Again ? Yes again ! The football world champions played their first match since their coronation in Qatar, at home, at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires on Thursday March 23 and their public, generous and bubbling throughout the world, was there again. A friendly match, against Panama who still resisted well, until the opener in the 78th minute and a goal from Thiago Almada, a handful of minutes on his counter in the world. And above all, a goal from captain Lionel Messi, the 800th of his career. A magnificent free kick in the skylight which set the Monumental ablaze.
“It’s a party for us, we wanted to see the players for real, because they are so good, not only at the sporting level but also human, all this respect, this sense of collective: we have a lot to learn from ‘them as a country,’ says Laura, 53, an accountant. However, she has to content herself with seeing her idols on a screen, from one of the most football-loving bars, “Locos por el fútbol” (crazy football), in Buenos Aires, a few kilometers from the stadium where “the selection”. She, her husband and two teenage children logged on to the online sales site the day some of the 83,000 tickets went on sale.
But they were assigned to a virtual queue: between 600,0000 and 900,0000 places. In total, almost two million people tried to get a seat. Journalists too. More than 130,000 accreditation requests were issued, an unprecedented number. “We would love to be able to receive everyone but we would need two stadiums, just for the journalists”, tweeted “Chiqui” Tapia, the president of the Argentine football association.
So, wherever they are, a little over three months after their team’s victory in the final against France, the fans are trying to prolong the emotion. In front of the “crazy football” bar, they throw “Messi” intermittently, sing the world anthem “Muchachos”, get enthusiastic when a bus brings its support with a salvo of horns. Obviously, these are not the same chills as in December. But whatever. “This match remains a moment of reunion and joy for us, it is linked to great cultural satisfaction,” smiles Prospero, a 48-year-old lawyer. A little further, Constanza wears the Argentina jersey with its three stars, for the three cups won, in 1978, 1986 and 2022. “It’s what I’ve always wanted, since I was a kid”, said the 21-year-old student, accompanied by her sister, also wearing the Argentinian jersey. “Today is the opportunity to receive Messi in his native country, which has criticized him so much, and to say thank you to him,” adds Donatella, 24, a student.
On December 20, the day the players came to greet their fans in Buenos Aires, she was working. In any case, like many of the approximately five million people who had flocked to the initial route of the Albiceleste bus, she would surely not have been able to see him. In an organizational mess, overwhelmed by the crowd, the players ended up taking another path and then being evacuated by helicopter.
“Messi is living his happiest days”
This friendly match was thus an opportunity for a more serene reunion. Concerts and fireworks punctuated the event. Several hours before the meeting, the fans were already singing their love for the players with percussion, around the stadium. After the match, they applauded the coach, Lionel Scaloni, renewed until the 2026 World Cup. The face bathed in tears, he again affirmed the special connection with the fans: “all that is thanks to you and for you “. The players exulted in the round, accompanied by the chants of the supporters, before taking a tour of the stadium. Captain Lionel Messi spoke, more fulfilled and well in his crampons than ever.
“Messi lives his happiest days, in his native country, surrounded by excessive love”, enthused this week the Clarin newspaper, after the player was cheered by a tide of fans while dining in a grill restaurant in Buenos Aires. And the newspaper, to underline the contrast between the criticisms in France, after a new defeat with PSG, and the devotion in Argentina. Thursday, March 23, Lionel Messi wanted to emphasize how fleeting victories are and urged his audience “to take advantage of the third star”. A lesson in hedonism that Argentines carry with them, accustomed to economic and social instability: in the storm, when they can, they seek parenthesis. This is the case of Agustina, 31, amazed at the match: “The World Cup gave us joy and put us on an equal footing, and that we want to keep in us”.
