No, we do not have more in common than what divides us. But the first does help to explain the second.
A Fractured Kinship
For one thing, it's often overlooked just how much of an influence Great Britain has had on Argentinian culture.
Unlike Brazil, which in the British imagination existed as an exotic, sensory jungle paradise, Argentina was raised as a kind of faithful son, the “sixth dominion” of the empire.
From place names to street names, from the rugby and polo clubs established by the colonial elite to the culture of “merienda” derived from English afternoon tea.
The only ever overseas branch of Harrods was in Buenos Aires from 1912 until 1998.
English rock bands such as the Smiths and the Cure are wildly more popular in Argentina than in other similar-sized countries.
In football this is evident in club names such as Newell's Old Boys, River Plate, Arsenal, as well as more informal terms such as “crack” (a star player) or “orsai” (offside).
For many years amateur matches would begin with a cry of “aurieli?” (are you ready?
) from one captain to the other.
Look hard enough and you can spot so many similarities between their footballing cultures: the depth of the pyramid, the neighbourhood club as an expression of local tradition, the role of song and mass overseas travel as bonding rituals, the preponderance of war and military tropes.
For many Argentinian fans the Falklands war seems to occupy the same spiritual space that the second world war does in England, visible to this day not only on banners and murals but even tattoos, referenced not only on the terraces but even by the players themselves.
