High stakes in Andes for Argentina
Argentina arrived under heavy armed guard and intense scrutiny for a World Cup qualifier, high up in the andes against ecuador tomorrow.
Defeat would likely end Lionel Messi’s hopes of lifting a World Cup and see the nation missing from the tournament for the first time since 1970. Yet, at times on their journey to this make-or-break moment, their compatriots have barely managed to watch them.
One of the low points was a 3-0 defeat to Brazil, which left qualification looking like a stretch last november. at half-time, with their team trailing 2-0, millions in that football-obsessed country switched channels to watch the last episode of a Brazilian
mini-series called Moses and the Ten Plagues.
a side which looks a dream team on paper has staggered on, though their pomposity on the night of the Brazil defeat left their personal popularity as low as ever.
the evening ended with the entire team standing po-faced on a platform behind Messi as he declared through a microphone that they would give no interviews because of a radio report that claimed forward ezequiel Lavezzi had smoked marijuana.
‘getting into someone’s personal space is very grave,’ declared Messi.
it contributed to that sense you often get in argentina that the nation feels the players are out of touch. it is far more bitter than sweet between them and the public, with the mass overseas exodus of the best talent one of the reasons why.
‘When the national team is playing, we feel like a First World country,’ said La Nacion football columnist ezequiel Fernandez Moores. ‘then they go off to play for their clubs and leave us alone. We need them but when they leave, we feel they are traitors.’
the antipathy that can be felt towards the players is compounded by what will, by next year, be 25 years of hurt for the Albiceleste.
the 1993 Copa america is the last trophy they won. Losing in finals has subsequently become their equivalent to england failing in penalty shoot-outs. Since Mexico ’86, argentina have been defeated in the finals of two World Cups and three Copa americas.
‘We are one of those Sigmund Freud countries, like england,’ said Moores. ‘it is a psychological affliction now. You can see that in the players’ faces.’
there is a running national post-mortem, with the governing body part of the problem. the administration of the argentinian game has been chaotic, with the nation’s Fa plunged under emergency FiFa control.
in his book about the game in argentina, Angels with Dirty
Faces, Jonathan Wilson states that 1,869 argentinians were playing professionally abroad in 2015, leaving third World club standards behind.
the nation sits sixth in the 10-team South american qualifying section, with only the top four countries qualifying for russia automatically and the fifth-placed side facing a play-off against new Zealand.
But the compact nature of the standings means six nations go into the final round of fixtures still boasting a chance of joining already-qualified Brazil in securing a top-four berth.
argentina will guarantee their place if they beat already eliminated ecuador and other results go their way.
they have not won since 2001 at Olimpico atahualpa in the ecuadorian capital Quito — one of the highest stadiums in the world. Messi has never experienced victory with his national team there.
‘this is football, sometimes it gives and sometimes it takes away,’ said coach Jorge Sampaoli. ‘Sometimes you deserve something but do not win. the team is angry. there is a conviction that strikes me very much.’
the argentinian Ministry of Health has recommended that the television audience at home should avoid certain foods and drinks to lower risks of heart problems over the 90 minutes.
it is encouraging those watching on television to take ‘active pauses’ during the game — standing up, moving their arms and legs and walking around at half-time.
it will be an accomplishment for Sampaoli if the population remain tuned in.