An expat in Buenos Aires and falling in love with a country, a people and their football

Christopher Hylland is a self-professed argentinophile who, after having lived for four years in Buenos Aires and a further two years across the South American continent, wrote two books on Argentinian and South American football culture.

“Tears at La Bombonera: Stories from a Six-Year Sojourn in South America” (March 2021) documents Hylland’s life as an expat in Buenos Aires and his travels across the continent. With fútbol as the overriding theme throughout, the book tells tales of trips to some of the most iconic stadia in South America, as well as stories about each club as told by locals over a beer with the “gonzo”, first-person experience of the being-there-and-doing-it that the author was lucky to taste.

“Dame Bola: A Journey Through the Language of Argentinian Football” was released in January 2025 and builds on aspects of Argentinian football culture which appear in Tears, predominantly using the Argentinian-Spanish way of talking about the beautiful game as vehicle to relate more fantastical football stories. The book includes words, phrases and concepts which define Argieball from its outset in the late 1800s, through its role as an agent of the development of a national identity to a young nation, to the modern-day export of young talent and bastion of a raw footballing culture now partially-lost in Europe. A footballing culture so rich in language deserves to be explained with a focus on the culture and history of a nation but in a way which is light on the intricacies of Spanish grammar!

Argentinian football – and Argentina as a nation – understandably intrigues people from far and wide; let yourself be further fascinated by el fútbol argentino and the fantastic stories within and, maybe one day you too will be living and breathing the unique folklore of Maradona, Messi and more. Aguante Argentina!

Click the links below to find out more & order Christopher's books here:

Order directly from Stanchion Books:
"Tears at La Bombonera: Stories from a Six-Year Sojourn in South America"
"Dame Bola: A Journey Through the Language of Argentinian Football"

or Order from Amazon:
"Tears at La Bombonera: Stories from a Six-Year Sojourn in South America"
"Dame Bola: A Journey Through the Language of Argentinian Football"

Follow Christopher Hylland here:
Twitter/X: @BomboneraTears
Instagram: @tears.at.la.bombonera