Maradona–Life After Soccer

←cont from: Maradona: The Scandals The most famous man in Argentina has not been able to settle down to a quiet life of retirement since leaving football. Drug and weight problems have continued to dog him. He underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2005 and has been to rehab on numerous occasions, most notably in 2000 [...]

Maradona–The Scandals

(← cont. from: Maradona: Goal of the Century) Maradona’s life, like others who have fought their way out of extreme poverty to stand with the world at their feet, has followed a story arc that has included many profound lows to go along with the highs. Daniel Arcucci, sports editor of La Nacion told the [...]

Maradona–Goal of the Century

(← cont. from: Maradona, The Man, the Myth) The World Cup and The Hand of God Maradona appeared in four World Cup tournaments— more than any other Argentinian. He had his moments in 1982 as a youngster and in 1994 as a veteran and cunningly helped his team to the final in Italy ‘90, but [...]

Diego Maradona–The Man, the Myth

The only positive to come out of Argentina’s humiliating 0-4 loss to the Germans in the World Cup Quarter Finals is that at least the nation’s citizens won’t have to undergo the ordeal of seeing once great footballer, Diego Maradona run through the streets of Buenos Aires naked, as he had promised to do if [...]

Gauchito Gil in Buenos Aires

←cont. from Gauchito Gil—Argentina’s Gaucho Saint In the bleak Buenos Aires neighborhood of Chacarita, in a tree-lined plaza just outside the country’s largest cemetery, a cluster of bright red clearly marks the location of a Gauchito Gil shrine. Old women come to place flowers in front of the glass-encased statuette of Gil. A youth in [...]

The Irish in Argentina

“The first thing to note is that in my son’s veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels.” —Ernesto Guevara Lynch, speaking of his son, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara. Everyone knows the iconic image of Argentina’s Che Guevara, but few know that the revolutionary was of Irish heritage, along with roughly a half a million Irish [...]

Italians in Argentina

They say that Argentines are Italians who happen to speak Spanish. With several waves of immigrants arriving from the boot-shaped nation since Argentina won independence from Spain, it seems every second person here has an Italian surname, and of those who don’t, most will have an uncle or a grandmother hailing from Genoa, Sicily, Friuli [...]

Gauchito Gil — Argentina’s Gaucho Saint

Folk Saint. War hero. Outlaw deserter. Dubious myth. Antonio Mamerto Gil Núñez, better known as “Gauchito Gil” is the colorful figure who represents many things to many different people in his native Argentina. Imagine Robin Hood meets patriotic soldier meets protective Saint and you will have some idea of the many sentiments this mercurial character elicits in Argentine popular culture