World Cup Qatar 2022: Argentina lost after three years and could not reach Italy’s record

There is no doubt who is the leader of the Argentine National Team, neither on nor off the field, Lionel Messi, whose name was displayed on every step, on every banner, on every fan; a global figure who transcends borders, colors and teams, who, 13,300 kilometers from his country, also caught the spotlight at the Lusail stadium, today insufficient to avoid the failure of his team, who threw a streak of three years and four months, of 36 invincible games, in five minutes, in a general capsize, in the World Cup in Qatar 2022.

It was three years and four months without a single defeat for Argentina, since July 2019, since the semifinals of the Copa América 2019 against Brazil, in a tour that proposed him as one of the firmest favorites for the title in Qatar 2022: 25 wins and 11 draws. They had won eight of their last nine games, the most recent five without a single goal against, with 19 in favor, three of them precisely against Italy in the ‘Finalissima’ on June 1, until, suddenly, five minutes and two goals changed everything for Argentina.

He has not managed to balance the 37 unbeaten duels that the ‘Azzurra’ achieved between 2018 and 2021has unleashed some unknown doubts, between the gesture of disbelief on the bench of his own coach, Lionel Scaloni, in a bump whose consequences will depend on the next two clashes, on whether or not he is capable of winning Mexico and Poland, much more strong on paper than Saudi Arabia, which enlarged its story against one of the ‘big’.

Argentina had not lost its first game in a World Cup since 1990, when it fell to Cameroon. He had won six of the last seven starts in the tournament, which aroused the highest expectations in recent times in the group led by Lionel Scaloni until the 1-2 Against, they found Argentina again with a very harsh reality, even after taking advantage of a more than disputed penalty, which would never have been such, except in the days of VAR, which also annulled two goals for offside against Argentina.

A hold of the kind that happens all the time from a corner kick was an unexpected maximum penalty for everyone, including, perhaps, even Leandro Paredes, the man brought down on a corner by Saud Abdulhamid. He launched it subtle, with his left, Messi to add his 92nd goal in his 166 games with Argentina, since his debut 17 years ago; a lifetime that includes five World Cups. Another record, the umpteenth. And they still await more.

Because, beyond defeatalso rounded up to 20 his matches in the World Cup, already at the level of Javier Mascherano in the second position of the historical classification, in which he is only surpassed by Diego Armando Maradona, with 21with the memory also of his impressive football, of the unique quality of a great footballer, when Argentina took to the field of the Lusail stadium.

“He was born in a village, it was God’s wish; to grow and survive, to humble expression, face adversity, eager to earn a living at every step…”, sounded ‘La Mano de Dios’ by ‘Potro’ Rodrigo at full volume through the public address system of the imposing Lusail stadium, north of Doha, with a capacity for 88,000 spectators (it was not full) and dyed in the colors of the ‘albiceleste’, whose presence was the majority in the stands, more than any other fans that have become evident in the matches played so far in this World Cup.

Maradona represents the last time he conquered the world, in the 1986 World Cup in MexicoArgentina, so far from such success today in the indoor microclimate of the Lusail stadium -in a perfect temperature for soccer practice, nothing to do with the midday heat on the outskirts of the field-, so alien to its level, so devoid of of his status as favorite, so in doubt at the first change, at the beginning of an adventure that demands a much better level.