The question is open.
In any case, the value of that conquest -its technical beauty, its dramatic quota and its sporting hierarchy- places it at the top,
only comparable with the teams that were consecrated in the two previous World Cups
, given what this sport means in in terms of diffusion and universality.
On the same level of sporting merit, we must place
the gold medal of the Basketball Team in Athens 2004
, the culminating moment of the Golden Generation.
Emotions are still running high because of what happened in Qatar, because of the way it happened, because of the rival's demands and because of the outcome.
And like everything, only time will settle things down, it will give way to a serene reflection and a true dimension of this coronation.
In any case, the three World Cup feats in soccer had their mark, but they are united by one element: the competitive gene and the natural quality of the players that emerge in Argentina.
Due to an adequate and planned organization, but at the same time, to the magic that so many imponderables present themselves throughout the 90/120 minutes of the game, these results are reached.
The 78 Selection was the first to arrive as a result of long-term work
, since Menotti took over the leadership and in Argentine soccer the Argentine National Team has been prioritized, with all that that meant: "scouting" throughout the country, international series to train our players in high competition, joint training sessions for a long time , physical training.
That team played under high pressure during the first round of the World Cup –very tough, with Hungary, France and Italy- and only got loose after the victory over Poland.
The 3-1 defeat of the Netherlands in the definition had its share of tension and drama, supreme individual performances (Fillol, Galván, Kempes, Larrosa, to name a few).
That same Selection would reach an even more fluid game in the European tours of the following season, when Maradona and other of the youth players that emerged from 79 joined. However, with that wake,
Mario Kempes celebrates his second goal against the Netherlands. Photo: AFP
For the following cycle, with Bilardo in charge, the football style was different, but the priority with the National Team was maintained.
The early stages were very difficult, qualifying for Mexico was suffered until the last minute and the team arrived at the World Cup wrapped in doubts.
However, there, between an imperial Maradona and a National Team that complemented each other very well, Argentina was a deserved champion, with a decisive man rarely seen in a World Cup and because of the collective personality to face those challenges.
Four years later, with an almost decimated squad and going through a thousand obstacles, that Selection directed by Bilardo placed in another final with the Germans.
The era of the Scaloneta is different.
Soccer has totally changed, physically, organizationally, technologically.
The whole context.
One of the first limitations: the players almost do not stay in the country from a very young age and it is difficult to gather them for long periods of preparation.
Scaloni and his team also received an inheritance of several years of frustration.
The way in which they reversed it is admirable and the step since the triumphs returned, from the Copa América (the first since 1993) to Qatar, directly admirable.
Little to add.
They still move.
Although
Argentina had a world basketball title in 1950
, it was about the founding times of that competition.
Merit for the heroes of that time, but nothing comparable to what came later.
The feat of the Golden Generation has no parallel in its sport, placing Argentine basketball among the powers, even in total inferiority of technical and economic resources.
It is necessary to take into account the level of competitiveness there, which has multiplied since NBA professionals were admitted to international competitions (Olympics, World Championships) and that the United States -willing not to cede an iota in its dominance- decided use them as much as possible.
Another factor: if the United States, the former USSR and Yugoslavia exercised absolute hegemony over this sport between the 1950s and the early 1990s, political changes had their consequences.
From that moment on, in basketball, you had to compete with all the emerging players from the former USSR (mainly Russia and Lithuania) and from the former Yugoslavia (mainly Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia).
Even against this background,
what Ginóbili, Nocioni, Oberto, Scola and the wonderful generation have done is incredible.
.
The first big impact was defeating the American "Dream Team" in their own home during the 2002 World Cup in Indianapolis, something that was an impossible dream for any non-USA basketball player.
And two years later, the rise to Olympic gold in Athens, which included a new victory over the Dream Team (with LeBron James included).
That same generation and their immediate heirs kept Argentina on Olympic and World Cup podiums until recently.
Ginóbili and the team that won Olympic gold in Athens 2004.
The next scale includes volleyball, rugby, and hockey.
The Argentine National Team was, in volleyball, a third or fourth order international team until the early 1980s. The panorama changed with the prospect of the 1982 World Cup - played precisely in our country - and that generation of Conte, Quiroga, Martínez, Kantor and Castellani not only got a World Cup bronze, pushed by the fervor of the people, but also placed the National Team in the foreground, only behind the great powers of the time (USA/USSR).
And
his feat was another bronze at the Seoul 88 Olympic Games
, something that could only be matched recently, at the Tokyo Games.
The mystique, and even the name, of Los Pumas arose with the memorable 1965 tour of South Africa.
The comparison with other sports is very difficult, since the Rugby World Cups are relatively new (80s), their Olympic incorporation only occurs in one modality (the Sevens) and the professional explosion of rugby is also recent.
The merit of Los Pumas was getting closer, progressively and on a path of ups and downs, towards inaccessible powers.
First, the bronze medal in the 2007 World Cup in France. And lastly, the victory over the All Blacks in The Championships, which seemed like the insurmountable goal.
In women's sports
, if
Gaby Sabatini is the absolute queen in terms of her individual performance
,
the hockey team is the one that set the highest bar in team performance
.
And by far.
Five Olympic medals (three silver, two bronze, they have only been absent from one Games podium so far in the 21st century) and two world titles (Perth 2002, Rosario 2010) make up the tally, to which must be added its regularity in a growing international competition.
Men's hockey also reached a very high point with its great Olympic title in Rio 2016, which implied a leap in quality since Argentina had never reached that level.
The Lionesses celebrate the bronze in Beijing. Photo: EFE
Without entering the field of comparisons -and less in this case, since the definitions are by individual games- but yes to mention the Argentine conquests "by teams" there will never be a lack of happiness for the 2016 Davis Cup in Zagreb, with Delpo and his people, after a search that spanned almost half a century and a few frustrations.
look also
FIFA The Best Awards: Argentina swept Paris with Messi, Scaloni, Dibu Martínez and the fans crowned the best of 2022
The Best Awards: who Messi and Scaloni voted for, the most controversial and the four 'crazy' who chose Julián Álvarez as Best Player
