Siempre me ha costado entender la lógica de por qué a la gente de muchos países le importa tanto su selección nacional. Qué tiene el fútbol que sea tan importante? Luego de leer sobre el origen de muchas de las selecciones nacionales sudamericanas he venido a comprender que el juego del fútbol es un medio… Read More »
“Symbolic! Unforgettable! To be treasured forever” remarked the commentators on what is called “The Goal of Century, which was Maradona’s goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. Throughout the semester there has been a recurring theme of how soccer became a medium for having international connections without violence, as in 1920, Jules Rimet, the… Read More »
Emir Kusturica’s film Maradona follows the internationally acclaimed football star in all of his enigmatic, outrageous glory as he gives his own perspective on his life of fame: political outrage, athletic prowess, capacity for deception, and intense drug use all included. Amidst the complicated tale of Maradona’s success and the demons that sometimes threaten it,… Read More »
This past week, our class focused on two superstar, transcendent footballers that were (and continue to be remembered for) both their performance on the pitch, as well as their use of their image and likeness for their perceived “greater good”. One, Socrates, the great Brazilian midfielder who earned his doctorate prior to his incredible success… Read More »
Presidential interest in national soccer is nothing new to us. With so much popular will and attention fixated on national teams, national soccer has long been mixed with executive politicking. The recent World Cup has illustrated this phenomenon more clearly than ever, with notable presidential “arbitrations” occurring in the French, Nigerian, and North Korean football… Read More »
Do citizens have a right to watch football? The Argentinian government has recently proposed that they do. The Washington Post — which as the previous post on this blog attests has recently been providing interesting coverage of the politics of football in Latin America — reports in an article published today that President Cristina Fernández… Read More »
That Kusturica’s documentary Maradona, chronicling perhaps world football’s biggest personality, begins with shots of the director playing his guitar at a concert, is telling. Introduced by his band as “the Maradona of the guitar,” it is clear, in retrospect, that what comes after is as much a defense of Kusturica as much as it is about the greatness of Maradona.
This was the title of an article in The New York Times yesterday. The article discusses the rise and current fall of Diego Maradona and the Agentina soccer population’s general dissatisfaction and disenchantment with Maradona as the coach for the national team. And while Argentina did just qualify last week for the 2010 World Cup… Read More »
Now that Argentina has (just barely) secured its spot in the 2010 World Cup after a tortuous and rocky qualifying run, fans of Argentina can breathe a little easier. One fan found occasion for an instant Youtube celebration of the last-minute goal against Uruguay, which shows an ecstatic Maradona jumping for joy. With his red… Read More »
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