Monthly Archives: February 2012

1978

One of the stranger and least defensible decisions of the people’s champ, however, was his regime’s commitment to military spending. It is said they spent some two billion dollars on Soviet equipment. The Chileans were worried, fearing a Peruvian campaign to retake the provinces lost in the War of the Pacific (1879 – ’83). No attack ever materialised, however, and Alvarado claimed his army had been bulked up solely for defence purposes, despite boasting that “the Chileans better stop their bullshit or i’ll be eating breakfast in Santiago.” Indeed, defence is the key word here, for it is the Peruvian defence in their infamous 1978 World Cup match against hosts Argentina that we are interested today in a story involving several fascist dictatorships and the execution of political prisoners. Continue reading

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Messi is Ours

It is a declaration of love for the wee man from Rosario, touchingly bashful at times (“i’d be uncomfortable overstepping the mark…”) while at others it veritably flushes with ardent reverence. It betrays a burning need for consummation, which comes through in metaphysical statements that suggest don Julio has been digging into his John Donne: “He plays as he is therefore he is as he plays.” Such demands could prove awkward for the object of his affections, we feel. And how surprising – by all accounts Mrs Grondona is a thoroughly respectable woman, a loyal companion and a fervent Catholic to boot, yet we never suspected her husband was a man of such romantic intensity, such burning passion, a man not content to smell the flower but one who must possess it, ravish it: “Messi is Ours.” Continue reading

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Tevez v Mancini? Part II

Dear handsome, oh so lonely fellows, welcome back on this VD day. After spending the post earlier today complaining about meeja laziness and sloppiness, it was brought to our attention that one of our barbs at the Guardian was incorrect: we had accused them of fabricating a quote by paraphrasing the gist of what Tevez had said, which we’ve caught them doing before. The line in question, which we have since removed, was “The club statement protected the manager.” The quote originally came from the on-the-fly translation of our esteemed colleague @MundoAlbicelest. He did not enjoy the comfort – and, indeed, the shocking indolence – that allowed us to listen back a few times. Continue reading

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