Among the many reasons to love the World Cup: The national sides reflect their country's personalities exquisitely. As a friend said of the French players, who walked out of one practice on their way to a lame first-round exit marred by intra-squad fighting, "They're French. They went on strike. Check the box."
On a more heartening note are the Argentine players. They play with fluidity and lyricism, but also with an intense passion that implies waves of tension beneath the surface. Striker Lionel Messi is clearly the world's best player and moves like no one else; his passes feed the rest of the team's performance. But there are also these sturdy, attacking, somewhat ruthless players -- midfielder Javier Mascherano, defender Gabriel Heinze and most especially, striker Carlos Tevez, who prizes his childhood scar -- who serve as a counterbalance. They mix the sugary with the concrete. Not only is the team stacked with talent, but it also has complex emotions.
It's all steered by coach Diego Maradona, whose "insistence that greatness comes from the edge of illogic and madness" guides his leadership, writes Benjamin Wallace Wells, on the New Republic's excellent World Cup blog. Maradona's tenacity tempers Messi's elegance and also spreads through the field. Perhaps the team has looked so unstoppable the past fortnight because it finally has the perfect embodiment of its collective consciousness on the sidelines. (Maradona's also shown a surprisingly deft touch in choosing his players, argues Alex Massie, for those interested in something a little more objective.) Most fundamentally, though, the squad's seemingly incompatible mix of character traits also reflects Argentine living -- captivatingly cosmopolitan, jovial and exciting, yet also always cognizant that you might be standing on the edge of national fiscal ruin.
Here's to Argentina hopefully defeating Germany and then Spain on its way to the finals.
Update: Well, that one didn't end well. Germany 4, Argentina 0.
No comments:
Post a Comment