Argentina won the World Cup final against France on penalties. After an epic game that saw France come back three times before losing, French fans couldn’t hide their disappointment in Paris. In Buenos Aires, it was obviously party time.
At the stroke of 4 p.m., a real human tide headed for the Place de l’Obelisk, in Buenos Aires. An indescribable joy and emotion. People were in tears, hugging each other. They called their loved ones to share this moment with them, describes our correspondent in Buenos Aires, Theo Conscience.
They savored this victory acquired in pain, because the Argentines were very scared during this final. Twice they got scared, twice they thought it was the nightmare of 2014 that were coming true again. Obviously, they savored, and then above all, they could see this image that they all hoped for: Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup.
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Many Argentinian fans said during this World Cup: ” I want to win it, but I don’t want to win it for me, I want to win it for him [Lionel Messi]. I want “him” to deserve it, I want “him” to be able to lift this World Cup. Another supporter said just after the final whistle: Yes, we won in pain, but we don’t know how to win otherwise, it was written. We had to lose a final to win this World Cup. It had to be Lionel Messi’s last, it had to be the first without Diego Maradona. It was written, we are only happier “. Argentinian fans were to celebrate this victory all evening in Buenos Aires.
The party is over on the Champs-Élysées
In Paris, the Champs-Élysées were pedestrianized this afternoon when the match was broadcast, reports our special correspondent on the Champs-Élysées, Pierre Olivier. Right in the middle of the Champs-Élysées, after the final whistle, there was hardly a sound.
It’s an evening not at all like the one the supporters dreamed of. They had reunited after the second half. We saw hundreds, maybe even thousands of supporters flocking there who believed in it and told themselves that everything was still possible. The penalty shootout was experienced in silence.
Many people had come with bottles of beer, French flags to spend the evening here and party on the Champs-Élysées, everyone is returning to the metro or public transport under a fairly large police force who had planned for the occasion. The Arc de Triomphe was not lit. The rain, meanwhile, beat the Parisian pavement.
The Albiceleste back tomorrow in Buenos Aires?
For the rest, we do not yet know how the Albiceleste will be celebrated in Argentina, explains our correspondent in Buenos Aires, Jean Louis Buchez. The opposition wants to prevent the government from taking political advantage of this victory. President Alberto Fernandez has been very discreet on this. It is possible that the team arrives at the airport, which is in the center of Buenos Aires and not at the international airport, and in this case, that it can move to Casa Rosada, the presidential palace and evening received directly by the President.
It is also possible that a flight goes directly to Rosario, the Homeland of Lionel Messi and Angel di Maria, two of the heroes of this final. For the Argentinians, Lionel Messi becomes at least the equal of Diego Maradona who won the World Cup in 1986.