Category: Argentina Culture

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Argentina weren’t supposed to crash out in the quarter finals. Maradona was going to run around the Obelisco in downtown Buenos Aires…naked. It was supposed to be glorious. Well, maybe not the last bit.
On Saturday evening, the usual hectic, thrashing, fun-loving Buenos Aires was silent. Even the taxis appeared to be going slow. ‘It was like a cemetery,’ a friend said. Argentina were out of the World Cup too early, and they were beaten too easily by what was thought to be a young, inexperienced German side…

Ah. Yes. This is football. Football, they say, is more than just a game. Put two fiery Latin sides into the equation and you have 90 minutes of talent and controversy, passion and goals.
By half time in Argentina’s Round-of-16 match versus Mexico, Maradona was breaking up an argument (really) as the frustrated Mexicans lost their temper. Why the frustration? Where to start…

This is South America’s World Cup. Of the eight groups in the World Cup, Uruguay and Argentina have been crowned first stage winners. As it stands Chile, Paraguay and Brazil are at the top of their groups. Of the two central American teams only Honduras will bow out, with Mexico qualifying in second place. By contrast, the European powerhouses: Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and England have all had stuttering starts, surprising the pundits.

The Argentines are a gregarious bunch. They sing, they dance, they wave their hands in the air like they just don’t care. In the stands during Argentina’s opening World Cup football game against Nigeria, blue and white dominated. Flags, often painted in support of their home teams (I saw Huracan, Velez Sarsfield, Independiente), were hung from the balconies, while the fans swung their shirts, oblivious to the cooling desert evening. By the dug out, Maradona was almost as entertaining as he once was on the pitch…