When Maximiliano Bagnasco conjures up his works of art in the middle of society, people in Buenos Aires stop and pull out their mobile phones. “I painted the first mural of Messi lifting the trophy. Then the media from all over the world started reporting about it,” says the Argentine street artist in an interview with the FAZ Bagnasco’s works reflect the Argentine attitude to life. He has been in constant use since Lionel Messi and Co. triumphed at the World Cup.
In the meantime, league operations have also started in the country of the world champions – without the big stars. After all, the world champions play in Europe. Nevertheless, there is still great enthusiasm in the country of the world champions, you can feel it in the stadiums. Pictures of Messi with the World Cup trophy greet you everywhere from apartment windows, cafés and kiosks, and not just in Buenos Aires. Messi’s golden moment is about to succeed Diego Maradona’s magic of the 1980s.
The head of the Argentine Football Association, Claudio Fabian Tapia, known as “Chiqui”, shot the bird a few days ago. He circulated a clip via Twitter in which he quickly declared Messi the Messiah. Exactly one month after the World Cup final victory over France, Tapia released the 96-second video, which has since been viewed by more than two million people. “We choose to believe,” Tapia wrote underneath. Messi is now a messiah, perhaps that’s why the Argentine central bank wants to have the likeness of the world champion captain printed on new banknotes in a country plagued by constant inflation, which are worth either 5,000 or 10,000 pesos.
Regarding the corresponding rumors in the social networks, the current head of the central bank, Silvina Batakis, said that in principle it is also conceivable that Messi or the national team could be immortalized on possible new banknotes. They are connected to the hearts of Argentines.
Everyday life in the Argentine league is currently rather mixed because routine is returning. That means a game marathon in a bloated league with live broadcasts almost every day. Brilliant in the league is Martin Demichelis, who has been on the sideline at River Plate since the start of the season and is off to a solid start with two wins in three games. The Argentinian media are following him closely, since he is returning from Europe. Demichelis was last active in the substructure of FC Bayern. For him, the job at River Plate is not only a return to old roots, but also the first test on the big football stage. Morals are rough in Argentinian football, whoever succeeds here will go his way as a coach.
Street artist Bagnasco: “When we say God to Maradona or Messiah to Messi, we don’t mean something religious”
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Image: EPA
Meanwhile, the Argentine Football Association is also looking to the future. The next big goal is the 2030 World Cup in their own country, alongside Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. Argentina’s professional football needs a general overhaul in its infrastructure – not in its youth work and sporting creativity. Many stadiums are dilapidated and often laboriously renovated. That’s exactly what sometimes makes Argentinian football so charming: its originality is unique in the world. New, fully formatted stadiums based on FIFA standards could destroy this football culture.
“When we say God to Maradona or Messiah to Messi, we don’t mean something religious,” says street artist Bagnasco. “We are then talking about something unattainable. Of course we idolize people, in this case we do it with Messi, Maradona, our best players.” But all of that is also a way of life, because it is part of Argentine culture to go to the stadium, to watch the games, to see the team support.
“They pass this attitude on with their family from generation to generation across the districts. Every neighborhood has a team and many have it tattooed on their faces, many want it on murals and many want it in their blood.” Argentina have now had three years to make the most of this enthusiasm.
