On November 22, Argentina's starting players took a group photo before the game Photo/Xinhua News Agency
lost the first game in an upset game, and the Argentina team was kicked off in the World Cup. Mexico tied with Poland , and Messi still had a chance to save the team.
This article was first published in Southern People Weekly
article / Southern People Weekly reporter Wei Yi
editor / Chen Yafeng [email protected]
On the evening of November 22, 2022, in the Lucerne Stadium in Qatar , Messi touched his left ankle with some discomfort before a free kick . Whether Messi is injured is a question I had before this game. This reminds people of in the 1990 Italian World Cup. Argentina played for the first time at the San Siro Stadium. Maradona came on the court with an injury. Because the toenails grew into the flesh and their toes were swollen, his shoes were added with an carbon fiber protective case. 32 years ago, every time Argentina attack was blocked, deafening cheers would be heard in the San Siro Stadium, just like the Lussel Stadium at this time. San Siro Stadium is the home court of AC Milan . In Serie A that had just ended at that time, Maradona led Naples to beat AC Milan and won the league championship. The cheers from Lussel Stadium are because it is the bay, and Saudi is next to Qatar, which is the home court of the Arab world.
On June 8, 1990, in the Italian World Cup, Argentina lost 0-1 to 1 to Cameroon . Maradona in the game Picture/ Visual China
Argentina almost always encounters opponents wearing green jerseys in the World Cup group stage. Nigeria plays this role the most, and they can't pass the Argentina level every time. This time, the Saudi team wearing a green jersey ended the Argentina team's record of unbeaten in 36 international games. The Cameroon team, which brought Argentina big trouble the last time in the first World Cup, happened to be wearing a green shirt.
990, Argentina lost to Cameroon 0:1. Maradona’s memory of that game was – collapse. "We are all dead, died in shame." The players said nothing while taking the bus to the airport. On board the plane, head coach Bilardo made the players cheer up because "the World Cup is not over yet." In the Argentine team in 1990, Maradona's personal performance was limited, "tactics become a support for survival." What gynecologists who changed their careers in Bilardo can teach players more is tactics. Bilardo is a staunch advocate of the midfield theory. He believes that the core essence of football games is the competition for the midfield. On the evening of November 22, in the game against Saudi Arabia, Scaloni's 4-2-4 formation was like the opposite of Bilardo's classic tactics. Lo Celso 's absence due to injury has made the Argentine team's midfield drawbacks more prominent, as if the waist, which was not warm, was exposed in winter. Saudi Arabia's midfield battle is extremely hard. They pressed the Argentina team directly at the high position before scoring, and they were firm and layered in defense. The backward Argentina crossed from the wing like the ancient England team, but this Saudi team is tall and powerful, and it is really hard to get such a tactic. It is not a good phenomenon when Messi heads the ball in the middle. Messi is good at cutting inward and hitting the wall, and he is not free as a libero in the midfield.
On November 14, Argentina coach Scaloni (left) and player Messi were in training Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Saudi head coach Renal in a white shirt is like a university professor, and Scaloni in sportswear is like a middle school teacher. In an international friendly match in 2019, Scaloni had played against Renal, then head coach of Morocco, and Argentina won 1:0. Previously in 2018, Renal led Morocco to return to the World Cup after 20 years. This is one of the many outstanding achievements of Renal who travels around the world. He has led Zambia and Côte d'Ivoire to win the African Cup respectively. From 2001 to 2003, Lenard served as the assistant coach of Beijing Renhe Team . He is good at physical training, and the current Saudi team is so capable of running, which may be related to this.Lerner brought obvious changes, and the Saudis, like the eagle on their team logo, showed their hard and sharp claws and pounced on the eagle from Pampas Grassland .
On November 22, Saudi Arabia's head coach Lenard watched the game on the sidelines Photo/Xinhua News Agency
The last time the Saudi team shined in the World Cup was in 1994. Oweran passed several Belgian team in the US World Cup and staged a Maradona-style goal. Most of the time, they are the background boards that strong teams like to lose in big scores.
On a football data website, the probability of the Swiss team winning Spain in the 2010 World Cup is 10.3%. Before Argentina and Saudi Arabia matched, this unpopular ranked second in World Cup history. Ranked first in history, the probability of the United States defeating England 1:0 in the 1950 World Cup is 9.5%. This night, everything changed. The probability of Saudi Arabia winning Argentina was only 8.7%, but it became a reality. This is the biggest upset in the history of the World Cup.
