On July 13, my favorite futbol team, Argentina was playing a final match at the World Cup against Germany. It was the first time in 24 years that Argentina was able to get into the finals. I was thrilled to be able to be in the host country and host city for this great occasion.
As I took subway and then walked to the "Fan Zone" (where 2 very large screens were set up to show the game at the famous Copacabana beach), I saw many Argentinans filling up the city of Rio de Janeiro. There were a lot of them that came on the day of the final to support "la albiceleste". Most of them seems to have arrived via a car or road transportation, since not everyone was able to afford a plane ticket.
The "Fan Zone" was packed, really packed, and there were an overwhelming numbers of Argentinans and very few Germans. I was excited to be in this ambient, but also nervous about the game.
The game starts and many Argentinan cheers were heard (some of them a bit insulting against the Germans). The game is very tight defensively. Argentina is careful on the defense (to avoid the 7-1 disaster that Brazil had) and Germany is also paying careful attention towards Messi. As the game goes by, we can see Germany trying but not able to do anything against a well guarded Argentina. Meanwhile, Argentina goes on counter attacks, and is generating much more danger.
And yeah... Higuain misses a clear chance against Germany, and as well Messi has a one-on-one but the shot goes barely out. A offside goal that was annulled. My heart beat skips a couple of seconds during those plays. Still many Argentinan fans continue cheering and believing.
On second half, Germany generates a bit more chance; a corner kicks that hits the post, accelerating heart beats of the Argentinans. As the time goes by, Argentina seems to attack less and less, while Germany was given freedom to take the initiative, but without really causing any imminent danger.
Extra time starts... tough times as this increases the nervousness exponentially, and my legs were starting to give up after standing for more than 2 hours. Mario Goetze goes into the field instead of the record-breaker Klose.
When there was less than 10 minutes remaining, the only mistake made by the Argentinan defense allowed Goetze to be free in the inside area and deliver a very nice finish that shattered the Argentinan dream. The mood changed completely at the beach, from cheerfulness to gloominess. I felt that a bucket of cold water was poured into me. It was killer.
We realized that at the point, Argentina was lacking strength to make a comeback.
In a matter of a few minutes, we had to leave the beach because many people just started running and leaving (probably some Argentinan people got rowdy). As I saw from a afar that Germans were celebrating, I knew the score was set.
- Messi:
- Many people heavily criticized Messi after the game because he barely showed up in the final. I agree partly that he could have been more influential, but what affected him the most was the Argentinan tactical system. Messi usually enjoys partnering with forwards to generate danger, but Argentina moved to a more defensive formation, so Messi was left pretty much alone, while everyone in the world is expecting him to do great magic.
- Defensive formation:
- Many people wondered why Argentina has to play so defensively when they have an arsenal of offensive players at their disposal. I think it is a strategy chosen to approach this very short tournament, where if one small mistake is made, it can cost the entire tournament. So Argentina aimed to play it safe, which allowed them to get in the finals. But the main issue is that this system depended too much on Angel Di Maria (since he is fast, can dribble, can shoot) but he got injured on Quarterfinals.
- Germany:
- Germany is the fair winner of the tournament mainly due to its regularity. But in the final match they had much difficulty to deal with Argentina.
Insights:
I was pretty sad after the game, and it took me like a month to come to accept that Argentina lost the match (I am a fan after all).
Argentina has always been my favorite team since I start following futbol. It started all the way back in 1994, when the World Cup was held in the US, and the second game that I watched in TV was Argentina vs. Greece. And the game ended 4-0 in favor of the Argentinans with a great offensive display. This is when I "feel in love" with Argentina.
Since that time, I have been an Argentinan fan and to the point that I almost consider it as my 2nd or 3rd nationality haha.
I was able to speak with several Argentinans during the trip, especially since most of the people from the hostel in Rio were from Argentina. It's really cool to see a group of people who cheer for the same team, but also that they are really loyal supports of the national team. Despite any criticism or shortcomings on the national team, these fans really taught me how to be loyal in the good times and in the bad times (there were times when I was not very sure that Argentina will made it to the finals because they were kind of sloppy in the first round, and also depended too much on Messi).
Changing gears, I have been Christians for almost 15 years, and it has been a great journey of joy and growth. But also there has been rough times when there is a lack of motivation to live as a follow of Christ. There have been disappointments, defeats, and struggles, and to be honest sometimes it is so easy to want to give up.
Definitely, Christianity is not about always been happy and be problem-free, but actually it is a road that will be marked with suffering, since our master Christ also suffered. There will be "good" times and "bad" times, but the joy for the Lord should not be dependent on these external factors. We should remember that the earth is our temporal home, and that there is an eternal dwelling waiting for us. Let us persevere in Him, because we know He is faithful even when we are not.
"If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself." - 2 Timothy 2:11-13
