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

by Jonathan Wilson (Author)

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 PerÃ3ed the country, a hardening into the brutal methods of anti-fà , the fusion of beauty and efficacy under C'sar 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

Author Biography

Jonathan Wilson is a columnist for The Guardian and the cohost of the football history podcast It Was What It Was. He has written thirteen books, including Inverting the Pyramid, and is the founder and editor of The Blizzard. He lives in London.