On November 22, Saudi player Sheikhli scored a low shot in the penalty area, equalizing the score. Photo/Visual China
Messi praised the performance of the Saudi team. He said, "There is no excuse, we will be more united than before. This team is strong, and this has been shown. This is a situation we haven't encountered in a long time, and now we must prove that this is a real collective."
1930 Uruguay World Cup , Argentina lost to Uruguay 2-4 in the final. The picture shows Uruguayan player Pedro Sea (middle) scoring a goal and scoring a picture/Visual China
Argentina's last World Cup lead was reversed, which was 92 years ago. In the 1930 Uruguay World Cup, Argentina was reversed by Uruguay in the second half of the final. In that game, the Uruguayans believed that they showed the style of "claws", which represented toughness, firmness and alertness, while the Uruguayans believed that this was an element of their national character. How much like the style the Saudi team showed at this time. Italian journalist Gianni Brera once wrote the final in 1930: "Argentine's style is elegant and imaginative, but the technical advantages cannot make up for the tactical paleness. Among the two teams on both sides of the La Plata River, the Uruguayans are ants, while the Argentines are singing cicadas." In " Aesop's Fable ", when the ants begin to store winter food, the cicadas are singing in love.
On November 22, Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohamed Ovez (left) successfully saved the game in the game Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Argentina spent almost a hundred years to solve tactical problems. But it is hard to say that over the years, Argentina's victory in the World Cup has been an absolute tactical victory.
The young Scaloni is considered a rare tactical expert in Argentina. After the game against Saudi Arabia, Scaloni said, "We know how the Saudis play, and we know that their defense is advanced when we prepare for the game. But Argentina still lost. Scaloni continued that our offside is in millimeter scale.
When offside can be accurate to the millimeter level and the machine becomes a part of football, do football still have so many fascinating accidents? In addition to strict tactics and super personal abilities, chance is the charm of football.
On November 22, Argentine player Messi (first from left) took the penalty kick in the game. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Historian Wang Di said, "History has no rules, it lies in its inrepeatability. I think this is also the reason why history is humanities rather than social science." Football is more difficult to call science, and there is no set of theories that can guarantee winning. More often, football is more like a metaphysics of basic laws. The Saudi team's victory over Argentina is a manifestation of the accidentality of in the history of football. Such accidentality will cause pain and hope. Even if this world looks monolithic, it is not without possibility of change.
: Regarding the contingency of football history, we can give several examples.
984, at the Nehru Golden Cup, the Chinese team defeated Argentina 1:0. Although Maradona did not participate in the competition, eight of the Argentine team participated in the World Cup in Mexico two years later and won the cup.The Chinese team entered the 2002 World Cup 18 years later. South Korea and Japan At the World Cup, the Chinese team lost three consecutive games, with a net loss of 9 goals, but it was not the team with the worst performance in that World Cup. The Saudi team was at the bottom of the top 32. On November 22, Saudi Arabian player Salem Davasari (center) celebrated after scoring the team's second goal Photo/Xinhua News Agency
In recent years, only two teams have scored two goals in the game against Saudi Arabia. One is Japanese team , and the other is Chinese team. Luo Guofu scored a fairy goal against Saudi Arabia. The goalkeeper of the Saudi team was Ovez, who performed bravely today.
The Argentina team in 1990 lost to Cameroon team in the first game and finally won the runner-up. Obviously, this version is not the expectation of Argentina fans in 2022, so let’s give another example -
010 World Cup, Spain lost to Switzerland 0:1 in the first match and won the championship. On November 22, Argentine player Messi was in the gamePhoto/Xinhua News Agency
Argentine fans have always been an important part of the world's fans. Back in 1930, in the first World Cup, Argentine fans took a steamboat across the wide La Plata River and went to Uruguay on the other side of the bay to cheer for their team. After Argentina defeated the United States in the semi-finals, the newspaper of Montevideo wrote: "We are from the brothers on the other side of the La Plata River. We achieved a great victory yesterday, which is also a victory that resonates with us. Because their success is also a success of the youthful vitality of the La Plata River country." "La Plata" means "silver". Argentina is no longer a place of silver. Their children have left their hometowns one after another, crossed the ocean, and went to the distance to seek life and glory.
Borges In a poem, the ocean describes "abyss, glory, accidental and wind". What will the Argentine team, which has set out from the ocean again and again in the past hundred years, bring us the end?
1 On November 22, Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (center) saved the penalty kick of Polish player Lewandowski (right) in the game Photo/Xinhua News Agency C Group 2, Mexico in green played 0:0 with the Polish team. Ochoa, born in 1985, saved the penalty kick from Lewandowski, born in 1988, and the goal of promotion in front of Messi, born in 1987, and more light flashed at this time.
