Argentina and Messi look in Conformity With World Cup Dream Alive
Argentina’s last home game before the World Cup turned into an unexpected love affair at La Bombonera on Friday. The final qualifier for an already qualified country (they will play against Ecuador in their last match) has become an emotional farewell that is usually organized for that specific purpose but the new calendar means it will be impossible later in the year.
When asked about his future with the national team after Qatar, Lionel Messi replied “who knows”, so it was probably his last appearance on Argentine soil wearing a large Argentine strip, which seemed too small to him. At least in the official competition.
It was a long way to go and before his fifth World Cup, it was fitting that Messi gave him his first call-up to the national team – Jose Pekerman, now Venezuela’s manager. The pair embraced as soon as they came out of the tunnel and it was almost father-son in nature. Venezuela, already out, have had some fights, especially during the first 20 minutes, during which time Messi had some nerve-wracking deployments as false No. 9. But the team soon adjusted and the Paris Saint-Germain players improved into more creative roles.
Boca Stadium, known as La Bombonera or Chocolate Box because of its beautiful unique environment for steep terraces, and it happened again on Friday. Filled with capacity, the audience-loving crowd, including a significant number of women and children with unmasked smiling faces, expressed warmth and joy. The first goal was a burst of overwhelming hugs, both on the field and on the stands. By the time the third goal came, the whole field was single, delirious, glistening with feasts, like the light of a phone star shining in the night sky.
It was also emotional. After a father who took his sons to Argentina for the first time, he reflected that there is a younger generation who has always had a deep connection with this particular squad. “They have no pending issues, they love them,” he said. Older followers who have unresolved luggage have happily become nostalgic, perhaps recognizing those cherished sensations of feeling hope and contentment at the same time. It was a loving farewell and the beginning of the World Cup dream at once. Foolish fans familiar with the stadium proudly wore their goose-pimples, rival fans beautifully acknowledging the magic surrounding the blue and yellow concrete, and those who were not there shared the moment with poetic gratitude. Writer Roberto Martinez tweeted, “This Argentina team is the new Unicorn.” “It grows, it enjoys, it desires, it is ambitious and whatever they try, it works.”
Some French journalists have contrasted Messi’s behavior with the PSG – remarkably, really, when one looks back at a time when playing in front of an Argentine crowd seemed like an unbearable burden, when he was haughty to play at home and thought he could. Only collect his magic while playing for Barcelona. The change is visible to anyone who is paying attention now: he is clearly enjoying himself as a veteran orchestrator of the national team.
Messi may or may not be able to lift the World Cup trophy later this year, but the joy of playing for Argentina is definitely back for him. Against Venezuela, the range of his skills and the supernatural ability to change the rhythm was the perfect 90 minutes for all to see. He was explosive, fast, efficient and detailed in his precision. He kept opponents rolling, spinning, flicking and then bursting into motion again. Hanging shoulders and baggy long shorts, he stood for a minute on the whole field and then at the speed of light did what he thought. He started with Nico Gonzalez’s opening goal and then scored the third goal himself which was almost a mistake, seemingly laughing at himself while doing it.
Argentina and Messi look in Conformity With World Cup Dream Alive
The road to Qatar was sometimes chaotic, but a generation of Pekerman boys are now in charge and they have delivered Argentina’s longest unbeaten run in decades. The manager, Lionel Scaloni, assistants Pablo Aymar and Walter Samuel, the youth team manager, Javier Mascherano, all led and everyone like Messi exchanged warm greetings with their former manager on Friday. It was a combined display of honor and dignity, the symbolic passing of the torch symbol from master to student and a literal demonstration of how the game survives and moves forward, building tradition in real time.
Life in Argentina is economically and socially difficult. As elsewhere, Covid has taken his toll. And so football has again become a thing that the nation turns to for joy, for liberation. There is nothing better than to put Messi’s feet in the colors of the national team and put a smile on his face again.