Author : Dan Williamson

On 8 December 2001 Manchester United lost at home to West Ham United, their third successive defeat and sixth of the season so far. The team that had won the last three Premier League titles was on shaky ground, and one of the scapegoats was Juan Sebastián Verón. The Argentine midfielder had signed for a […]

I was an avid collector of Merlin’s Premier League stickers for the 1995 season, with the battered album residing in the loft to this day. Memories of rushing to the local shop on a Sunday morning, pocket money burning a hole in my pocket, endure. Taking the packets home and ripping the top off to […]

Part One: Ardiles, Villa, War & Wembley Fans of South American football and/or the Football Manager series uttered sheer disbelief when West Ham United completed a double swoop for Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano on transfer deadline day of 2006. With a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat look miserable, Hammers manager Alan Pardew stood […]

In February 2008, as part of Tottenham Hotspur’s 125th anniversary celebrations, Argentine duo Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa became inductee 22 and 23, and the first foreigners, in the club’s Hall of Fame. However, it could have been so different had an event beyond their control not occurred in 1982. Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa […]

Club Deportivo Morón caused a huge upset in the Copa Argentina earlier this week, defeating “Big Five” team San Lorenzo to progress to the last 16. The winning goal came in the 86th minute when super sub Leandro Guzmán, who only came on in the 70th minute, sent a superb left-footed shot from the edge […]

It’s hard to believe that 2018 will represent 25 years since Argentina won a major international football tournament, especially given the players at their disposal during the last quarter of a century. Argentina did win gold medals at the Olympic Games of 2004 and 2008 but the last full, senior triumph came in 1993’s Copa […]

Given the current state of the Scottish national team, many would be surprised to learn that the Godfather of Argentinean football was born in the Gorbals in 1853. Alexander Watson Hutton was one of the millions of Europeans who moved to Argentina in the nineteenth century in search of a better life in the burgeoning […]

Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera is a stunning, swaying yellow-and-blue cathedral of football nestled in the tight streets of the wonderful Buenos Aires barrio of La Boca. Juan Román Riquelme, Carlos Tevez, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Juan Sebastián Verón, and countless other legends have all donned the azul y oro at one point or another during their […]

For the 32nd time in their history Boca Juniors have been crowned champions of Argentina. Los Xeneize were dealt a blow halfway through their campaign when influential captain Carlos Tevez upped sticks and joined Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League for a reported £600,00 per week. Boca coped well initially, winning 4 of the first […]

End-of-season tours to exotic far-flung destinations are normally nothing to do with football. Instead it’s often the brain child of a suit and tie in the marketing department looking to keep the latest sponsor happy lest they withdraw their lucrative support. During this upcoming FIFA date, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) will boost their coffers […]

The group stage of the Copa Libertadores – South America’s premier cup competition – has concluded, with four of Argentina’s six representatives qualifying for the knockout phase. River Plate, San Lorenzo, Godoy Cruz, and Lanús will all progress whilst Estudiantes and Atlético Tucumán have been eliminated in third place in their respective groups and will […]

There is no doubt that the game of the weekend in round 25 takes place at La Bombonera, where top-of-the-league Boca Juniors host Newell’s Old Boys. Both sides are going into the game following a defeat, both losing 3-1 at home to their greatest rivals during the Clásico Weekend. Newell’s were defeated by Rosario Central, who took a […]

Another idea out of the AFA’s ever-revolving tombola of wacky ideas is the Clásico weekend, where all 30 teams are paired against their nearest rivals in a line-up that would have Sky Sports’ marketing men wetting their pants. The Boca-River game will perhaps have the biggest repercussions, and not just because they are the country’s […]

Gonzalo Maroni stole the limelight on Sunday evening as Boca Juniors stayed three points clear of the chasing pack in the race for the Argentine title. In a 3-0 victory over Arsenal de Sarandí at La Bombonera the 18-year-old scored a spectacular volley and left the pitch to a standing ovation. Like Juventus’ Paulo Dybala, […]

Last weekend Córdoba’s big two clubs – Belgrano and Talleres – clashed in what was the first league meeting between the two for 15 years. The game ended 1-1 but what should have been a celebration of football in the city turned to tragedy as one young fan lost his life. In 2013 the Argentine […]