“Strange as it may seem, Bayer’s concerns are present in this book about soccer, that seemingly innocent passion. The history of suburban neighborhood clubs: how did these “athletic and sports” associations come into being, whose names now evoke nothing more than a leap in the heart? Why are Independiente, San Lorenzo, Argentinos Juniors, Chacarita, Boca, El Porvenir, and River called that? Why did they choose those colors, now emptied of meaning and overwhelmed by advertisements? And then: are their fans socially different? Here is almost everything there is to know about soccer and its unforgettable moments. The historian of rebellious Patagonia enters the field and plays with them, reliving his childhood, his Sunday walks, the Alumni magazine, and the taste of caramelized peanuts (…)
A good book on Argentine soccer was needed, and here it is, at last. Osvaldo Bayer knows about my not-so-secret passion for soccer fields, especially one that no longer exists, the Gasómetro de Boedo…
This book will not only interest soccer fans, but also those who study the social movements that emerged in Argentina during the “fat cow” years. This is not a different Bayer from the soccer world; he is the same man who has dedicated his life and work to ensuring that Argentines know their true history, so eventful and distorted. I am not surprised that Varallo, Di Stéfano, Sívori, Pipo Rossi, Sanfilippo, and Maradona are part of it. Albert Camus, goalkeeper in Algiers, author of The Plague and The Stranger, said that soccer had taught him everything he thought he knew about life. It is possible: although it may seem exaggerated, on a rectangle of grass, men always enact the unpredictable drama of life. Here, Bayer talks about that and a few other things.
From the prologue by Osvaldo Soriano