Лионель Мессигээр удирдуулсан Аргентины шигшээ баг 0:2-ын харьцаатай хожигдож явсан тоглолтыг эргүүлж, шөвгийн 16-д үлдэх эрхээ авлаа.
Атлантад болсон тус тоглолтод Египет 79 дэх минут хүртэл хоёр гоолын давуутай тэргүүлж, Аргентиныг тэмцээнээс хасагдах эрсдэлд оруулсан юм. Тоглолтын явцад Лионель Месси торгуулийн цохилт алдаж, Египетийн хаалгач Мостафа Шобир олон удаагийн аюултай цохилтыг хааснаар Аргентины довтолгоог зогсоож байв. Аргентины дасгалжуулагч Лионель Скалони Лаутаро Мартинез, Нико Гонзалезийг талбайд гаргаж тактикаа өөрчилсөн ч Египет сөрөг довтолгоогоор дахин нэг гоол оруулсан ч шүүгч оффсайд болон алдааны улмаас тооцсонгүй.
Тоглолтын төгсгөлийн 10 минутад Аргентин гайхамшигтай эргэн ирэлт хийж, эхлээд Мессигийн дамжуулалтаар Кристиан Ромеро гоолдож, удалгүй Месси өөрөө тооны харьцааг тэнцүүлсэн юм. Тоглолтын нэмэлт цагт Леандро Паредес хамгаалалтын чухал таслалт хийсний дараа Лаутаро Мартинезийн дамжуулалтаар Энцо Фернандез ялалтын гоолыг оруулснаар Аргентин 3:2-оор хожлоо.
Тоглолтын дараа Лионель Скалони болон Лионель Месси нар сэтгэл хөдлөлөө барьж дийлэлгүй нулимс унагасан байна. Аргентины дасгалжуулагч хөлбөмбөгийн тоглолтоос мэдрэх энэхүү сэтгэл хөдлөлийг юутай ч зүйрлэшгүй гэж онцолсон бол Месси багийнхныхаа гаргасан хичээл зүтгэлийг гайхалтай хэмээн тодотголоо.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
There was a famous study by the World Health Organisation a decade ago. The city of Buenos Aires, it found, had disproportionately high number of therapists; 222 per 100,000 people. The US, in comparison, had 30.
When you watch Argentina play, you can understand why. After every game, you need to talk to someone. You have to share what you’ve been through. “Am I losing my mind? Is this normal? How do I cope?” One minute you’re on the floor. Down and depressed. The next you’re in heaven. Euphoric. The adrenaline. The dopamine. It’s a natural psychedelic. It’s no surprise Argentines follow their team everywhere. This is more than patriotism. It’s an addiction. Everyone tells you it’s not healthy. You know you should stop. But nothing has made you feel this way before and you crave that feeling again and again and again.
The feeling hit hard in Atlanta. The champions looked out. Another shock was on the cards. After Cape Verde took Argentina to extra-time in Miami, Egypt left them contemplating a round of 16 exit. Two-nil down as late as the 79th minute Opta’s win probability model gave Argentina just a 0.6% chance of a comeback. They needed a miracle. Another one. La Scaloneta, as Lionel Scaloni’s tenure is known, appeared over. Requiems were being written for Lionel Messi’s World Cup career.
Argentina had been stunned by Egypt (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It had been one of those days for the Albiceleste. The kind when nothing goes your way. After Argentina fell behind, Messi missed a penalty. Egypt’s goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir made one save, then another including a point blank header from Alexis MacAllister. He looked unbeatable. When Scaloni tried to change things replacing Rodrigo de Paul and Nicolas Tagliafico with Lautaro Martinez and Nico Gonzalez, Egypt, almost instantly, found a second goal with a sweeping breakaway. Fortunately for Argentina, referee Francois Letexier was called for an on-field review and disallowed the goal for a foul on Lisandro Martinez. To their credit this didn’t discourage Egypt. They sensed vulnerability in Argentina’s hysteria and scored a second anyway.
Immediately afterward, Messi looked to the sky and grimaced. When Lautaro missed a chance he created at the near post, Messi fell, chest down on the grass. Crestfallen. After playing 120 minutes only four days ago, and scraping past Cape Verde with an own-goal, you would have been forgiven for thinking they had nothing left.
Wrong. Argentina are loco. Just when you think they are out, they pull themselves back in. It was like this in Qatar four years ago. Games played on a knife edge. Knock-out ties going to the death. Shootouts to decide the quarter-final against the Netherlands and the final against France. It can all drive you insane. But in the midst of this madness is a genius.
Argentina famously came back. It was so out there, Tom Brady even posted on X: “So that might top 28-3” in Superbowl LI when he led the Patriots to another Vince Lombardi Trophy against Atlanta’s Falcons from a record third-quarter deficit. On this occasion there were only 10 minutes left on the clock. First Messi crossed for Cuti Romero to nod past Shobeir. Then Messi smashed one in off the bar. The destiny of the game had been set. But Messi, as all the greats do, bent it to his will.
Messi celebrates after inspiring a remarkable comeback (Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
Remarkably, Egypt could have won it at the end. Leandro Paredes made an outstanding last ditch tackle in a one-v-one situation to prevent his team conceding again and going out. The game, at that stage, seemed bound for extra-time. It didn’t get that far. Deep into stoppage time, Lautaro crossed for Enzo Fernandez and the Argentines were delirious. Scaloni covered his face in shock. They’d done it again.
“The feelings you get, the emotions you get off a football match, especially for us Argentinians,” Scaloni said. “Is comparable to nothing else. That we are recreating these emotions is something unbelievable. I am a coach for moments like this. We are not yet in a final or anything, but the calibre of what we saw today is comparable to many things that we’ve experienced.”
Not for the first time he shed a tear. “I am always emotional,” Scaloni admitted. “Sometimes when you saw some tears, apparently in some footage they call me the crybaby, but it’s fine.”
Messi also broke down, bursting into tears after the full-time whistle. When he dried his eyes, he said: “It was crazy what this group did in this knock-out round.”
Upon reflection, you have to say this has been the World Cup of crazy. It’s a “one normal day of Barclays” meme adapted for the greatest tournament of all. We can’t get enough. We want more experiences like England at the Azteca or Belgium being 2-0 down with five minutes to go against Senegal, not to mention Paraguay eliminating Germany. We want less about visas being revoked, kick-offs being changed only to be kept the same, and red cards overturned. The mind can only be blown so many times in six weeks.
Argentina incarnate this way of living. They channel it. Embrace it. Now everyone else is catching it.
We all may need a lie down. Where’s the number for one of those therapists in Buenos Aires?
