Six years ago, in mid-November, Peru woke up united and drunk. Their soccer team had qualified for a World Cup after nearly four decades of waiting, and for one night we stopped being the divided city on the edge of nowhere in perpetual crisis.
We surrender to ecstasy without shame. We clink glasses with strangers. We fulfill bets. And we merged in an unrepeatable embrace. The feat spawned a series of books, a handful of films and commercials, and monstrous T-shirt sales. Midday magazines became sports shows, and sports shows finally had something new to offer. We no longer live in the past, like those who long for a single trip, a single job or a single great love.
In Russia 2018, the team went home with three points in the first round, which didn’t taste too bad: defeats against Denmark and France by the narrowest of margins and a win against Australia. But the consolation was that the Peruvian touch of walls and dribbling was present in every game. The dream continued the following year when Argentine Ricardo Gareca’s team reached another milestone: appearing in a Copa América final after 44 years. We didn’t win the gold medal against Brazil in the Maracana, but we were seen differently on the continent. A feeling closer to admiration and further away from compassion.
In 2022 we woke up to a shock: the playoff against Australia was lost and with it the opportunity to take part in a World Cup for the second time in a row. But despite the bitterness – and a shocking silence that spread across the country after the penalty shootout failure – the consensus on the streets was that Gareca and his technical command should carry on. Agustín Lozano, president of the Peruvian Football Federation, didn’t believe this and managed to get through some rudeness.
He was succeeded by Juan Reynoso, a Peruvian coach with multiple national titles who won the Mexican League title with Cruz Azul in 2021, ending a 23-year drought without winning a title. Although his resume showed more than one brush with the press, he seemed to be the one. The fans who favored him back then are now demanding his head.
With the defeat against Bolivia in La Paz, Peru was once again at the bottom of South America. The table position in the qualification is harmless: last with one point, four defeats and zero goals. According to statistician Mister Chip, this is the first team in the history of South American football to start the tournament without scoring a goal in their first five games. And as we all know, a goal is a celebration and a relief. It is the pinnacle of this sport, invented to sublimate wars and forget worries for a while.
La Blanquirroja is not only the oldest team in the playoffs, with an average age of over 29, but is also cowardly in attack and weak in defense. It took him 571 minutes to score his first shot on goal, thanks to a header from the masked Lapadula in the 43rd minute of the first half against Bolivia. Peruvian football, a cultivator of touch and unnecessary luxury, excelled at providing spectacle even at its worst moments. Even that was taken away from him. Seeing Reynosos Peru is torture: it’s neither stunning nor efficient. And besides, he lost his rebellion. But above all, he lost contact with the people. The relationship has broken down and there seems to be no turning back.
In the last ten South American qualifiers, Peru finished bottom of the table three times: 90 against Italy, 94 against the USA and 2010 against South Africa. In the latter, they only won three games and conceded 34 goals. Thanks to Bolivia, we finished ninth out of ten places at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. When it comes to football, we have long been grateful for the existence of this country, with which we share, among other things, Titicaca, chubby cheeks and a national background. Today, Bolivia, which shouted “Olé” to us in Hernando Siles de la Paz, is the one that values our presence. Peru is the absolute end of the neighborhood. This Tuesday, with Venezuela burning, only a miracle is possible. The bladder was punctured. We have returned to the old normal.
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