Argentina was a party.
A few minutes were enough after the 2-0 win against Poland for the Obelisk in Buenos Aires, the meeting point for the great celebrations, to be filled with people.
Is it worth celebrating in the streets a pass to the round of 16 in a soccer World Cup?
Maybe because the Albiceleste came first in their group?
The euphoria of the Argentines has been the fruit of fear, a sports catastrophe.
The defeat against Saudi Arabia in the debut had stirred the ghosts of Korea-Japan 2022, when Marcelo Bielsa's team returned home with only three games played.
Goals from Julián Álvarez and Alexis Mac Allister neutralized the curse and the Argentines breathed again.
“Here is Argentina”, headlined the TN
news channel ,
in white letters on a red background.
In Buenos Aires there are no half measures.
On Tuesday, November 22, Lionel Scaloni's team was an example of everything that is wrong with football, with his players postponed by the specialized press and the Argentines plunged into the deepest depression.
Today, the same team was all that's right.
"We came out champions with a difference of five goals," shouts a fan at the foot of the Obelisk.
The bass drums sound, the thunder bombs explode and the light blue and white flags wave.
More information
Argentina wins the eighth
"Ole Ole ole;
olé, olé, olé, Messi, Messi”, shout the fans.
The star had already redeemed himself with a goal from outside the area against Mexico, and today nobody worried about the penalty he missed against the Polish goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczęsny.
There is nothing like the balm of a delayed triumph, which is experienced with anguish at first and an indescribable feeling of liberation afterwards.
“Diego, Diego”, erupted the chorus of fans in downtown Buenos Aires.
Maradona is not missing when the Argentina team plays.
“Vamos Argentina”, tweeted the president, Alberto Fernández, along with a photo of the team celebrating the qualification.
Let's go Argentina!
⚽️🇦🇷❤️ pic.twitter.com/UuoxumNMvH
– Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) November 30, 2022
Argentines watched the game at home, but also in bars and squares, where giant screens financed by the municipalities were set up.
That is why the party was lived in the neighborhoods, on the corners where there was a group willing to celebrate.
Scaloni brought a bit of calm to such a hubbub.
“Those who think Australia is easy are wrong.
Saudi Arabia beat us, ”he said at the press conference from Qatar.
They were the right words, but the soccer fan knows that with France it would have been much worse.
That was the rival if Argentina was finally second in the group, as the most optimistic majority speculated.
In the end it was she came first.
“It seems crazy to me to play in two days being first in the group.
We could have had more rest," Scaloni complained.
The fans are not looking for a break: they just want football.
Subscribe here
to our special newsletter about the World Cup in Qatar
