Argentina dreams on..
Dreams appear when you are asleep, usually. They are random and they are more often than not the trick of a mind that yearns. But then the evening at the Lusail stadium was nothing like it. Argentina had to dream, it wasn’t asleep, it wasn’t random, the mind in the noisy desert stadium was a willful participant. Lusail tonight was a playground of dreams of more than 40 million Argentinians and also uncountable fans of the Football republic of “Messiland”
It needed him and him alone to keep it alive. Lionel Messi, the universal citizen, was yet again carrying the weights of these daydreams.
Against Saudi Arabia , the men in blue and white seemed going nowhere. The Saudi’s jolted them out of their senses. In the marquee event of the footballing world it is never easy. Argentina had to respond, which is always read as “Messi had to respond.”
It was Mexico they had to contend with. The “El Tri” as the Mexican team is nicknamed, were also playing for everything. It was never going to be easy with the South American’s defensive organization. A bunch of young home grown defenders defended the goal with the unflappable Guillermo Ochoa in the goal. Well into an hour of the match things were not looking great for Argentina. The team looked brittle. The midfield was often left holding the ball without much attacking options being created. The wings were silent, and the match wasn’t going anywhere. Messi was as usual ambling in the field, constantly looking for chances.
Messi does what he does
Then the moment arrived, Messi had the chance to change the course of the and he he did. Not with his usual trickery around the box, but a more direct, flat, and precise drive which left the unflappable Ochoa in the goal, on the ground with the ball bulging the net. He ran off, arms wide, relief more than joy on his face. The team mobbed him, more animated than the man himself. They knew he had done it again. Just like that day in 2014 at Mineirão Stadium, when a curling injury time strike from the magician had given hope.
The crowd had gone hoarse, the blue and white flags danced deliriously in the desert air as a nation’s collective soul came back for the moment from the brink of departure. It had been a match with very little action, listless football at most times, but then this was not about the football being dished out, but about keeping the flickering hopes from being extinguished.
With 3 minutes on the clock, 21-year-old Fernandez, on as a substitute, collected the ball at the edge of the box, drove in, shifted his weight to the left and the ball to his right, and curled it home. The The dream was now truly alive as the foundations of the new stadium were tested for strength by the roar that rose.
Argentina, a perennial favorite at the World Cup, has managed to keep itself in the hunt. It is going to be a tough ride as some of the other biggies like Brazil and France seem to be strong and ticking well.
They have a young team, which needs to show more than it has shown to date.
For the nation, the game, and more than anything else for the gem that sparkles in their midst.
The only missing trophy in his cabinet is still within reach, and Messi and Argentina will hope and pray that this time around the job is done in the cool desert nights in Qatar.
