English Language 2 Cultural project.

1. Football

2. ♦ Football is considered to be one of the most popular sports in the
world. In Argentina, this sport plays an important role not only as a
sport itself, but also as a social phenomenom, since it constitutes a
tradition, a passion, and part of our culture.
Good things about football:
• It promotes several values such as unity, teamwork, friendship,
etc.
• It is associated with the idea of people getting together, either to
support a club or the national team representing our country in the
World Cups every four years. Besides, plenty of emotions are
shared.
• It´s fun.

3. Negative aspects of Football:
Negative aspects of football:
• It is under the influence of politics.
• There is a strong and unhealthy rivalry which leads
to permanent violence.
•Millions are invested in football and, in this way,
other sports are not supported financially.

4. How I feel about football:
 Personally, I´m not a fan of football. I am keen on other sports such as
swimming, running or cycling.
I rarely watch football matches. The only times I do so are, for example,
when the World Cup takes place, in order to support our national team.
What´s more, I do so because generally It´s a family tradition to watch
them all together; but I wouldn’t do it on my own just for pleasure.
 I have never met a professional football player before. I don´t really feel
motivated by the idea, either.

5. The military government of the 70 ´s.

6. What I know about this period:
 The military coup took place on the 24 th of March in 1976, when the militaries overthrew
the government of María Estela Martínez de Perón. This was not the only military coup
which our country has undergone, but the last one of many.
As far as I know, the military forces took advantage of the economical and laboral
recession the nation was facing up to, in order to reorganize it. In this sense, they called
it “Proceso de Reorganización Nacional”.
 This period is notorious for the indiscriminate repression, violence, torture, and the
methods of terrorism applied by the dictatorship. The censorship of information and
ways of thinking, persecutions and large number of disappeared people are distinctive
aspects, as well.
 As regards to my feelings towards these hard times, I find them absolutely touching and
sad. Although I don´t know any direct person who have suffered from these atrocities, I
have been told of many cases.
 I believe the information I was given is correct and neutral. What´s more, learning about
these facts is quite important since they represent the darkest period of our country, and
consequently, our identity as Argentinians.

7. The 1978 Football World Cup:

8. Film: “Mundial de Football 1978.
La película oficial”
♦ This film shows what the World Cup was like, that is to say, how it was
organized, including all its matches and teams, the most distinguished football
players and managers, the stadiums where the different matches were
played, the game strategies of the different football teams, and the
magnitude of the whole event. However, the center of attention is the
Argentinian team. It describes what the atmosphere was like, the
celebrations and the expectations of a whole country looking for their team
to become worldchampions for the first time.
♦In conclusion, it shows the national team´s development throughout the
tournament and gives a external image of what it consisted of; in other
words, from merely a sporting perspective.

9. “El mundial 78 – La historia paralela”
 In this video, the real face of the World Cup is exposed. The event here is,
unlike The Official Movie, analysed in a deeper and realistic way, as It takes
into account the historical period in which It took place and the real
implications, and significance of it.
 In few words, in this video the World Cup is thought as a mask used by the
military to hide what was actually going on. It was planned to conceal their
atrocious crimes and, therefore, to sell a fake image of their system of
government.
 In addition, It lays emphasis on the corruption and fallacy which were behind
the event. By watching this video, we can see how the sports are manipulated
for political purposes. It definitely shows the ugly truth of a period in which
football was used to distract not only the country, but also the world from the
permanent repression, torture, and death.

10. Conclusions from other sources:
 The military founded El Ente Autárquico Mundial. This let them take over
the tournament entirely. The main aim of this World Cup was to show to
the world that Argentina was a reliable country and to lessen the bad
reputation the system had for violating the human rights.
 Football was presented by the militaries as a symbol of peace and unity;
while, on the contrary, Argentina was a split society. While mothers and
grandmothers begged for their dissapeared relatives, all the euphoria and
attention was centered on football. While people celebrated the goals,
many illegal prisoners were suffering from the most horrendous ways of
torture.
 The manipulation of the media and the use of many advertisment
mechanisms were one of the ways by which the regimen achieved Its
aim.

11. Links:
 http://www.lagaceta.com.ar/nota/545081/politica/mundial-78-manchado-sangre.
html
 http://www.infobae.com/2013/05/17/711109-el-mundial-1978-una-pantalla-
esconder-las-atrocidades-la-dictadura
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p2KokQSgyI
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2k-EEbhbLw