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BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Like many Latin Americans, Jimmy Becerra rolls his eyes when it comes to Argentina.
The clichés about the South American country – and above all its football fans – have been passed on over generations in this country, including in Becerra’s family: the Argentines are arrogant, said the 35-year-old Uber driver. They think they are superior to the rest of their continent. In football he said: they are unbearable.
But at this World Cup, none of that matters to him. He’s in full swing for Argentina.
Well – at least for Messi.
“It’s time for him to win one,” Becerra said. “He’s not just a great player. He seems like a great guy. …
“He doesn’t seem to be Argentinian.”
Now, with Argentina taking on France in Sunday’s final, its biggest star is rallying Latin Americans to cheer for a country they love to hate.
One reason: You no longer have any options. Colombia, Chile and Peru didn’t make it through this year’s tournament. Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Uruguay failed to advance through the group stage. Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Still, it wasn’t easy. Argentina’s national football team – two-time world champions – has long divided the continent, evoking a mixture of admiration, anger and resentment Jealousy. But in what is likely to be the last World Cup for 35-year-old Lionel Messi, the Argentina captain somehow pierces long-held concerns in the region about the country.
“People don’t seem to know what to do,” said Antonio Casale, a Colombian radio station. “They don’t want Argentina to win, but they want Messi to win.”
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It’s a complicated mix of feelings that transcends the sport, said historian Martín Bergel of the University of Buenos Aires, “an ambivalence somewhere between fascination and repulsion.”
Many Argentines resent the stereotypical portrayal, based on a caricatural simplification of the wealthy, allegedly arrogant porteño, or Buenos Aires resident – a trope derided in Argentina itself.
The origins of the image are difficult to determine. But Bergel suspects they can be traced back to the 19th century, to prominent Argentines like Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. The president and prominent writer, who is credited with modernizing the country’s education system, “was arrogant,” Bergel said, “and had an almost prophetic vision of what Argentina could be.”
At the beginning of the 20th century, Argentina was an economic powerhouse, larger and wealthier than Canada, and Buenos Aires was a cultural and intellectual center on par with London and Paris. and development of icons from the tanguero Carlos Gardel to the architect César Pelli to the writer Jorge Luis Borges.
Argentina has long been regarded by Latin Americans as one of the whiter countries in the region. Unlike Brazil, which has at least rhetorically embraced its multiracial heritage, Argentina is seen as composed of and largely dominated by people of white, European descent (a picture that does not include the country’s indigenous and mestizo populations).
Today, in the midst of economic and political crises – Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was convicted of corruption this month and sentenced to six years in prison – Argentina’s present is very different from its golden era. But the stereotypes persist – especially when it comes to international football matches.
Home of football greats Diego Maradona and Messi, Argentina was imprisoned bitter rivalry with Brazil, Latin America’s other football giant, the most successful team in World Cup history with five league titles. The teams play against each other every year. The game is called Superclásico de las Americas.
2014, when Argentina advanced to At the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, Argentina fans did not restrain their jubilant pride at playing for the title on Brazilian soil. “Brazil, tell me how it feels,” chanted the Argentines, “having your daddy in your house?”
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Not surprisingly, Argentina found little support from their Brazilian hosts this year.
“It was unthinkable for Argentina to win a trophy on Brazilian soil,” said Americas Editor-in-Chief Brian Winter Quarterly. “They believed that the Argentines would be unbearable for decades or centuries to come and they threw it over their heads.”
This time, according to Winter, is “clearly different”. He has noticed a surge of support for Argentina, partly out of appreciation for Messi and partly in the hope that La Albiceleste can bring the trophy back to South America after four straight European victories. “This solidarity seems strong enough to overcome the fear that Argentines will brag and rule over everyone for decades to come!”
In a recent poll, Argentina was the top pick among Brazilians who would win in Qatar if Brazil didn’t. A Spanish newspaper called it “an unthinkable fandom”.
“It’s not about Argentina. It’s about Messi,” said Guga Chacra, a commentator for Brazil’s GloboNews, who has lived in Argentina for years and even has a dog named Messi. “Besides, he’s a genius, he’s this normal guy. … His head is always down like he has all of Argentina on his back.”
Added to this is Argentina’s opponent on Sunday. France have defeated Brazil three times in World Cup match, once in the final. Brazil is the last country to win two World Cups in a row, in 1958 and 1962, when Pelé lit up the pitch. The Brazilians certainly don’t want 2018 champions Les Bleus to achieve the feat, Chacra said.
Still, there are holdovers, even beyond Messi’s reach.
Eliezer Budasoff, an Argentinian editor at El País offices in Mexico City, believed that at least some Mexicans would support the Latin American team if Argentina played the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. He was wrong. When Argentina scored their first goal, he was the only one in the Mexico City bar to jump from his seat and cheer. Everyone else cheered for the Netherlands.
When the game went to a penalty shootout, a Friend grabbed him: “Let’s get out of here.”
“If it wasn’t for him,” Budasoff said, “I probably could have gotten beaten up.”
Budasoff has been trying all week to turn his colleagues in his Mexico City office into supporters of Argentina, with mixed success. Carolina Mejia, a 27-year-old photographer and video editor, cheers for France. Argentina’s team is “arrogant,” she said. “They play in this very individualistic way.”
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But for many Latin Americans, Sunday is all about one person.
“How much for your Messi shirt?” asked a man in a jersey shop in downtown Bogotá.
Shopkeeper John Fernández, 35, has been selling football shirts in the Colombian capital for 13 years. He is I’ve never seen so much interest in the blue and white striped Argentina jerseys with Messi’s name on the back.
Of course he has roots for Colombia if the country qualifies for the World Cup. Otherwise he supports Brazil because Brazilians remind him of Colombians: “They are happy like us.”
But he felt he had to back down Argentina this year. A Messi win would be good for Shop during a busy Christmas shopping week. His jerseys would fly off the shelves.
But that would also mean an Argentine victory.
“Then who will be able to endure them?” said Becerra, the Uber driver.
He shook his head and laughed.
“Oh no,” he said. “I might regret cheering for Argentina.”
World Cup in Qatar
The newest: The World Cup drew to a close on Saturday as Croatia claimed third place in the tournament by beating Morocco 2-1. France and Argentina will play for the World Cup on Sunday at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Messi’s likely last World Cup: For Lionel Messi, the World Cup offers one last chance to step out of Maradona’s shadow. A break from relentless bad news for the Argentines.
Today’s world view: In the minds of many critics, especially in the West, the World Cup in Qatar will always remain a controversial tournament. But Qatar’s foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, wants people to see things differently.
Perspective: “America isn’t a men’s soccer joke right now. It’s aligned with, and aligned with, what works for the rest of the world rather than stubbornly forcing an American sports culture — without the benefit of the best talent — into international competition.” Read Jerry Brewer on the future of the US Men’s National Team.
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