A shot that grazed the post, the pain after defeat and the gesture upon receiving the medal: Alejandro Garnacho’s match in the FA Cup final

Alexander Garnacho added significant frustration to his short career by losing the FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley. In what was the first edition of the city classic in a decisive instance of the world’s longest-running tournament, United could not beat their staunch rival who will now go for the treble after winning the Premier League and the imminent dispute of the final of the Champions League next Saturday against Inter Milan. The Argentine was the ace up the sleeve of the Dutchman Erik ten Hag for the complement and was close to changing history.

The naturalized Spanish albiceleste entered at minute 61 for the Danish Christian Eriksen and starred in one of the best plays in the offensive of the Red Devils in the final part. Ten minutes after his entry, the number 49 received from Luke Shaw, combined with Bruno Fernandes and skirted the large area defended by City from left to right to put together the shot with a thread from the outside right. The ball came centimeters from the pipe furthest from the fence of German Stefan Ortega Moreno, who flew but had no chance to intervene.

The Europibe was pure disappointment when he pressed the last loose ball at minute 96 and referee Paul Tierney ended the match when Ortega Moreno had seized the ball. For a few minutes, he remained seated on the grass of the playing field of Wembley, with his head bowed and his arms resting on his knees like several of his companions. It was not for less, since this would have been the second title of his career since United had just won the 2022/2023 League Cup (although in that final with Newcastle he had not had minutes).

It is worth mentioning that the authorities and coaching staff of the Mancunian team refused to give up Garnacho for the Argentine Under 20 team that played in the World Cup in their country and was eliminated in the round of 16 against Nigeria (the same had happened for the South American that was played in Colombia at the beginning of the year). The promise albiceleste He will have his revenge in the coming days when he joins the national contingent led by Lionel Scaloni who will travel to Asia for a friendly tour that will see him in action against Indonesia and Australia. Garnacho’s official debut with Argentina will surely take place there.

With the pain on his back, Garnacho went to the stage where the organizers of the contest and British political figures handed out the trophies and medals. First it was the turn of the players from the Manchester United squad, who shook hands with Sir Alex Ferguson, among others. After receiving the second place medal, the Argentine decided not to hang it around his neck, as did several of his teammates. Thus, chewing anger and being contained by his compatriot Lisandro Martínez, who was dressed in a suit as he is recovering from an injury, got lost in the tunnel on the way to the locker room.

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