Fútbol y El Alma Argentina

Independiente striker Sergio Agüero

I am far from the only journalist to say (and sometimes write) that the way to understand the Argentinean soul is through soccer, one of the few collective glues that provide a national conensus in the country--something that can be witnessed by the utter lack of anyone on the streets during an Argentine World Cup game. But beyond being a happy national obsession that demonstrates a love of fun and the like, soccer also reflects a darker side of the national soul. Peeling back the public thrill of the top league, one is confronted with the shady dealings, the exploitation and the poverty that have seeped into Argentina as its economy and worldwide importance have sunk lower in the water over the last half century.

To this end, a recent English issue of the German magazine Spiegel has a impressively incisive article on this, titled Survival Training in Argentina. Ostensibly a biography of the rise of Sergio Agüero (above) from a Quilmes villa miseria to the next $20 million + export to European soccer, it uses the profile form to delve into Argentina's DNA.

I'll leave it to you to read the lengthy piece and form your own opinion, but one interesting theme the piece dribbles about is the equipoise between Argentine pride (whipped to froth by former Pres. Menem's actions and jokes like "How does an Argentine commit suicide? He climbs to the top of his ego and jumps," it is more existent in myth--though all stereotypes are born from a kernal of truth--than in contemporary reality) and Argentine shame at its fallen status. A few quotes:

...Old World success is the key to star status in Argentina. In a country that has drawn millions of immigrants and refugees since the mid-19th century, there is both the desire to disown their Latin American heritage and a collective yearning for recognition in Europe - where most families trace their roots. No one has described this mindset more succinctly than Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes: "The Mexicans come from the Aztecs; the Peruvians come from the Incas; the Argentineans come from the boats."

and

All these [famous soccer] exports are viewed as "ambassadors" whose achievements cast the nation in a favorable light. A "merciful act of self-deception," as well-known radio journalist Ezequiel Fernández Moores once scoffed on Radio del Plata. The disproportionate attention paid to the foreign-based footballers, he says, distracts from the fact that, "With the exception of a few recent accolades for avant-garde moviemakers, the country has made no intellectual contribution of note for years."

Ay, que pena!