Poland will not be a big competitor

France Y BrazilTwo of the best teams in the World Cup so far, and portugal, With the charismatic Cristiano Ronaldo and a hierarchy of his best players, they have already advanced to the round of 16, each with their own style. The gesture and physical attitude of its players and their coaching staff before and after matches reflects the competitive tension of the best event. They play with ease, but with intensity and grit, without giving or receiving benefits. Argentina’s national team is far from the suffocating agony facing the World Cup.

For the French, Brazilians and Portuguese, if the biggest competition in world football is in Qatar, As for Argentina, there seems to be a lot more at stake. Something like the existence of a homeland, flag or nation. It shouldn’t be, but it is increasing. It is not good, quite the opposite. Coach Lionel Scaloni’s tears after two goals against Mexico and his assistant Pablo Aimer’s emotional outpouring, the nervous and fearful gesture of the players as they perform the songs, a sense of relief and relief rather than joy and satisfaction. After Saturday’s win, the experienced team reveals the subtle emotional trance the national team went through.

This has already been said in this same place, but it is worth remembering: An unexpected defeat against Saudi Arabia leveled Argentina. No one was ready to absorb such a blow and 1-2 had the same effect as a morale bomb that went off at the end of that ill-fated game. The splits were collected on Saturday against Mexico. But the feeling prevailed until Messi’s goal A group overwhelmed by nerves and fear of missing out and weighed down by the weight of responsibility and self-demand. In the second game they managed to avoid a defeat that would have already meant an indigestible exit. But the tension is still there. Even though she was with him, we had to play against Poland.

More than the Poles, a goalscorer like Robert Lewandowski and the power of a team that didn’t have the best lights but worked hard, Argentina’s biggest rival will be Argentina. His emotional damage and paralyzing fear that another defeat would end his World Cup adventure in Qatar. Beating Poland to progress to the round of 16 will put the World Cup on track after a poor start, that defeat will be a bad memory and the energies will be concentrated on one who starts on Saturday.

On the other hand, if the worst happens, which no one wants to happen, the national team will (or will) unfairly experience the feeling of something worse than defeat. The World Cup is life, as if that weren’t true: the most important sporting event of all, nothing more or less.