"Soooy Argentino, es un sentimiento, no puedo paraaar!"
("I'm Argentinian, it's a feeling, I can't stop!" Barely minutes after Montiel's victorious shot on goal, songs, firecrackers, horn concerts, disputed the sound space of the capital Buenos Areas in the afternoon.
From Mar del Plata, on the Atlantic, to Jujuy at the foot of the Andes, and in Buenos Aires of course, millions of Argentines, around giant screens in a park, a stadium, on a seafront, at home , vibrated and first accompanied a euphoric crescendo with a 2-0 advantage at the break.
Then anxiety, until the end 2-2, 3-3, shots on goal.
"Epic, it's epic! But that's all Argentine history, to suffer like that!" the vast majority.
Suffering is Argentinian
"It is our destiny to suffer! A sine qua non condition to be Argentinian!" Joel Ciarallo managed to joke to AFP, between hilarity and emotion, in a bar in the capital near the Obelisk.
"Let's be clear: Argentina is in the m..., economically, socially, we are in trouble. So it's a well-deserved distraction".
Without even waiting to see Messi lift the Cup, supporters in their thousands began to converge on this iconic landmark of the capital and traditional venue for sporting celebrations.
"Muchaaachos...": the song, written this year and become the unofficial anthem of Argentine supporters in this World Cup, resounded in a loop, as it had been shouted at the top of the lungs, at the start of the match, to cover the Marseillaise.
Argentinian players perched on the goal after their victory in the World Cup final in Doha, December 18, 2022 © FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Very early in the game, the confidence of the Argentinian supporters radiated.
"We have it (the cup). Already four chances and only one for them!", assured AFP Juan Solis, 74, who came with his grandchildren to the Parque centenario.
Penalty from Messi.
First explosion of joy, hugs.
And the gestures of prostration "Meees-si! Meees-si!".
Di Maria tears the French defense apart.
Cries of delirium, almost of disbelief.
The repertoire is spiced up: "Who does not jump is a Frenchman!"
As so many times during this World Cup, the chants of the supporters back home responded, in a moving echo, to those of the hinchas in Doha resounding from the screen: "Volveremos a ser campeones como en el 86" (We are going to be again champions, like in 86".
Few fans, truth be told, had waited until Sunday to celebrate.
From Saturday evening, "banderazos", in about fifteen districts of Buenos Aires, had rehearsed, like a last training, the songs, the slogans, the joy of the long-awaited 3rd star.
As if to send final positive "ondas" to the "muchachos" of Lionel Scaloni, 13,000 km away.
Argentinian fans flock to Republic Square in Buenos Aires to celebrate their team's victory in the World Cup final on December 18, 2022 © Luis ROBAYO / AFP
"The Seleccion and Messi, for everyone's dream", headlined the daily Clarin on Sunday, while the special continuous television programs redoubled superlatives in their drop-down banners: "Argentina dreams", "One step from glory eternal", "For glory".
"The Perfect Movie"
The result is deserved.
For these two lost finals (1990, 2014) since the coronation of 1986. Because "Argentina is a country which suffers, lives on an economic roller coaster, where it's always hard to make ends meet", blew Agustin Acevedo, 25, a construction worker.
Finally, for Messi, who "everyone in football, not just the Argentines, wanted to see consecrated".
But there, "it's the perfect film. All that we suffered was worth it for that!"
, he said near the Obelisk in a bar flanked by the effigies of Messi and Maradona, in front.
Ah, Diego... present too, in everyone's memory.
"Premier Mondial without you, thank you for everything!"
the public television commentators were moved, in a total emotional let go.
The World Cup trophy for Argentina by Leo Messi and Angel Di Maria victorious over France in Doha, December 18, 2022 © FRANCK FIFE / AFP
In Maradona's old house - which he had bought from his parents - in the suburb of Villa Devoto, a few dozen privileged people, neighbors and friends had been invited to follow the match in the garden, around the swimming pool and of the parilla (barbecue), noted the AFP.
Failing to find a buyer at auction in April, "the house was going to be demolished, so I decided to buy it back and fix it up," says its new owner, Ariel Fernando Garcia, a 47-year-old lawyer.
"For us Argentines, everything related to Maradona reminds us of our childhood: it was he who gave us the most joy", he recalled.
"Argentina has been sad for years, but it has always been a generous and supportive country. And that must be found," he said to explain his decision to "open" the house.
Because Diego "who watches us from the sky", as the song "Muchachos" says, could not be absent from a moment of eternity in Argentine football.
© 2022 AFP
