Still Hard Feelings a Year Later

Still Hard Feelings a Year Later

Coverage of the 1968 Intercontinental Cup

Coverage begins of Manchester United's highly-publicized encounter against Estudiantes de La Plata in the first leg of the 1968 Intercontinental Cup. This report from Brian Glanville captures the tense atmosphere ahead of the first-leg match to be played in Buenos Aires at Boca Juniors' La Bombonera stadium. But Glanville also resports to some nationalist pride, arguing that the Intercontinental Cup is certainly not the world championship the Argentines make it out to be, nor is the poor reputation of Man U player Nobby Stiles warranted ("the small, studious figure in large, horn-rimmed glasses seen emerging from a church to sign autographs"). The author concludes that Estudiantes reflects not what Argentine football was once known for (aesthetically pleasing, the "artists of South America") but rather what it has become ("the hard men," deliberate provocations, feigned injuries) -- a generation of "gladiators." His fear is that Manchester's own fiery players might succumb to the style of play of Estudiantes.

Brian Glanville

Page 14

The Times (of London)

25-Sep-1968

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