THE MARACANÃ-WOE
There is a common mistake that is often made when it comes to Argentina, which is that they are regularly referred to as Lionel Messi’s Argentina, a name that does a disservice to the players who are truly leading the team to new heights. On a night full of aggression, fouls and police batons waved with wild abandon at visiting supporters at the Maracanã, it was one of the real heroes, Nicolás Otamendi, who stepped up to inflict Brazil’s first-ever World Cup qualifying defeat in their home match. history.
It is naive to think that World Cups and Copa Americas will be handled by strikers. Goals win games, but defenses win championships, as any football teatime email will tell you. Argentina have two of the toughest men at center back in Otamendi and Cristian Romero, so it’s foolish to think Messi is more important than them. It took a sharp corner from Giovanni Lo Celso to find the former Manchester City man who could decide the outcome in the 63rd minute. None of your dribbling and fancy skills that people seem to love so much.
Messi is the team’s spin doctor, the man who manipulates like no other and sees methods that prevent others from achieving the desired result, but sometimes an iron fist is required. He was approaching the away box as police entered before kick-off with batons waving and blood flowing, as he tried to calm a situation that would delay the match by half an hour as some supporters took refuge on the pitch. “This team continues to write history,” Messi squeaked later. “Great victory in Maracanã, although it will again be marked by the repression of the Argentine fans in Brazil. This madness cannot be tolerated, and it must end now!!” Messi spoke while Emi Martínez, a man who knows a thing or two about an iron fist, took action by trying to stop a police officer brandishing a baton in the melee. You can assume the police backed off when they saw Otamendi and Romero giving them up the stare.
After an important victory was achieved after an exciting evening in Rio de Janeiro, there was another surprise at the post-match press conference when Lionel Scaloni announced that he was considering quitting the world champion. “It’s not a goodbye or anything, but I have to think because the bar is very high and it’s complicated to keep going and it’s complicated to keep winning,” the former West Ham defender ranted. A managerial departure can often destabilize a successful side, but few in Argentina will be concerned about the production of Otamendi and Romero… and Messi doing the needful. You can take your fouls, clubs and food with you by then La Albiceleste be done with you, you’re going to need it.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Last year I was quick to compare my big brother Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to Harry Maguire. Mr President, I now apologize. Today, Mr Maguire has turned the corner and is a transformational footballer. Maguire is now scoring goals for Manchester United. Mr President, Harry Maguire is now a key player for Manchester United. As for our ‘Maguire’, he is now walking around the [International Monetary Fund] with a cup in hand. As for our economic Maguire, he is able to get retirees to leave their homes and parade through the streets.” – Ghanaian MP Isaac Adongo apologizes in parliament to Harry Maguire for comments about his competence. In 2022, Adongo compared the player to the vice-president, claiming Maguire “became the biggest threat in the center of Manchester United’s defence”. But like all good politicians, he has now reversed at least part of his conviction.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
So the players of Manchester United think that their total mess this season is due to everything and everyone, except themselves, working overtime in the preparation. It strikes me that an interesting thought experiment in the style of Schrödinger’s cat would be if you put a finite number of Manchester United players in a closed dressing room, how long would it take for just one of them to develop a degree of self-awareness? reach out and suggest that maybe they are the problem? But then self-consciousness isn’t their thing, although irony clearly is” – Noble Francis.
Re: increasing the score (Football daily letters passim). Youth soccer here in the US can be extremely one-sided. A common tactic I’ve seen coaches use when they start running away, resulting in a pass restriction being put in place before a shot is taken. I hear the coach shout something like ‘three passes before you can shoot’ or ‘we need five passes before we can score’. As a parent on the sidelines, I wonder what is more insulting to the other team: running up the score or hearing the other coach shout those instructions? Losing badly is one thing, but knowing you are part of a training session that turns into a game is another level of humiliation” – Stephen Jackson.
I was a referee for the Catholic Youth League in Maryland, where the Mercy Rule applied. If a team took a seven-goal lead, it had to withdraw one player from the field. If their opponents cut the lead, that player could come back. I (and I alone) called it the Sisters of Mercy Rule. Or Law 18 – promulgated by Mother Mary. Clear proof that the football gods exist” – Ian Plenderleith.
As a boy we played in the cubs league against a team that included Murdo MacLeod (future Scotland, Celtic and Dortmund star), plus two other future pros (one of whom was his brother). I was our goalkeeper and after being 21-0 down at half time, I managed to keep the final score at just 28-0. Not because of any sporting interruption from them. The trick? In the first half there was a fence two meters behind the goal. In the second there was 50 meters of red blaes (no nets of course). My slow walk to retrieve the ball was a masterclass in game management. Oh, and did I mention the match only lasted 30 minutes per half? –Gavin Stewart.
Send any letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. The winner of today’s newsletter is… Gavin Stewart, who will win a copy of Arsène. Who? by Ryan Baldi. We’ve got more to give away all week, so get typing.