448
  • Language English