Close calls against Cape Verde and Egypt show Argentina dey vulnerable, despite all the brilliance of Lionel Messi. Na among the defining moments of this World Cup: Lionel Messi wandering the pitch for Atlanta with tears rolling down im face. Minutes earlier, Argentina bin dey down two goals to Egypt and on the brink of elimination for the last 16. Messi bin miss a penalty and set to bear blame for the result. Instead, the Argentina legend create the same magic wey e always seem to, spearheading a miraculous, three-goal swing for just over 10 minutes and pushing the Albiceleste into the quarter-finals. And now e dey cry. And so im teammates dey cry. And so im head coach, Lionel Scaloni, wey no fit contain im emotion for a post-game interview. Im own players, the coach talk, don take to calling am el llorón. The crybaby.
“I can’t even look at you,” Scaloni tell a touchline reporter, for tears. “I’m sorry. I’m obviously very emotional. What a group of players, brother. I’m sorry.” No team for this World Cup don provide fans with a broader spectrum of emotions than the defending champions. Things start brightly – Argentina barrel through the group stage without breaking sweat and Messi, at 39, dey for the midst of im greatest World Cup. For the opening match, a hat-trick hand the captain the tournament joint-goalscoring record, one wey e continue to add to. Every one of Messi appearances don be dotted with brilliance but Argentina don falter for recent matches.
The scare against Egypt na nothing compared with their last-32 encounter with Cape Verde for Miami, where only stoppage-time heroics avert what for don be arguably the greatest upset for the history of professional sport. These recent performances don raise fresh questions about this Argentina side. Scaloni dey revered for Argentina, having end a 28-year trophy drought, leading them to their third World Cup star and a pair of Copa América titles. E don lead to a dynamic, at times, where the press wey cover the team don ask fewer questions than normal of am, having know little else other than triumph. For this World Cup, that one don change.
For many occasions, e don lead to Scaloni butting heads with the press over somewhat basic questions. E don also be insistent, for both of Argentina close-run knockout encounters, that im side dey always for control of the match, something wey feel almost farcical to even a casual observer. Cape Verde bin dey, at worst, for an even footing and Egypt outplay them for stretches. This na nothing new, of course: for 2022, Argentina lose a lead no fewer than four times, including twice for the final against France. That dynamic make for fantastic storytelling but no inspire much confidence, especially before their meeting with a well-organised, disciplined Switzerland side. Should Argentina relinquish a lead, dem fit get a much harder time clawing am back.
Argentina no don help by events off the field. Their match with Egypt bin dey rife with controversy and don lead to allegations from Egypt head coach that the encounter bin dey rigged, and the Argentinian federation (AFA) dey reportedly under investigation by the FBI for alleged mishandling of its commercial agreements for the United States. For the stadium, little of this don matter. With the exception of the host nations, dem be the most well-supported team at the tournament and at every point for the journey Argentinians don follow, bringing the banderazo with them. E be a sight to behold, an undulating mass of humanity singing, jumping and dancing for unison, urging their team forward. This be the case whether Argentina dey handily for the lead or, more often than not, fighting for their lives.
The team, and Scaloni, don lean on their supporters heavily. After the last-minute escape against Egypt, Scaloni talk say dem don make am difficult for their fans all tournament. Scaloni don also face criticism for im tactics and squad rotation as e don continue to lean on an older core. And then, of course, there be Messi. E fit be tempting to call am an ageless wonder but e certainly look the worse for wear after the match against Cape Verde, taking to the podium for im post-match remarks sporting a massive shiner on im forehead. Moments later, e talk say the same players wey “kick the crap out of am” ask for im jersey. Argentina go need Messi and much more against Switzerland. Dem go need to stay for high gear for longer stretches. Dem no fit rely on vibes alone as dem don sometimes seem to this summer.
Yet to many, the chaotic energy of this Argentina side na exactly why dem dey beloved. Perhaps Scaloni dey among them. “Football is this, not just tactics and strategies,” e talk, im voice tinged with emotion after the Egypt match. To say you fit feel the desperation no even quite cut am. You fit see am for the tears flooding Lionel Messi eyes after their heart-pounding comeback win over Egypt. You fit hear am as Lionel Scaloni blub im way through the post-match interview, warning e no fit even look at im players or the travelling fans serenading their side because e too much emotion for am. A round-of-16 win bin dey celebrated like the trophy itself. No team for the United States this summer feel so emotionally charged, but then again few nations put as much importance into World Cups as this jagged corner of South America.
E almost impossible to separate football from Argentine culture because dem so deeply intertwined, but Diego Maradona and Messi ascension from defective street urchins to become almost holy figures now be a big part of the national psyche. The Argentine Dream. The World Cups those two win fit be, with the greatest of respects to the inventor of the ballpoint pen, Argentina greatest international achievement. And so cyclically, these tournaments mean everything to them. As happens at every World Cup, the travelling Argentine fans go come up with a song and e go dey stuck for your head for an entire month. This time, ‘The Fourth Star’, the terrace song wey dey belted out at those weeping Argentina stars for Atlanta reach im crescendo with the line: “For the Falklands, for Diego, For Leo’s last World Cup.” Which just about sum up the three pillars of modern day Argentine pride.
Inflation dey rampant and the country dey deeply polarised politically, with at least 13 million people living below the poverty line, but this be a country wey fit always look to Leo and get hope. Messi make their dreams come true, somehow following Maradona own mythological arc wey play out so emotionally for the years immediately following the Falklands War. Las Malvinas remain a nationalist symbol. Kids dey taught for school say dem be part of Argentina, dem always dey depicted on maps of Argentina as be part of sovereign territory and things dey named after them all over the country. Falkland Islanders voting to remain part of the United Kingdom. Irrespective of historic territorial claims and their validity, invoking the Malvinas na just one example of how the Argentine fans don crank up the patriotism to make this campaign so emotionally charged.
At least part of that na desperation. As acknowledged for labelling a potential fourth World Cup as “Leo’s last” for this summer soundtrack, the pint-sized genius go almost certainly no make am to 2030, and e don nearly be knocked out twice already. But when Messi don kick im last ball for Argentina, this be a country wey get to look to the future and find another plan. And there no be one. The chances of finding a third undersized wizard with fair claim to be the greatest footballer of all time be remarkably slim. Even more so as years of corruption at the Argentine Football Association under Julio Grondona – wey famously ask for the Falklands for return for voting for England to host the 2018 World Cup – divert tens of millions into Swiss bank accounts wey for don be used for developing youth football and building infrastructure. So if this feel like the Last Chance Saloon, that na because e be. E no be about want for Argentina, e be about need.
Simultaneously, e crazy to ask whether this iteration of Argentina fit no actually be that good? Dem get a lot of good players, no doubt, but at times dem appear to get no plan for the event wey Messi no decide to create some magic. As one viral comment observe of their feisty if unconvincing style: “Argentina be basically the ‘what if we give Atletico Madrid Lionel Messi?’ A team wey run on emotion don win with emotion for their last two games. The Cape Verde scare and the Egypt remontada both come with their own negatives but Argentina also know say whatever happen to them for these next few games, however many there fit be, dem fit gut am out and claw their way back. To say dem be fighters no seem sufficient. E come from somewhere much deeper. Beware the World Cup most emotionally charged team.
