"Una victoria para el Uruguay como país": Style, National Identity, and Intercultural Encounter at the 1924 Olympic Football Tournament.

Across Latin America, football—particularly in the context of major international tournaments—is central to the construction of local, regional, and national identities and their representation abroad. This article examines the first world championship with Latin American participation: the 1924 Olympic Football Tournament in Paris. The event was a turning point in the development of football, an unprecedented commercial success that enjoyed worldwide media coverage. On that stage, and long before its better-researched neighbors in Brazil and Argentina, it was Uruguay that made Latin America's first footballing impression on the world, swatting aside all opposition en route to a gold medal. Uruguay's stylish, technically brilliant, and tactically advanced play was a revelation, rewriting the dominant paradigm of European sporting hegemony and revealing a new horizon to the game. Beyond a sporting event, the tournament was "un espacio donde producir imaginarios, símbolos y héroes que establecieran diferencias." Through a combination of the team's exemplary performances and their depiction by both domestic and international media, Uruguay was able to affirm its cultural uniqueness and produce influential images of progress, unity, and national capacity to an enthusiastic global audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]