«For the Malvinas, for Diego, for Leo’s last one», says the song of the albiceleste stands. Messi lives and Argentina lives. The memories of the Azteca, the songs of Maradona and the Malvinas live on. The albiceleste will play against Spain in the World Cup final after winning the emotional and football battle in Atlanta, 40 years after the Azteca, against an England that committed suicide after taking the lead. Messi, with two assists, denied his final in the World Cups, Enzo and Lautaro scored against Pickford and Scaloni’s ‘boys’ will fly to New Jersey to measure glory against Spain.
It was impossible not to constantly travel back to 1986. To a pending discussion for four decades. Football is that whimsical. The ball was the excuse for a duel of emotional mud, especially on the Argentine side, always more sentimental. The songs fueled a first half in which there was no football but rather clashes, shoves, and challenging looks where every divided ball was a matter of national pride. All allowed by referee Elfath who only in the first half punished 19 actions with fouls (there were 23 in total in Spain-France), let many go unpunished and issued two yellows that seemed few.
The mud, the fouls, the hits
Scaloni repeated in the pre-match that «this is a football match, nothing more than that», but the Argentine team took to the Atlanta pitch with an evident emotional load in the midst of a psychological battle. The way they sang the anthem, extraordinarily more aggressive than other days, revealed their intentions. The albiceleste came out to cut the English rhythm and to scare Tuchel’s men with intensity. Hits without the ball, protests at every action, shouts at every play… Everything.
The English seemed to have learned the lesson because they barely responded, unlike Tuchel, desperate on the sidelines due to the referee’s permissiveness. England had a bit more football, a clearer idea of what to do in attack, but went into halftime without clear chances. Argentina, the same. A shot from Enzo from afar was the only dangerous opportunity for the South Americans in the first stretch.
Otherwise, mud, fouls, and some dirty play. Giuliano, starting for the first time in the World Cup, went to the locker room with five fouls committed, demonstrating with actions what Scaloni had asked of him to replace De Paul: intensity, intensity, and more intensity. And if the ‘Cholito’ can offer anything, it is that.
It was the only change by the Argentine coach, while Tuchel made two in defense and one in attack. He put James and Spence on the fullbacks and gave Rogers a chance on the right side instead of Saka. Emery’s pupil at Aston Villa was very active in his area, but the duel died in every clash in midfield, a sensitive trench and an open wound 40 years later.
After the calm of the locker rooms, football began to appear. Both teams put hysteria aside and thought about the ball. Julián took the first shot on goal of the match in the first play of the second half, but Pickford was skillful in deflecting his shot. And there England began to grow, always with Kane as a beacon. The Bayern player understood the situation of the duel and dropped several steps on the field, pivoted on the central axis and served balls to Gordon, Spence, and Rogers on the wings. That’s how the 1-0 came.
The English goal and Tuchel’s mistake
The forward looked for Rogers long, Tagliafico cut the pass but the ball stayed dead for Rice, who looked again for Rogers. Measured cross from the winger and goal by Gordon beating Molina’s back.
The British ecstasy in Atlanta silenced the Argentine stands for a minute, devoted to the cause. And then Messi emerged, quarterback of the albiceleste positional attack against an England locked back too early. Tuchel was wrong, because it was impossible to hold on like that. The ’10’ moved to the right of the attack and began to serve balls with his left, always looking for those diagonals that 10 years ago almost always ended in a goal. He lacks that spark, but in half a fingernail there is more quality than in the rest of the Argentine squad. One of his crosses was headed by Nico González and Pickford saved his country with a prodigious hand.
The entry of De Paul gave him even more room. Mac Allister had two shots hit the post, one with his head and another after a good shot, but Argentina devoured England in the final stretch.
They left behind the emotional war, attacked well and sensibly the English wall supported by a tireless, immense Messi, refusing to say ‘goodbye’ to his World Cup story and asking for one last chance to touch the sky. He assisted Enzo in the equalizer and put a wonderful cross to Lautaro for the 1-2 in the 93rd minute. The same result as in the Azteca exactly 40 years ago. Pure football. Pure destiny. «For the Malvinas, for Diego, for Leo’s last one», says the fans’ song. That’s how it will be on Sunday against Spain.
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