This Argentina is not just Messi. And there’s no point in hating her

This was the image of Argentina until the match in Atlanta, in the semi-final against Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham’s England. It was the most false image that football proposed of a champion. Now it is known that the previous victories were only possible due to the power of Argentina, which is not limited to Messi.

This Argentina reminds me of a thought by its former star Jorge Valdano, written in The Country: “If we agree that football is an exceptionally human game, we will also agree that it is exceptionally contradictory. Just when we think we have reached a conclusion, we are confronted with unexpected evidence that overturns it and leaves us disarmed.”

In Atlanta, they trailed 1-0 after goal Gordonat 55 minutes of the initial stage, and nothing indicated that this order could change. In the final stage, although he subjected the English to his spirit of renunciation that led to physical and technical exhaustion, pushing them into his area, the ball did not enter. One of the two: either it stopped at Pickford or at the beam.

But for Scaloni’s Argentina there seems to be no factor that prevents it from moving forward. There is no goalkeeper and no chance of the ball hitting the post. Taking advantage of the defensive culture of German coach Thomas Tuchel, who inflated his team of defenders, the siblings They changed gears in the second half. And then, from the 85th to the 92nd minute, they had the most fantastic six minutes that a team played in that season. World cup.

At 85 minutes, Enzo Fernandez tied, and in the 92nd minute, Lautaro Martínez scored the goal that finished off the English. These, forming an impersonal, insensitive and mechanical team, got so tired of defending themselves that they no longer had the strength to achieve the impossible, a draw. And not even to cry at the end of the game.

And here is the final truth before the final with Spain: this Argentina is not just Messi. It’s goalkeeper Emiliano, defenders Romero and Lisandro Martínez, midfielder Paredes, midfielders Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández, and striker Julián Álvarez.

And when everything seems lost, there is Lautaro Martínez. And all with dog-like fidelity to the ideas of this exceptional coach Lionel Scaloni, a classic and modern coach, pure Argentine. And everything is only possible due to the mental power that each player brings to the field.

Rivalry sometimes becomes a type of fundamentalism capable of provoking hatred against one another. But I write to you, There’s no point in hating this Argentina. The impression is that she likes to be hated beyond the triple border.