Extract from Chapter 6: ‘The world’s game, part 1’ | Soccer hits Latin America
Across Latin America, soccer was a thoroughly British phenomenon in the early years. Local people would mostly just look on with amusement at the ‘crazy English’ chasing a ball around a field. Playing equipment and rule books were imported from Britain, and Spanish was initially forbidden at Argentinian FA meetings. These roots can still be detected in the English elements of the names of many leading clubs, such as River Plate and Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina, Corinthians in Brazil, Liverpool in Uruguay, and Santiago Wanderers and Everton in Chile.
But, as the game became more popular with the wider population, its British connections quickly faded into irrelevance, just as its public-school origins had been obscured when the working class took hold of it in Britain. Good playing facilities and equipment may have been hard to come by, but the locals learned to improvise – playing in streets and alleyways, or on beaches, often using rolled-up socks as makeshift balls.
All sections of society learned to love the game: indigenous peoples, descendants of African slaves, and newer arrivals from southern Europe. Employers saw the benefits of supporting, and sometimes owning, local clubs, realising that the game could help to boost their standing in their communities. Perhaps even more so than in Europe, intense local rivalries developed quickly in cities such as Rio and Buenos Aires, as people from different districts, or from different ethnic or social backgrounds, latched on to different clubs.
As the local people took control of the game, they began to play it in their own way. The typical English style, with an emphasis on hard work, hard running and physicality, gave way to an approach based on ball control and possession. Brazilians, in particular, turned soccer into a more skilful game, featuring feints, swerves and flicks. It has been suggested that capoeira, a ‘fight-dance’ developed by slaves in the 17th century, helped to shape the Brazilian style of play, particularly when black players came to the fore in the middle of the 20th century. A Scot, John Hurley, encouraged the short-passing game – more common in his homeland than in England – while coaching in Uruguay.
But, as the game became more popular with the wider population, its British connections quickly faded into irrelevance, just as its public-school origins had been obscured when the working class took hold of it in Britain. Good playing facilities and equipment may have been hard to come by, but the locals learned to improvise – playing in streets and alleyways, or on beaches, often using rolled-up socks as makeshift balls.
All sections of society learned to love the game: indigenous peoples, descendants of African slaves, and newer arrivals from southern Europe. Employers saw the benefits of supporting, and sometimes owning, local clubs, realising that the game could help to boost their standing in their communities. Perhaps even more so than in Europe, intense local rivalries developed quickly in cities such as Rio and Buenos Aires, as people from different districts, or from different ethnic or social backgrounds, latched on to different clubs.
As the local people took control of the game, they began to play it in their own way. The typical English style, with an emphasis on hard work, hard running and physicality, gave way to an approach based on ball control and possession. Brazilians, in particular, turned soccer into a more skilful game, featuring feints, swerves and flicks. It has been suggested that capoeira, a ‘fight-dance’ developed by slaves in the 17th century, helped to shape the Brazilian style of play, particularly when black players came to the fore in the middle of the 20th century. A Scot, John Hurley, encouraged the short-passing game – more common in his homeland than in England – while coaching in Uruguay.