NZME’s world-renowned football blog Goalmouth Scramble is back. Our rotating stable of football writers will offer daily hot takes on all the action from the World Cup in Qatar. Today, Michael Burgess assesses the mood on the street after Argentina’s shock loss to Saudi Arabia.
It must be hard tobe an Argentina football fan.
They are one of the world’s most revered teams, who have produced some of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
Argentina enjoyed a magical era between 1978-1990, reaching three out of four Fifa World Cup finals, winning two of them.
But in the last three decades the quadrennial tournament has been mostly synonymous with pain and frustration, given their heavyweight status.
Just count ‘em up.
There was Diego Maradona’s drugs expulsion in 1994 — which derailed a promising campaign — before Denis Bergkamp’s extraordinary last minute winner in 1998.
Argentina arrived as tournament favourites in 2002 and were bizarrely eliminated in the pool stages, then lost on penalties to host nation Germany in the 2006 quarter-finals, with Lionel Messi left on the bench.
South Africa (2010) was a mess — with Maradona’s unorthodox management style — and four years ago they lost to eventual champions France 4-2 in one of the games of the tournament, after being a whisker away from being gone during the group phase.
When they did overachieve — reaching the 2014 final — they missed first half chances their strikers would normally bury and went down 1-0 to a formidable German team.
It has already been described as the greatest surprise in Cup history, ahead of a semi-professional United States team stunning England 1-0 in 1950.
Argentina, who were riding a 36-match unbeaten streak, led after 10 minutes and it was the first time since 1930 that the Albiceleste had dropped a World Cup game after being ahead at the break.
Argentina fans watch their team lose to Saudi Arabia. Photo / AP
To assess the mood on the street, the Herald canvassed a couple of resident Argentines.
“We have been here before,” sighed Buenos Aires native Marcus Dodero, who has lived in Auckland since 2007. “This is proof that in the World Cup that anything can happen. But I didn’t think we would lose to Saudi Arabia.”
There was disappointment in Argentina’s apparent inability to adjust to the opposition tactics, as Saudi Arabia compressed the game with an extremely high line.
“They didn’t show any response,” said Dodero, a banking consultant. “It was like ‘we are Argentina’ and that’s it. They destroyed our gameplan.”
The result brought back memories of 1990, when Argentina was shocked by Cameroon in their opening game, though they recovered to reach the final.
“We are hanging on tight to that,” said Dodero, who also pointed to Spain’s triumph in 2010 after first up defeat to Switzerland as reasons for hope.
Lionel Messi has copped plenty of criticism after an indifferent display but Dodero defends the icon.
“It’s sad,” said Dodero. “His last World Cup. This is a really good shot, he’s happy with the coach, happy with everything. He has always played and trained really hard, trying to improve and never said anything. If you think about Messi there has never been any scandal. But we forget all the pressure the guy is under and we want him to win everything. Now the papers are already saying he didn’t play well, he disappeared.”
Like millions of his countrymen around the world, Dodero is braced for a nervous watch on Sunday against Mexico (8am).
“Every game now is going to be like a final,” said Dodero. “They still have a chance but it either makes or breaks the group. There are not many who have played a World Cup before so it will be interesting how they react to the pressure.”
Compatriot Mariano Martinez, who has called West Auckland home for two decades, had a different view on Messi.
“He has been playing really well for his club but last night I saw the same guy that I have been watching at other World Cups,” said Martinez. “The body language, no energy or happiness, losing stupid balls. This time I had great expectations on him like never before. But where was the leadership?”
The reaction in Argentina has been fierce, with questions over the future of coach Lionel Scaloni, who recently inked a new four year deal.
“They were all in love with Scaloni,” said Martinez, who owns a cleaning company. “Now, not so sure. In Argentina it is love or hate. Very emotional.”
Like many fans, Martinez was bemused with Argentina’s tactical approach — “how didn’t they know that Saudi Arabia was going to play so high” — but also full of praise for the middle eastern team.
“They were great,” said Martinez. “They won the battle physically as well. Such a beautiful effort.”
While Argentina are in a difficult position, Group C remains wide open, after Mexico’s 0-0 stalemate with Poland, with Robert Lewandowski missing a second half penalty.
“We got lucky there,” said Martinez. “When the team watched [Guillermo] Ochoa saving that, everything changed. Now it is just one point behind. But there is lots of pressure and changes are coming.”
