Angels with Dirty Faces, Jonathan Wilson
Angels with Dirty Faces, Jonathan Wilson
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Angels with Dirty Faces
How Argentinian Soccer Defined a Nation and Changed the Game Forever

Author: Jonathan Wilson

Narrator: John Sackville

Unabridged: 20 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/27/2022

Synopsis

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 Peróed the country, a hardening into the brutal methods of anti-fú, 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

Reviews

Goodreads review by Simon on February 11, 2017

It’s fair to say that Jonathan Wilson has been a key figure in the transformation undergone by British football writing over the past decade or so. The publication in 2008 of Inverting the Pyramid, his history of tactics, foreshadowed a boom in tactical analysis, and the rise in popularity of a more......more

Goodreads review by Stephen on December 20, 2018

Detailed book looking at social political and footballing history from the origins of anglo to modern day......more

Goodreads review by Matt on December 30, 2020

An entertaining and thorough - if at times bloated - history of Argentinian football, blighted at times by Wilson’s insufferable I’m-smarter-than-you radical-centrist political analysis that patronises the entire populace of the country he’s documenting. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand what inspir......more

Goodreads review by Jack on December 26, 2020

Took me a year to finish this, partly because it’s big and I am lazy, but also partly because there’s a lot of stuff to digest in the book that I wasn’t totally into. The soccer bits (that is, the game action and such) are actually dullest parts of it. This, of course, is likely due to my overall ig......more

Goodreads review by Alexander on December 27, 2019

Fascinating overview of the football history and surrounding socio-political background of Argentina. From the pioneering Scotsman, Alexander Watson Hutton, who gets the ball rolling in this football-obsessed land through to the totemic ‘pibe’ figures of Diego and Leo, an enriching and educational r......more

Quotes

“Argentina's narrative is complicated, and Jonathan Wilson mines all of it ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES. What sets Wilson's book apart is the depth to which he goes to show how soccer weaves through Argentina's political and economic turmoil. He finds that the country's most celebrated moments and players are never as great as they seem.” —Bloomberg Businessweek

“Mr. Wilson is the Lionel Messi of world football writing. Few writers in his genre are on the same literary pitch. His latest work is an integral read for those love the Argentinean style of play, its rich history and why football is the true soul of Argentina.” —World Football Commentaries

“[A] comprehensive, but immensely readable and wonderfully-researched history of a nation and its long-term love for the beautiful game… After reading this excellent history, you'll be as convinced as Argentina's football-loving population that it won't be long before the Carasucias add to their two World Cup titles.” —News North Wales

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