This essay analyzes how Peronist politics explain the emergence of Diego Maradona as a player that represented authentic Argentine football. We explain how the political radicalism popular during his formative years impacted his role in affirming Argentina's national style of play. In doing so, this article also engages scholarship that historicizes the myths of his nation's football. We analyze Maradona's development as a historically situated phenomenon, and argue that, through Peronism, he understood this sport as a metaphysical game that expressed class struggle and the emancipatory aspirations of the poor boys who were seen as creators of the national style. By this, we mean that he focused on the ball and the relationship he was able to establish with it to question reality, possibilities, and even its existence, creating an experience for spectators that was different and sublime, that made football more than a sport.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.