http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/article.html?in_article_id=54635&in_page_id=43 Why do people feel the need to do this? I realize that as Americans we cannot understand the role of soccer in other cultures, but how can this possibly be a valid part of such a beautiful sport? If you asked those who took part in this if it is worth someones life to express your opinions on something you have no control over, I wonder how many would reply, "yes". Soccer, like any sport, is supposed to be a time when we can come together, forget about anything else that may be going on, and be entertained. At what point did a scoreline become so utterly important that it become necessary to give (or take) a life? Having never been to Argentina, I cannot attest to the influence that soccer has on the lives of those peoples. I can only hope that when everything is said and done that justice is served - if not for the game then for the person who will never be able to enjoy another match.
MY only answer to your thread would be this: In a somewhat poverty-striken area, which im unsure of argentina's ecomic status; soccer could be their only outlet in life. That one day a week they can get relief from the stresses of struggling to make "ends meat". when they feel someone is taking away their happiness (Xtra time PK) they get very mad. Thats my two cents
For a very long time, arguably from the beginnings of the professional game up to the 1960s, football in England was an outlet from the stresses of everyday life for working class men in England, some of whom could be said to be poverty-stricken, none of whom were especially well-off even when in work. Yet the kind of violence that afflicted English football from the 1960s onwards was nowhere to be seen at that period. I wouldn't want to speculate on the root causes of this incident, but I would object to laying the blame at football's door. When British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher asked the then FA Secretary Ted Croker what football was doing to keep its hooligans out of society, he pointedly asked her what society was doing to keep its hooligans out of football.