"This victory is a cry that we have long kept in us": in Buenos Aires, the deliverance of the Argentines

It is a blue and white joy that pours with a single cry in the streets of Buenos Aires, and in the four corners of Argentina.

A joy overflowing from this country five times larger than France, whose heart beats historically for football.

A joy at the height of this incredible match, full of upheavals which saw the Argentinians bright, then crestfallen, then again confident, then infinitely tense, angry, on the verge of rupture and finally: happy.

"Messi, Messi", resounds with one voice in this bar in Buenos Aires.

“Dibu, dibu”, the nickname of the goalkeeper, whom the Argentines can thank in particular for his performance during the shots on goal, are also chanted.

Nearby, the streets bitten by the sun, in this quasi-austral summer, remained deserted during the match.

At first timidly, as if no one dared to believe in this victory, the first cars began to honk their horns.

But little by little, a concert of trumpets, songs and cries takes over Buenos Aires.

All walk as one Argentinian, towards the obelisk, the place of all the football thrills in the capital, to celebrate.

"Here, we really need this cup"

A woman throws herself on her back and screams: “My country, my country!

Maria, 42, went through extra time with her hand on her chest, gasping for breath.

She preferred to step aside for the shots on goal: the Argentine supporters, passionate, are also drugged with suffering.

“I am happy for the Argentine people, even if this joy is fleeting, it is there.

And this victory is also for Messi and his last World Cup, ”exclaims the forties, musician.

“But what a way to suffer, it's not possible!

adds Antonela, 26, designer.

Moreover, just before extra time, Maria Eugenia, 42, was screaming: “But it's not fair!

Please, what an injustice!

as if victory should go to the Argentinians.

“It's because the Argentine people are not prepared for defeat.

Here, we really need it, this cut.

We've been waiting for it for thirty-six years.

And then, in France, things are better than here…” said Manuela, a 26-year-old student, at half-time and two goals ahead, which then tinged her voice with confidence.

SCENES IN BUENOS AIRES RIGHT NOW 🇦🇷🥳 pic.twitter.com/I76lUAeQf5

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 18, 2022

So here it is, this cut that unites the Argentines, who constantly recall their daily life tossed about by difficulties: more than 90% inflation, more than a third of poverty and a lack of horizon, breeding ground for their fatalism.

“We are united!

resumes Maria Eugenia”, observing the celebrations.

“This victory is like a cry that we kept inside us for a long time.

This is Argentina: we are unhappy and then simple things make us very, very happy.

»

In front of them, two young women take cumbia steps.

Their soundtrack?

The increasingly loud horns, often pushed by cars carrying passengers seated at the windows, shirtless.

"Lionel Andrés Messi", solemnly declines, Mateo, 21, citing the identity of his player in full.

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On the television screen in front of him, the captain raises the cup.

" So !

He fought, he fell, he kept going and he got there.

He's the best in the world", exults the young man who, like many, places Leo very very high and finally saw the emotion that his elders told him, that of the coronation of 1986. "France had a good team", concedes Cristian, 33… while trying to swallow.

He apologizes: "I have acidity, this match has put me in a state..." He too joins the obelisk in Buenos Aires where a solar roar rises under the blue sky.