A victory of will and Messi “en modo D10S”, in divine Maradona mode. Argentina overpowered the Netherlands in the wild quarterfinals. So they could also overcome Vice World Champion Croatia.
It’s already a very good World Cup for Argentina. With a win in the semi-finals against runners-up Croatia, she could already become legendary, and then, possibly against defending champions France, the crowning glory. Superstar Lionel Messi may have played his last spring, his partner Ángel “Engelchen” di Maria is fit again for the penultimate game in Qatar, and midfielder Rodrigo de Paul is running smoother again.
But the most important thing for the Albiceleste are these emotions, which also suppress and ignore moral worries about the tournament in Qatar: this will, also driven by perceived injustices, which apparently welds the team together. The media at home only briefly criticized the behavior of Messi and colleagues in the big quarter-final clash against the Netherlands. Since then, euphoria about the team performance and Diego Maradona, who is still present, has dominated in a different form.
“More than ever, Messi embodies the spirit of Maradona,” says an author in “La Nación”. This means more than just the 10, or that Messi is the central figure who, at 35, like Maradona, now also combines physical explosiveness with playmaking creativity. It’s about Messi’s character and thus also the team, which has changed because the number 10 no longer hangs his head after failed moves or tricks, but continues to advance. When in doubt, a little dirty – and always with emotions. Using anger as a fuel. Just like “D10S” used to be, the god of the 10s.
Meanwhile, the meme machine on the Rio de la Plata is running at full speed as always, for example with Messi’s saying “Andá p’allá, bobo”, “Go back where you came from, stupid”, in the direction of the Dutch double goalscorer Wout Weghorst. There is also merchandise to buy with it. Another shows Bart Simpson with glasses for the blind, who is supposed to show the unloved referee at fouls by the Dutch. The memes and media represent well the feeling that prevails among those you talk to in Buenos Aires. Not clean, but what do we care when it’s the result that counts? We prevailed.
Ironically, isn’t Argentina a bit like Germany before 2006? After the games of the DFB-Elf, did anyone talk so much about the way? With physicality, will, scratching and biting, and rare but surgical moments that ultimately led to success when it went to penalties.
In the Argentinian press, the quarter-finals against the Netherlands is also praised as a great victory of will and with the necessary aggressiveness to overcome the opponents who have gone wild. Their number 4, for example, Captain Virgil von Dijk should have seen a red card after his body check! Then the last free kick that brought Oranje the equalizer might not have happened at all. Why wasn’t Weghorst sent off with yellow and red after his check against Messi in midfield?
The numerous pack formations, according to the felt majority opinion, were mainly caused by the Dutch bank. In the penalty shoot-out, Dutch players attacked the Argentinian shooters to influence them. And the Spanish referee, according to Argentine players, even insulted the players of the Albiceleste on the pitch. And so it is felt that what had to be done to win was done: hold up. The Argentinian goalkeeper said after the game that the referee really wanted the Dutch to score. Weghorst scored it in the 90 11th minute with a surprising free kick variant.
The previous time Argentina advanced in a World Cup penalty shoot-out was at Brazil 2014, also against the Netherlands – only to meet Germany in the final that followed. Anyway, Germany, that’s a hot topic in Argentina. There was, for example, Argentina’s missed penalty in the 1990 final when Lothar Matthäus fouled, and then Germany’s gift against them when Völler fell. But what is most memorable is the trio of tears: failed in the 2006 quarter-finals by Germany. Swept off 4-0 by Joachim Löw’s dynamic generation in South Africa four years later, despite Messi and Maradona on the sidelines.
And then in 2014, when Manuel Neuer’s fist defense and his knee check against Gonzalo Higuaín’s face went unpunished. Instead: free kick for Germany. “He almost kills him!” the Argentine television commentator complained at the time. “It’s a penalty, nothing else.” Almost at the end of extra time, Mario Götze hit the Albiceleste in the heart, and Germany got the cup again. They are traumas that are burned into the collective football memory as if they happened yesterday.
The victory in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands also gave the Argentines hope because the game was reminiscent of the past. Like at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, when – also the Germans – were overwhelmed with 3:2 in the final. The run of the game: A reassuring Argentina 2-0 up to the 74th minute, Germany’s equalizer within six minutes, and then a moment from Maradona who passed Jorge Burruchaga in the 83rd minute, just ahead of Toni Schumacher enforced.
The course of the game for the semi-finals against Croatia: A big moment from the playmaker is enough for the lead, a penalty (without VAR!) transforms the 10 in a playful way. Messi retaliates in front of the party for a slur by Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, then puts his hands to his ears in the direction of his bench as if to say: “Now what do you say?” Then all hell broke loose. Argentina won anyway.
One difference from before was: The extremely heated duel took place in front of countless cameras, monitored from the side, from the air, by technical aids and the video referee. The VAR gives the feeling that everything is measurable to the millimeter, punishable, under control; that penalties are awarded that used to belong in the realm of football fables; is determined from above, which has already begun with the corrupt allocation of the tournament. And all this combined with the lasting sterility of the competitions in times of Corona.
Argentina and the Netherlands ignored that sentiment and opted for wild football. It has been proven that it still exists at the top level. And now? Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said of the opposition and their quarter-finals: “Some moments there were behaviors that didn’t have much to do with football. I hope that doesn’t happen in our case.” Hope often doesn’t help, emotions can never be ruled out. And this proud anger about the felt injustices of the past, it should play along with the Argentines this time too.