Argentina is currently living in tension. The World Cup final is coming up on Sunday. The nation thirsts for la tercera – the third men’s world championship.
Even the semi-final win over Croatia got the nation in a frenzy. Tens of thousands of people gathered at the famous Independence Square in the capital, Buenos Aires.
Photographed football for decades Juha Tamminen knows Argentina like the back of his hand. He has spent a lot of time in the country and has seen many of Argentina’s World Cup matches around the world, among others Diego Maradona starred World Cup finals 1986 and 1990.
– I have seen the mood on some and messages have come from there. People hang out there at traffic lights and you know where. Crazy hustle, but that’s how it is there, Tamminen says to Urheilu.
Tamminen has not followed the current competitions. He has boycotted the games because of the human rights situation in Qatar and the activities of the international football association Fifa.
Problems related to the host country have been strongly highlighted in Europe, especially in the Nordic countries and Germany. According to Tamminen, there is no information about the critical discussion in Argentina.
– Yes, it has been quite non-existent. Some people have reminded about those things, but the discussion is very insignificant. Ordinary people don’t seem to be moved much, Tamminen states.
– Before the Games, when I watched the reporting of the Argentine news channels, they were pretty much talking about the arrangements.
Tamminen has already boycotted the second Games in a row. The previous ones were played in Russia.
The national team unites the nation
Sunday’s World Cup final is exceptionally strongly personified by one player. With Lionel Messi is facing the last chance to win the world championship.
According to many, the World Cup gold would cement Messi’s status as the best of all time.
– People there think that if Argentina wins, Messi will rise alongside Maradona. Some think it’s over, some think it’s not. It’s everyone’s personal opinion, says Tamminen.
Maradona, who died in November 2020, is in the position of a god in Argentina, and not just because of his playing skills. That’s why the comparison with Messi is difficult.
– Messi has been much more distant than Maradona was. Messi has never played in Argentina, but he went to Barcelona as a puppy, Tamminen reminds.
Right now, the importance of the world championship would be particularly great for the Argentine people, when the country is struggling in the middle of a severe economic crisis.
– In a way, the daily misery and problems would be forgotten. Politicians would also take full advantage of that. The WC gold would unite the nation, says Tamminen.
The current president by Alberto Fernandez led by the Peronist administration in Argentina strongly divides the people’s opinions. According to Tamminen, it has its fanatical supporters, while many see the administration as driving the country into economic chaos.
– In Maradona’s time, there was no such division as now, but I think that even now the opponents and supporters of the government would celebrate together. But Argentina hasn’t won anything yet, says Tamminen.
At the moment, a corrupt vice president is raging in Argentina by Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner from his recent six-year prison sentence. In September, an attempt was made to assassinate him.
Fernandez de Kirchner himself served as president from 2007 to 2015 and is the successor of another former president Nestor Kirchner widow.
– The complaints will last so long that he will never go to prison, Tamminen guesses.
Race trips only for the wealthy
At the World Cup in Qatar, Argentinians have been seen and heard in the stadiums and in the street scene perhaps the strongest.
In a country where football is a religion, everyone has their favorite club. Violence has long been a problem in Argentine club football.
The local games of Boca Juniors and River Plate, the country’s most famous clubs, in Buenos Aires are world famous. Four years ago, the second final of the South American championship tournament between clubs, the Copa Libertadores, had to be played in Madrid for security reasons, when the match had to be postponed twice due to the violence that broke out in Buenos Aires.
However, the Argentines support the national team in unison.
– In the World Cup, I have never seen hatred between Argentines. Everyone is wearing Argentina shirts, and sometimes you even see club shirts, says Tamminen.
In Argentina, violence around football is often organized. The so-called Barra Brava groups, which are compared to criminal organizations, are responsible for that.
– The worst criminals who riot in games can’t afford to go to the games. Those who traveled to Qatar are more or less a wealthier part of the population and certainly Argentines living in Europe and other parts of the world, Tamminen estimates.
According to Tamminen, a lot of people have recently moved away from Argentina due to the difficult economic situation. An ordinary street rider in Argentina cannot afford to follow the national team to the world.
It is clear that all of Argentina and all Argentines around the world will be holding their breath on Sunday at 12 o’clock local time. The biggest possible match is ahead. The World Cup final, la final del Mundial.