Argentina & me

Everyone has a favourite country, neither of birth nor adoption, and mine is Argentina.

It started some 50 years ago when a creative friend redefined park football with a fantasy team of South Americans called the Assassins FC de Montevideo supposedly on tour to Europe.

It was more than fun but a wonderful antidote for those like me in a new post-uni life of professional drudgery.

I was assigned the name Angelo and my country was Argentina.

The fantasy spread like wild-fire and soon Assassins franchises were launched in Chester and Southampton

We all convened for a quarterly tourney. One night we decided to have an annual dinner at the El Sombrero restaurant club in Kensington High Street unaware that it was one of London’s best known gay venues.

Then we had the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and the subsequent transfer of Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa to Spurs.

Then the musical Evita.  

Finally, my Italian football team is Fiorentina and my favourite player of all time Gabriel Batustuta.

In a continuum from Ossie Ardlies to Lionel Messi – via Requelme, Pablo Aimar, Ariel Ortega and Sergio Aguerro – Argentina have produced small midfield maestros with sublime ball and dribbling skills and a telling pass.

So I was delighted that Argentina have made it through to the World Cup quarter finals to renew hostilities with old rivals Holland.

Pargie and I backed Argentina at 11-2 and I predicted a Argentina v France Final, which might yet be..

This Argentina side tends not to attack in clusters from midfield but out wide from the evergreen Angel di Maria.

I am not blind to Argentina’s frailties.

After the Second World War there were the rat lines for escaping Nazis like Adolf Eichmann.

The Perons bled their  country dry and despot generals like Videla and Galtieri ruled by terror.

My defence of the Falklands is you can hardly blame the islanders for wishing to remain under British rule.

Argentina was once the fourth largest economy in the world with rich agrarian and mineral resources, but now it lurches from one post war crisis to another

Argentina has always produced great sportsmen and women – think of the indestructible Carlos Monzon in the ring; motor racing drivers Fangio and Carlos Reutemann; Guillermo Vilas, del Potro and Gabriela Santini in tennis; the Rugby Pumas and, of course, footballer after footballer.

There is an Ardiles in this World Cup.

Ossie Ardlies’ son Federico is there in a media capacity and hooked up with a friend of mine also there on media duty.

I can recall Federico as babe in arms in 1978.

Vamos Argentina!