Football is both a passion and obsession in Latin America

Football may not be at the centre of Latin America’s identity, but it remains a powerful medium for constructing national narratives

- ASH NARAIN ROY

French-Algerian philosopher Albert Camus, who spent his youth as a goalkeeper, said famously that “all that I know most surely about morality and obligations I owe to football”.

French-Algerian philosopher Albert Camus, who spent his youth as a goalkeeper, said famously that “all that I know most surely about morality and obligations I owe to football”. In October 1957, when his Nobel Prize for literature was announced, French television interviewed him at a football match. Along with the theatre, he said, the football pitch was one of his two “real universities”.

To the wider world, football may be a game; to Latin America, it “is the only religion”, says Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, “that doesn't contain atheists”.

Football, like baseball, boxing, cricket and basketball, was brought by the colonisers to the New World. Today, it is the heartbeat of Latin America. It also represents hope and pride.

In Brazil, football arrived at the end of the 19th century as a symbol of a persecuted modernity. It was a hobby for a few Jesuit priests, who imported “street football” to their schools as moral and physical development tools for the youth. In Argentina and Uruguay, the game was brought by British immigrants and expatriates.

But Latin America transformed the game in its own image. Football is not only played; it is lived. It unites nations but also stirs passion. In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador even fought a 100-hour football war.

Today, football has become both a carnival and a catharsis. When life hurts, football heals. It is also an escape and a path to glory. If football is “jogo bonito” (beautiful game) in Brazil, in Argentina it is synonymous with technical precision and tactical intelligence.