It was the soundtrack of the World Cup in Brazil and the Brazilians hated it. Perhaps not quite as much as getting seismically demolished by Germany 7-1 in the semi-finals, but it was a close-run thing.
Vocal Argentina fans had decamped to their neighbouring country en masse. Surely, they felt, it was their time. A golden generation coming into their peak years and a chance to deliciously lift a third World Cup at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro — the hallowed turf of their sworn enemy.
Some estimates suggest in excess of 200,000 Argentines made the pilgrimage over the course of the tournament, many travelling without tickets and winging it: staying in schools, sleeping on the streets or finding a place to crash in the favelas.
The man bearing the most responsibility for this odyssey was Lionel Messi. During the competition, he turned 27, in the prime of his career. He was Argentina captain and No.10, just like Diego Maradona in 1986, and accompanied by five teammates from that Youth World Cup triumph of 2005. Together, they were ready to fulfil the promises made back then.
MORE: Messi & Ronaldo: Destination Mundial | Part 5: Cristiano and Eusebio
The travelling Albiceleste caravan delighted in leaning into this symbolism. Their tournament anthem of Brasil decime que se siente (Brazil, tell me how it feels), hollered to the tune of 'Bad Moon Rising' by Credence Clearwater Revival, ended thusly:
"With Messi, you're going to see — the cup, he's going to bring it home. Maradona is greater than Pele."
Celebration of Maradona's greatest playing deeds was still in full force, while his wayward stewardship of the previous World Cup as coach was the sort of thing no one really talked about. They were already a couple of coaches removed from Diego, anyway, after Sergio Batista's torpid Barcelona tribute act at the 2011 Copa America forced him to resign.
#RecuerdoCeleste | Hoy se cumplen 7 años de @Uruguay campeón de la Copa América 2011. Fue la 15a Copa América en la historia de la Celeste.https://t.co/pD9vGzwhGy pic.twitter.com/rzUgHBIIIf
— Selección Uruguaya (@Uruguay) July 24, 2018
Having burned through both the messiah and establishment choice in quick time, the AFA were at something of a loose end. Alejandro Sabella stepped into the breach. An unheralded coach for most of his career, Sabella spent a considerable amount of time as an assistant to Daniel Passarella, the 1978 World Cup-winning captain who then led Argentina from the dugout between 1994 and 1998.
Sabella struck out on his own to fine effect in 2009, taking charge of Estudiantes de La Plata and leading them to glory in the 2009 Copa Libertadores and 2010 Argentina Primera Division Apertura. His resignation in February 2011 meant he was available and affordable after Batista's downfall, very much a present concern for Julio Grondona's AFA.
MORE: MESSI & RONALDO: DESTINATION MUNDIAL | HOME
Following the noise of the recent past, Sabella had the experience and conviction to get on with the job. Like Batista, he built a team primarily to facilitate Messi, but he found a pleasing balance in qualification. Messi roved off the right of the front three, combining with his great friend Sergio Aguero and the similarly prolific Gonzalo Higuain.
Defensive midfield stalwart Javier Mascherano was flanked by the busy shuttling and technical excellence of Angel Di Maria and Fernando Gago. Additionally, instead of adopting Maradona's approach of apparently picking his right-back out of a tombola, he simply selected Pablo Zabaleta, a combative presence enjoying the form of his life at Manchester City.
This outbreak of convention resulted in Argentina romping through qualification, persuading thousands to make a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage without guarantees of either a roof over their head or a seat in the stadium.
If all this seemed too perfectly stitched, enough threads began to unravel as the tournament loomed. A debilitating knee injury meant Gago was not back to his best by the time he got on the plane for Brazil, while Aguero also arrived nursing thigh and calf complaints. The latter concern was compounded by Higuain's 22-goal season for Napoli earning him a battered ankle.
Sabella's response to these less-than-ideal circumstances was to field a pragmatic 5-3-2 in the opening game against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Messi's early set-piece was turned into his own net by Sead Kolasinac. Argentina played fitfully thereafter, although Messi's romping solo goal, featuring a one-two with Higuain, added some early fuel to the sense of destiny and made sure of a 2-1 win.
Back in their more familiar 4-3-3, the next game against Iran was even more laborious, with their opponents stationed deep to hang on to a 0-0 draw. They almost made it, with Ashkan Dejagah even coming close to snatching an improbable winner. Then, in stoppage time, with all 10 Iran outfield players between himself and the goal, Messi brought his genius to bear, stepping inside and whipping a sensational 25-yard finish into the far corner.
A second goal-of-the-tournament contender in as many matches meant Argentina were through to the round of 16 with a game to spare. Messi scored twice more, with one a sumptuous free-kick, as they beat Nigeria to top the group.
While everything seemed like it was going impeccably to plan for Argentina and their hero, it was prudent to acknowledge the lethargy that had also been easy to spot around his moments of inspiration.
In 2013/14, Barcelona ended the season without a trophy under Messi's fellow Rosarian Gerardo 'Tata' Martino. In 46 games for his club, he netted 41 goals. That would represent a career-defining return for most mortals, but it was a drop-off for Messi, who scored 60 in 50 games across all competitions for Barca in 2012/13, having hit an utterly farcical 73 in 60 the season prior.
MORE: Argentina World Cup squad 2022: Final list of 26 players for national team in Qatar
The sheer volume of football, along with maintaining the sort of frightening output he had made the norm for himself, looked to be having a sapping effect as the knockout stages progressed.
Messi found a gambolling dribble to set up Di Maria for a 118th-minute winner as penalties loomed against Switzerland, while an early Higuain strike was enough for Argentina to emerge with another 1-0 win from a punishing encounter with Belgium. An injury to Di Maria meant they paid a steep price for their progress.
With both sides perhaps spooked by the unholy dismembering Germany had brought upon the hosts in the first semi-final, Argentina and Netherlands played out 120 suffocating and goalless minutes. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero was the shoot-out hero and Messi dispatched his kick to help book the date at the Maracana everyone wanted. Merely reaching the final prompted joyous street celebrations around the Obelisco in Buenos Aires.
The magic was flickering as opposed to burning brightly by this point, something that would not have lingered as a discussion around Messi had fine margins in Rio fallen in their favour.
Higuain dragged an early sitter wide and then strayed offside to convert Ezequiel Lavezzi's cross. Messi's moment arrived after halftime when he found space on the left-hand side of the penalty area and arrowed a shot agonisingly wide of the left-hand post.
At the same end of the Maracana during Argentina's third period of extra time in four matches, Mario Gotze made no such mistake. The dream died again. Messi cut a dejected and forlorn figure as he collected the player-of-the-tournament prize and such near misses were about to become crushingly familiar.
Credits and acknowledgements
The Sporting News was fortunate enough to speak to a number of experts on Portuguese and Argentine football to enhance the Messi & Ronaldo: Destination Mundial series. We would like to thank the following people for their time and input – please do check out their superb work.
Santi Bauza: Argentinian football journalist and content creator, whose credits include Copa 90, CNN and Hand of Pod.
Dan Edwards: Freelance football journalist based in Argentina, formerly the long-time South America correspondent for Goal.com.
Peter Coates: Editor of Golazo Argentino.
Simon Curtis: Portuguese football expert and co-author of The Thirteenth Chapter.
Aaron Barton: Creator of English-language Portuguese football destination Proxima Journada.
Tom Kundert: Creator of PortuGOAL and co-author of The Thirteenth Chapter
Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg: Wall Street Journal sports reporters and authors of Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game
READ: PART 7 | CR7 vs ZLATAN
