07/27/2021 7:45 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 07/28/2021 10:36 AM
The 1-1 draw between the Argentine Under-23 team and Spain that ruled the elimination of the national team at the
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
is just one more page in a repeated, circular tale.
And of a story that never seems to change.
It is that, the match that closed Group C of the Tokyo 2020 soccer tournament, showed two diametrically opposite realities. While
the group led by Batista, followed the logic of many of the competitors and reserved the great figures of their category
, the European country kicked the board and formed a squad with several figures. The contrast is revealing:
6 of those in Japan were star players in the Euro Cup that was played last month
.
Argentina, the football of our country,
has turned its back on the Olympic Games
. One more time. Except for honorable exceptions, such as those of Lanús and Vélez, the rest of the clubs have done everything possible not to give in to the players. For something similar, Gerardo Martino slammed the door before the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Coach Fernando Batista had dreamed of a squad with some weighty reference such as Enzo Pérez, Maximiliano Rodríguez or Carlos Izquierdoz, plus current international footballers such as Angel Correa, Juan Musso, Agustín Marchesín, Leonardo Balerdi, Marco Senesi, Ignacio Fernández or Lucas Alario, added to emerging youth such as Julián Alvarez. None of this happened because the AFA leaders did not try hard enough and
Bocha
had to put together
a list with various limitations
.
Not to mention three of the recent Champions of America who could have joined: Lautaro Martínez, Exequiel Palacios or Nicolás González.
What happened in recent years for the Olympics to become disposable material?
Argentine soccer leaders should answer the question.
It is enough to remember that to Beijing 2008 it was Lionel Messi, who had already won a Champions League, and Juan Román Riquelme, who had three Libertadores Cups in his record.
Other names?
Javier Mascherano, Sergio Romero, Ever Banega, Sergio Agüero, Fernando Gago, Angel Di María, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Nicolás Burdisso, among others.
There are 22 Argentine players who are (were) in Tokyo and of them only three played in the Senior National Team: Adolfo Gaich played 3 minutes in a friendly against Mexico in 2019;
Alexis Mac Allister adds two friendly matches, also in 2019;
and Facundo Medina entered Argentina's 2-1 victory against Bolivia in La Paz for the Qualifiers, on October 13, 2020.
Adolfo Gaich, one of the Argentine figures at the Tokyo Olympics.
Photo: REUTERS / Kim Hong-Ji.
It was said: in the opposite sector to that of Argentina appears its eventual executioner, Spain, classified alongside Egypt and a great candidate to stay with the Gold. Goalkeeper Unai Torres, defenders
Eric García, Pau Torres, midfielders Pedri and forwards Dani Olmo and Mikel Oyarzabal were protagonists in the Eurocup
and are now in Japan under the orders of coach Luis de la Fuente. To these we must add experienced players such as Oscar Mingueza (Barcelona), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid) and Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad). Yes,
Spain armed itself to stay on the highest podium for the second time in its history
(the first was at the 1992 Barcelona Games).
But the
Red
did not start well
and equalized without goals on the first date with Egypt and on the second they barely surpassed Australia by the minimum.
For its part, Argentina fell against those from Oceania and beat Egypt 1-0.
For this reason, today, those led by Batista needed victory to pass the round:
any other result left them out
.
So it was.
It was enough for Spain with a draw and the final 1-1 sealed their pass to the quarterfinals.
Just remembering that
Tata Gerardo Martino resigned from the National Team because Argentine clubs did not yield players to build the squad before Rio 2016
and that Vasco Olarticoechea led an Olympic team completely adrift and without managerial contention shows that football Argentine has learned little.
An Olympic game later, history repeats itself and will repeat itself, over and over again, in a circular way, like a Borgean tale.
Look also
The Pumas, historical: the seven got the bronze in Tokyo 2020
Tokyo 2020: The Lionesses suffered until the end to add a key triumph
Tokyo 2020: Argentina's suffering with team sports, one of its historical strengths