Angel with Dirty Faces: History of Argentina football, Part 1.

Jonathan Wilson writes in Angels with Dirty Faces: “No country so intellectualizes its soccer, so loves its theories and its myths”. When talking of Argentina in context of football it impossible to leapfrog Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, two of the greatest football players of all time. But the history goes further back and in earlier periods other stars has redeemed Argentine football such as Manuel Seoane, Antonio Sastre, Adolfo Pedernera and Omar Sívori. The team is also known as the Albiceleste, from the colors of the shirt.

The rivalry with Uruguay

When the first edition of the Campeonato Sudamericano (the predecessor of the Copa América) was played in 1916, Argentina was the host. At this time, South American football was dominated by Argentina and Uruguay and it was the neighbor in the east that often got the upper hand. It would happen in the 1916 final and was repeated in the Summer Olympics 12 years later and in the first World Cup another 14 years later

Argentina would win its first Campeonato Sudamericano title in 1921 and three more victories would follow in the same decade. It was obvious at the time that Argentina could compete with the best teams in Europe; during a tour on the continent in 1925, Argentina won 16 out of 19 games.

Before the establishment of the World Cup, the Olympic Games yielded as the most prestigious international tournament. Argentina participated in the tournament for the first time in 1928. The team run through the tournament in superior style, winning by a combined score of 23-5 before facing the big rival Uruguay in the final. The game finished 1-1, which led to a rematch three days later, which was won by Uruguay 2 to 1.

In the first World Cup, played in Uruguay, Argentina would be one of the 13 participating teams. They won their group ahead of Chile, France and Mexico and after destroying USA by 6-1 in the semi-finals they would once again meet Uruguay in an immortal final.