With a look of visible happiness, Lionel Messi declared after the victory against Croatia (3-0), which put Argentina in the final of the World Cup, that since the historic underdog in the debut, his selection always knew what to do on the pitch in the Qatar.
It was win or win. The team captain says that the group closed itself off and sought strength to react and win each of the finals that would, and did, lie ahead.
“The group is intelligent, knows how to suffer when it has to suffer”, praised Messi, in praise of his teammates and the coaching staff led by his namesake Lionel (Scaloni), who competently moved the team during the Cup by giving space, for example, for the youth of Enzo Fernández, 21, and Julián Álvarez, 22.
What could be noticed from the first, and perhaps the biggest, surprise of this World Cup –the defeat to Saudi Arabia– was a tenacious and mentally very strong Argentina, always under the technical, and even emotional, leadership of its number 10.
In the campaign of the Brazilian team, these aspects were not clear at any time. It is not possible to say that the Brazilian group was not united to try to win the sixth, but some distractions, with touches of pride, put the focus on questioning by the fans.
Athletes from the national team were one day, during the World Cup, in a luxurious restaurant in Doha, which serves gold-plated meat as one of the dishes, at an excruciating price. It didn’t go well.
Another debatable point were the little dances, rehearsed by the players to celebrate the goals. Striker Raphinha said at the beginning of the Cup that more than ten different performances were already prepared.
An exaggerated optimism, since Brazil’s attack choked most of the time (in 4 of the 5 games) and the team said goodbye to the World Cup without reaching the ten goals expected by the number 11, who spent the Cup himself in white.
Regarding leadership, Neymar, the name of the Brazilian national team, its greatest exponent and hope, was owed, unlike Messi.
Okay, he was injured in the first game and lost the second and third. But he recovered, so much so that he went back into the playoffs, and it’s supposed to be 100%, or close to it, or it would be reckless to go out on the pitch.
Neymar had a decent performance against the punching bag South Korea in the round of 16, however, in the quarterfinals, even having the merit of having scored the goal for Brazil, he seemed at various times unwilling, or without physical capacity, to help with the marking, to “give blood” for the team.
To top it off, on penalties, the best Brazilian hitter opted to stay last in line, and he didn’t even hit, as teammates missed before and the Croatians hit everything. Should the leader pave the way to victory or not?
In Argentina, as far as we know, there was none of that. No ostentatious restaurant, no choreographed celebrations.
And Messi, at 35 years old (5 years older than Neymar), ran all the time, as if each game was his last in a World Cup – and each one could have been.
Brazil, on the other hand, played against Croatia as if it weren’t a final – and it is known that every knockout is.
There was the impression of not having given everything and, after the goal conceded, of discouragement having brutally affected everyone who wore yellow, including the fans in the stadium – the fall on penalties, a dispute that requires more mental strength than physical strength, would be the logical consequence.
Brazil stalled, Argentina fired, full of hunger, pushed incessantly by the blue and white mass of fans – Van Dijk, captain of the Netherlands, said he felt the pressure in the penalty shootout.
The greatest example of the Alviceleste’s energy and will is Julián Álvarez’s dash from his own field to the Croatian area, where he disputed the ball with three opponents until he kept it and sent it to the nets.
Álvarez started the Cup in reserve. He got into the fire, faced adversity, scored goals (there are already four in the Cup), established himself.
He gave an example of race, focus, seriousness and determination, something that in soccer Argentines seem to have in large doses and Brazilians, in scarce doses.
An example for the (next) Brazilian team.
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