The story of how a once gentlemanly event has developed into one of the bitterest of grudge matches in world football
England versus Argentina is a fixture which has been crammed full of controversy since the teams first met in 1951. Neil Clack, a British journalist resident in Argentina, set out to
uncover the truth behind the bitter animosity between the two nations and to find out why so many fail to distinguish between the horrors of the Falklands war, the strictures of British
imperialism, the terrors of Argentinian military dictatorship, and the relative banality of football. From "the Impossible Goal" and 1966 allegations of "spying" and "conspiracy," through a
scandal involving Bobby Moore and a brawl in the 1977 "friendly" to Ossie's trembling knees and the Carlos Tevez transfer fiasco, Clack discovered that the passions which accompany England
versus Argentina run high as he unearthed a remarkable tale packed full of suspicion, name-calling, fisticuffs, and intrigue.
