IEach year, the US has 11 federal holidays. In Argentina, that number is 19, the 11th highest in the world. Celebration and remembrance are mandatory for Argentines, but for nearly three decades they have been denied the kind of festivities that the capital, Buenos Aires, craves.
The country’s football team is now doing well, however. A third party in a row came on Sunday night as the city celebrated the team’s 2024 Copa América win, their second in a row after the 2021 title, sandwiched around the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Walking through the streets of Buenos Aires in the run-up to this year’s Copa, it felt like the city had been split in two.
The first was confidence to the point of certainty. The salesman in a small supermarket in the city centre told me that he had already taken the day after the final off, so confident was he that he would party until late at night. A River Plate fan in the trendy Palermo district guaranteed Argentina’s imminent success before he had finished his first glass of vermouth (he later predicted a 3-0 victory in the final after his second).
Confidence is natural. Argentina are world champions and Messi is their weighted blanket. But Argentines also have a natural arrogance, in relation to their country, their steak and of course their football.
The other perspective is illustrated by Demetrio, an Uber driver and lifelong Boca Juniors supporter, who, at 53, recounts his memories of 2022 and Argentina’s World Cup titles in 1986 and 1978. After witnessing his country’s third World Cup victory – ending a 36-year drought – and Messi’s first Copa América in 2021, Demetrio explained that he is “full.” For Demetrio – and many others in the city – there was no reason to be greedy.
“This Copa America is not as emotional as the last one,” said Matias, a 23-year-old Velez Sarsfield fan. “In 2021, football owed Messi a title with Argentina, there was much more tension. Now this generation has won everything, Messi has won everything, so I feel like I can’t ask more of this team.”
Buenos Aires is an exuberant place. But it took less than 90 minutes of the opening match against Canada for the city to shudder into silence. That was certainly the case in the Recoleta neighborhood, where bars were packed and TVs lined the streets to offer options to those who couldn’t get in, when Messi was injured. Messi, the victim of a late slicing challenge, got back to his feet, and the sigh of relief that greeted his return overshadowed the reaction to Argentina’s second goal to end an uncomfortably tense match.
Messi started five days later against Chile but indicated a sore hamstring after the 1-0 win. With his country all but through, the 37-year-old sat out the third group match, a routine win over Peru. But after his 2022 Ballon d’Or, this Copa América may have been the closest Messi has come to a regressive campaign.
In fairness, he led the tournament in creating chances leading up to the final, but he has scored just one goal and provided one assist in five appearances, suggesting the end is in sight.
Messi returned to start the quarter-final against Ecuador but struggled to escape the brink of an ugly match. In their previous three games, a lead had been enough to secure victory, with Argentina keeping three clean sheets. Four seemed likely in second-half injury time when Kevin Rodríguez finally beat Emi Martínez with a fine header to level the score at 1-1. The match went straight to penalties, with extra time being called (despite the final), Messi seeing his attempted panenka hit the crossbar, though Argentina still went through.
Nobody wants to see this team, and indeed this country, without Messi, but time remains unbeaten, even for the best athletes. Daira, a Spanish teacher in Buenos Aires, expresses the sentiments: “Messi is an artist, a player who gave everything in every game, with the love and effort that it takes to represent the Albiceleste.
“While there is a sense of sadness because we know it will be a matter of time – the time when he decides – that he will retire from playing professionally, I also feel peace and happiness knowing that he is retiring after winning the World Cup that he fought so hard for.”
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There was speculation during the tournament that it would be Messi’s last in an Argentina shirt, but he said before the final that he would not rush into a decision.
“As I’ve said before, I plan to keep going,” Messi said after Argentina’s semi-final win. “I plan to live day by day without thinking about what will happen in the future or whether I’ll continue or not. It’s something I just live every day. I’m 37 years old [old’] and only God knows when the end will be.”
But Messi is finally waning. This summer’s Copa America saw his team-mates have had to step up their game. In the final, it was Golden Boot winner Lautaro Martínez, but without Martínez in goal, they might not have reached that point.
“About [Martínez]“What can I say?” says Matias. “He is the best. He made a lot of kids want to be goalkeepers again. It’s not just that he is very good in penalty shootouts, having a goalkeeper with such a strong personality is definitely an advantage for Argentina. If Argentina loves him and the rest of the world hates him, then I think he represents us well!”
Messi finally scored his first goal of the tournament to lead Argentina past Canada in the semi-finals and reach a sixth consecutive final. On the eve of the final, a hairdresser answered my question about his confidence with one word: “Demasiado.” Meaning: too much.
They had a long wait for the first trophy of the Messi era. But if faith ever wavered in Argentina, it is long gone. Sunday’s celebrations stretched well into Monday with drums, singing, fireworks and tears.
Success on the field is a brief respite from the turbulent conditions across the country. Annual inflation exceeds 270% in Argentina and about 58% of the country’s 46 million inhabitants living in povertyIt is a running joke among the country’s football fans that the latest economic crisis began to bite after the victory in Qatar.
“Honestly,” Daira continues. “The feeling about the future of the national team is more than hopeful and positive. We have been dealing with political and economic crises for years and this can be strongly reflected in the social and cultural class differences. Football is the sport of the people and this team has given us a lot of joy and helped us to see light where there seemed to be only shadows.”