By Ghulam Haider
Argentina’s World Cup winners returned home to heroes’ welcome from Qatar in the early hours of Tuesday morning ahead of a welcome home party in the nation’s capital.
Having beaten France in Sunday’s thrilling final, the players will now spend the night at the Argentine Football Association (AFA) training complex near the Ezeiza International Airport, where they arrived in Buenos Aires and where thousands of supporters were waiting to greet them.
Later on Tuesday they are embarked upon a lengthy parade route that will head to the iconic Obelisk monument. The tour of the Buenos Aires city centre begins at midday on Tuesday with millions expected to be out in the streets after the government declared a national public holiday.
“We will be here all night and tomorrow as well,” student Ayrton Kerdocas, 25, told outside the airport. “Tomorrow we are not working, we won’t do anything and we’ll go directly to the Obelisk with Argentina.”
ARGENTINA’S PLAYERS CELEBRATE ON BOARD A BUS WITH A SIGN READING ‘WORLD CHAMPIONS’ AS SUPPORTERS GREET THEM AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL AT EZEIZA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
The Albiceleste won the final in Qatar 4-2 on penalties after a rollercoaster 3-3 draw over 120 minutes of unparalleled drama for their first world title in 36 years.
Skipper Lionel Messi, who scored twice in the final, was the first player to emerge from the plane, holding the World Cup aloft, with coach Lionel Scaloni right behind him.
Forward Julián Álvarez, a revelation in Qatar with his four goals, was one of the next players out of the Aerolinas Argentinas Airbus A330.
A picture of Messi was emblazoned on the plane’s tail with the words: “one team, one country, one dream” on its side.
The players made their way from the plane along a red carpet straight to a white open-top bus with the words “world champions” and three stars on its side as their World Cup theme song ‘Muchachos’ by ska band La Mosca blared out.
‘Better than 86’
Excitement had been brewing since the party that began after Sunday’s final ahead of the players’ arrival.
A private reception at a VIP suite in the airport had been arranged to greet the returning players.
“I came because of my passion for Argentina. I love Messi, I love the entire team,” Alejandra Díaz, 55, a kindergarten teacher told AFP outside the airport.
Welder Javier Merina, 41, a Messi “fanatic” said he had come to the airport to try to get the star to sign a picture.
“If he doesn’t I will go to Rosario, to Funes [Messi’s home town] to see if I can get Messi’s autograph,” said Merina.
Messi, 35, finally crowned his record-breaking career with football’s biggest prize as he produced one of the greatest World Cup final performances, scoring a first-half penalty and netting again in extra time.
In doing so he emulated his Diego Maradona who inspired the country to their second world title with a series of match-winning displays at Mexico 1986.
“I remember ’86 but this victory yesterday was much more emotional and much more stressful,” architect Ricardo Grunfeld, 65, told.
“I don’t know if there’s any difference with ’86 but this comes at a good time,” added Zulema Guereri, 80.
Argentina had led 2-0 with 10 minutes of normal time left and 3-2 with only two minutes of extra-time to go but Kylian Mbappé completed only the second World Cup final hat-trick in history to take the gripping final to penalties, before Gonzalo Montiel swept home the decisive spot kick.
Despite the huge numbers of revellers during Sunday’s festivities “people acted in a very positive way,” a spokesperson for the municipality said.
Rosario had no words to describe the emotion for her two beloved sons: Lionel Messi and Ángel Di María as Argentina reached the point of maximum happiness on Sunday with the victory over France that gave them their third World Cup,
“This national team deserves it. This is crazy, most of all [for] Messi who never gave up and made so much effort and never gave up. He’s a great man,” 23-year-old Martùn Reina said.
As soon as the match ended, he burst into tears in the traditional El Cairo bar in Rosario.
Here people celebrated, suffered, cried, prayed and celebrated Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martinez’s saves in the penalty shoot-out as if each one was a goal, cheering on Lionel Scaloni’s national team, who were playing thousands of kilometres away from Qatar.
“It’s crazy, you can’t explain this. Messi is from Rosario, Di María is from Rosario, they scored the goals today and they gave us the cup. So to experience it in this place, it’s priceless,” said Emiliano Gamara, a 31-year-old restaurant worker who lives in Ireland and returned to his hometown just to watch the match with his family.
In this city that divides its love affair with football between two clubs, sworn enemies Newell’s Old Boys and Rosario Central, the national team has unified rosarinos.
Messi may have made his first steps at Newell’s and Di María at Central, but the Rosario fans cheered them equally.
Seven days to celebrate
“This national team unites everyone. You see Central and Newell’s fans hugging each other, singing. It’s the most beautiful thing there is. Everyone is singing and cheering for the national team. This December, the national team gave us seven days to celebrate, to be united without distinction,” said Nahuel Cantero, a 21-year-old comedian, who admitted “the passion that is experienced is difficult to explain.”
The young man referred to the seven matches Argentina played in the World Cup on their way to winning the title. The campaign didn’t start well, however, with the Albiceleste suffering an unexpected 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening fixture.
Famous for its football tradition and for being a hotbed of ‘crack’ footballers, Rosario is that place “where the ball is a religion.” Such feelings were already in vogue when the “Scaloneta” lifted the Copa América 2021 at the Maracaná, ending a 28-year title drought. World Cup fever is once again uniting the people of Rosario.
As Sunday’s final played out, fans cheered out “Fideo, Fideo” in support of Di María. “Messi, Messi,” they then chanted, as TV replays showing the skipper’s skills played out.
Wearing his Albiceleste shirt and with painted cheeks, Ariel Chinazzo chose to follow the final in the same bar made famous by writer Roberto Fontanarrosa and Spanish singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat, as he did for every match of the World Cup in Qatar.
“I’m extremely happy. It’s unbelievable. A suffering until the end but this is unbelievable,” he declared between sobs.
A fan of Rosario Central and especially of Giovani Lo Celso, another native of this footballing city, Chinazzo said he cried when the Villarreal midfielder, Messi’s perfect partner in the national team, was sidelined from the World Cup through injury.
Argentina’s dream of once again lifting the World Cup was fulfilled after 36 years of hurt. A caravan of cars immediately took to the streets towards the Monumento a la Bandera, in front of the Paraná River, a flashpoint for sporting celebrations in Rosario. Many hours after the match was over, tens of thousands of residents were still celebrating in the downtown area, echoing scenes playing out across the country.
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