Argentina won their third world cup title in Qatar defeating defending champions France in a thriller, an encounter that will always be remembered as one of the all-time best matches that any world cup finals will ever produce, it had everything- drama, suspense, quality, chaos, records and so much more. Argentina were also able to break the European edge which they had over the rest of the world, Europe had won the last four successive world cup titles, a domination that spanned twenty years. Argentina`s feat was remarkable built from several elements of previous success stories. The Argentines were great copy writers, in order to rewrite history, they were indeed copy cats in order to overcome the wild cats of the football jungle with Europe, the masters of the recent football playground, in beating them at their own game and also copying the best elements from the south American playbook, victory was certain.
In 2002, precisely in Korea and Japan, joint hosts of the seventeenth world cup, Brazil won the last of the south American`s title with a victory over Germany, Argentina did the same in Asia just like Brazil, becoming the joint winners in Asia with Brazil and the only continent ever to win there, in the same manner defeating another European team, they may not have had pound for pound or rather man for man a similar quality or cluster of great players like the 2002 Brazilian(in that team they had several ballon D`or winners-Ronaldo,Rivaldo and then Ronaldinho and Kaka some of the finest defenders football will ever produce Roberto Carlos and Cafu) winning side but had champions as individuals that clustered into a winning side, in goal Emiliano Martinez can be regarded as among the best in major tournaments especially on penalties(recipient of three golden glove awards in their three victories)in defense, Romero, Otamendi and then Martinez have been consistent, in midfield Fernandez and Mac Allister had superlative performances at the mundial earning them big moves to Chelsea and Liverpool respectively, in attack Alvarez of Manchester City, Lautaro Martinez of Inter became very useful and integral part of their success, then the irreplaceable Angel Di Maria recently retired after their Copa America title defense, their winning talisman, he had scored winners in this final,in their Finalissima win against Italy,when they defeated host Brazil to win their record equaling fifteenth Copa America title and at the Olympic finals in 2008, the last superlative is reserved for the greatest Argentine in their history and a world class match for any of the title winning Brazilian player of any era, additionally a special credit to Scaloni for providing the distilled alchemy that blended the flair, flamboyant and brilliant individual parts into a resolute, efficient and title winning collective that were capable of wrestling the edge from the Europeans.
Apart from their nemesis Germany that eliminated them in all but one of the four European reign from the previous four editions, they were able to hand out defeats to Europe’s elite and world champions the unqualified Italy was thrashed at the so called Finalissima a clash between two of the best regional champions, Spain and England were not good enough to make at least the semifinals, to some lesser extent Croatia, Europe`s other consistent performer, finalist at the last edition was crushed 3-0 in the penultimate match. The Dutch (three-time finalists) conquerors of Brazil and Uruguay in 2010 and Brazil again in 2014 in the classification match was dispatched in the quarter finals after a nail biting 2-2 draw and a penalty shootout win. It was a big deal because of a rivalry that existed between both sides and the feisty nature and confrontation during the match. at the group stage Lewandowski`s Poland were the only European opposition, one of Europe’s great players leading them to the tournament, they were also beaten in similar fashion.
France (the current world champion and UEFA league winners) were beaten in the finals, a dethronement of Europe`s finest at the grand finale, Scaloni`s Argentina single handedly handled Europe. He provided the hands-on strategy to execute a continent that had held on to a reign that was initially split between Europe and south America equally since inception.
The La Albiceleste were able to match Brazil`s talented display and also steal another important element this time from the Europeans, their approach- the organizational and structural dimension in setting up for victory, the starting point in this copy and paste methodology was that all their starting players were based in Europe, the core of the team with the exception of their reserve goal keeper Armani and Armada, all their other players were based in Europe, the citadel of football, it familiarized them with the best exposure to the modern game, an advantage that any team must implement, innately they had this winning mentality in all aspects of the game even the notoriety that comes with gamesmanship was showcased, in their custody was also an edge in penalty kicks, Germany and Croatia were the leading lights in this category, for Argentina their only penalty blemish at the world cup was against the host, Germany in 2006 and their most recent and last duel at that level was their semi final victory against the Dutch eight years later in Brazil(four victories from five duels ) while their semifinal opponents Croatia, starting from 2014 with the exception of their extra time 2-1 defeat of England had won all their matches on penalties a perfect record just Like Germany,they defeated Denmark and host Russia in 2018 and Japan and Brazil in Qatar, Argentina were prepared but did not need it for this particular encounter but it was a necessary route to victory in their previous match and the final match which demonstrated their readiness and mental capabilities, it is rare to prevail in several matches on penalties to win a tournament, in fact since its introduction in 1982, Argentina`s victory over France significantly set a record for the most penalty shoot out wins with two, for a world champion. France had lost the first shootout against Germany and this final match. A lot of steel and resolve is needed more than gamesmanship and luck. Argentina also rode their luck twice after losing two goal leads against the Dutch and the French but in both occasions regained their composure to win, a hallmark of great Champions.
Until another trend of building teams not based in Europe is established which will take quite a while, the use of players in the top sides in Europe will help in the formation of formidable title winning sides, other elements can be shopped from anywhere else, there is still so much to learn from this great side built upon their captain and inspiration Messi, with four titles on the bounce and a tantalizing title defense against the emerging and exciting Spanish in the Finalissima and yet another title defense at the world cup in a continent(north America) which they have previously won, exactly thirty years ago, becoming the greatest international side in history may not be a surprise they are really close. Whatever the outcome in the future they will always be remembered for breaking the European stranglehold at the world cup and as one of the greatest sides of all time.
