What Worked
The mystery of Suarez and his ‘alleged’ referee attack was easily the best part about the article. Thompson’s (the author) lengthy journey to find the details about this story was very interesting and well done. The story to find the missing referee starts off like a stereotypical mystery story, where information seems to be suspiciously unavailable and “lost.” Over the course of the investigation the story thickened. The interview with Gabito, the journalist who was nearly assassinated by a local crime syndicate for exposing the story of Suarez’s assault on the referee, was also very well done and interesting. The entire story regarding the referee, and the lengths people went to protect Suarez’s image and reputation spoke volumes about how important Juarez and football is to Uruguay. The article overall was effective as a mystery/detective “story” and the structure of the story was concise and easy to follow. Throughout Thompson’s various interviews and investigative work you gain a deep understanding of just how important football is in Uruguay, and how the country views Juarez often as a sort of symbol for them.
The author touches on how Uruguayans empathize heavily with Juarez, and this is an important theme for many sports. The struggle that Juarez went through in his life is similar to many Uruguayans, and that is why so many people love him despite his flaws. Throughout the story the author shows how football is ingrained in Uruguay, from being a way out of poverty, players inspiring hope, and also the danger and corruption that is in the sport even at the local level. The author did an effective job of showing how Juarez’s story is so important and relevant in Uruguay and in South America, and
What Didn’t Work
There were certainly ineffective aspects to the article as well. The writing style’s tone clashed often, and there was too much attempted comedic relief in the writing that really was not needed. The author should have approached it with a more uniform and serious tone, as the history is crazy and seems like something out of a mystery or thriller movie. Overall, the approach to create a more lighthearted tone did take away from the article and was often jarring.
