Rarely has a list been so eloquent
.
They are countries that many have probably heard of on rare occasions and that few could locate on the world map.
Estonia, Honduras, Jamaica, United Arab Emirates, Panama, Curacao, Australia and Indonesia
.
He beat them all by more than a goal difference and
did not concede any goals
.
Reviewing the
eight rivals
that the
Argentine National Team
had in the friendlies that were organized from the cut forced by the pandemic until the last FIFA window immediately raises the question:
why does it not find opponents of sporting quality?
.
The confirmation of
Costa Rica
as Nigeria's replacement to open the week that will culminate with a duel against
El Salvador
once again sent Argentina to a
second or third line of rivals
.
A few months ago, Conmebol and UEFA signed an agreement to be able to generate, with their calendars, friendlies between teams from both confederations.
In this same window, for example,
Brazil will face England and Spain
.
In the middle, of course, the clarification that he had to suspend the tour of China when the Government of the city of Hangzhou refused to receive it due to the anger that occurred in Hong Kong over the absence of Lionel Messi in a friendly with Inter Miami.
But to understand this recent history it must be told chronologically and not leave aside the nuances.
The dollars that enter the coffers of the AFA for each match;
the crossed calendars that affect the chances of the Europeans - they play the Nations League when they do not do so in the Qualifiers for the World Cup or the European Championship -;
and the degree of competitiveness that is attempted to be maintained
.
Paradoxically, this list began to be compiled from the moment the Senior Men's National Team
broke the spell of 28 years without titles in the 2021 Copa América
.
Until then, the Argentine National Team's friendlies were organized by the company
World Eleven
, owned by
Guillermo Tofoni
.
After a conflict that escalated to Justice - which dismissed
Claudio Chiqui Tapia
last September -,
AFA took the lead when determining where, against whom and under what conditions
the champions of America were presented, at that time.
Estonia
, at that time in 110th place in the FIFA ranking, was chosen to celebrate the conquest that the
Scaloneta
had achieved a couple of days before with the
2022 Finalissima
against
Italy
at the legendary Wembley stadium in London.
Lionel Messi controls the ball in the friendly against Honduras.
Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP
Then came a new tour of
the United States
, one of the favorite destinations of this process, where they beat
Honduras
and
Jamaica
.
It was the last window of friendlies until the World Cup in Qatar and that is why, publicly, even Lionel Scaloni seemed resigned to the request to be able to face European teams, to be able to measure whether the undefeated team that was growing in size had support.
A little more than a year later, a new friendly arrived, a stopover prior to disembarking in Doha.
It was in
Abu Dhabi
to clash with
the United Arab Emirates
- led at that time by the Argentine Rodolfo Arruabarrena - and which served as a final exam for Scaloni, who in fact became convinced at that time that Joaquín Correa and Nicolás González were not physically fit to compete. face the World Cup.
The third star logically increased the
cachet
of the world champion National Team and multiplied the orders.
Also wisely, it is almost mathematical that the more money the rival's competitive scale tends to lower.
That was an AFA choice and one of the reasons that led to the short circuit in the early hours of Rio de Janeiro in which Scaloni questioned his continuity as coach, minutes after having beaten Brazil in the legendary Maracaná. .
The National Team players during the celebration against Panama at the Monumental.
Photo: REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian
Panama
came with a "B" team - not even its head coach had traveled - to be a partner in the celebration of the world champions at the Monumental stadium.
In Santiago del Estero, a few days later that March 2023,
Curacao
was invited .
Both were paid the minimum possible so that the two days were made the most of by the organizer.
Even the way tickets were sold was changed and it was switched to
Deportick
, which was at the center of the controversy due to its links with
Sergio Massa
.
China was the next stopover, in June
.
The millions of dollars and the growth in the Asian giant's interest in the National Team - which was even strengthened commercially in that country - led to its landing to face Australia
-
the most competitive match on the list because it reissued the round of 16 of Qatar 2022 - and
Indonesia
.
Once again Asia was the place chosen for this double date in March
.
The rivals started in the second European line, continued in the champion and runner-up of the African Cup (
Nigeria
and
Ivory Coast
) and ended in Central America with
Costa Rica
and
El Salvador
.
The apologies that Messi made to the fans who were left without seeing him in a friendly came late,
he had to 'move' to the United States
.
#SelecciónMayor @Argentina will play two matches corresponding to the FIFA date of March 2024 in China.
📝 https://t.co/V8L9pr40Os pic.twitter.com/xIbnZFH3gj
— 🇦🇷 Argentina National Team ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) January 16, 2024
On this occasion the tour was agreed with
"the investment company SOUTHGILMORE LLC, subsidiary EpicQuest Education Group International, part of the Chinese executive group Zhongfu Sports Co., Ltd"
, as indicated on the AFA website on January 15.
The outlook for next June, when the last friendlies will be held before the defense of the title in the Copa América, does not seem to change.
Ecuador
and
Honduras
or
Guatemala
, according to the portal 'The Athletic', would be the rivals, again and with more logic, in the United States.
The list will continue to grow and that duel with Germany in October 2019 (2-2 draw in Dortmund) will be the last against a European
.