DBasia.news – Argentine society is fanatical about football. This can be seen from the 2018 Copa Libertadores final which took place some time ago between Boca Juniors and River Plate at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The second leg, which should have taken place at River Plate’s headquarters, was played at Real Madrid’s headquarters because it was impossible for the match to take place at El Monumental. The bus carrying the staff and Boca players was crushed by sharp objects by fans until the glass broke when they were going to play a match at Monumental.
The rivalry of the two big and historic Argentine teams is indeed great, however, when it comes to football matches, the normal limits of discipline between fans are no longer valid.
That shows how ‘crazy’ Argentineans are at soccer. So, it can’t be blamed too if they are so extreme to let go of criticism and express disappointment when things aren’t as expected.
The predecessor generation of the Argentine national team containing Gonzalo Higuain, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano (retired), fell victim to fans’ disappointment. Especially the two names are called first.
Higuain, with his status as Europe’s top striker, was made the dark horse for the difficulties Argentina won the prestigious trophy when it reached the final phase. Especially when Argentina against Germany in the 2014 World Cup final.
Even so with Messi. His status as a megastar in Barcelona, plus a comparison with Diego Maradona, placed him in a position as the bearer of Argentine hopes for the prestigious title, whether it’s the World Cup or the Copa America.
But the opposite happened: Messi’s poor appearance in the national team seemed to make him two different Messi figures in the club and country. His son asked what was really unexpected by Messi.
“It’s very difficult, my child always sees Youtube and sees videos. He asks me why in Argentina they want to ‘kill’ me!” Messi told Argentina’s 94.7 Club Octubre radio.
“But I have not given up. I want to win something for the national team. I will play in important matches. We have reached the World Cup final and that is not easy.”
Higuain even gave up the national team again and chose to focus on his current club, Chelsea. At the age of 31 years, El Pipita chose to hang shoes with a record 75 caps and 31 goals.
“I have decided to retire from the Argentina national team. This decision was taken because I want to enjoy more time with my family and my daughter. On the other hand, I have also provided everything for the national team,” Higuain said.
“Now I want to concentrate fully with Chelsea. The Premier League is a competition that is very extraordinary and competitive. I want to enjoy it,” continued the former Juventus and AC Milan striker.
Warganet made a different comment on Higuain’s retirement decision. Some people thanked and gave respect for their hard work so far. There are also those who are grateful for Higuain’s retirement to open new avenues for young strikers such as Lautaro Martinez, Mauro Icardi.
Messi is still fighting to win the hearts of Argentine fans and Higuain retires with mistreatment from fans. Argentine legend Gabriel Batistuta, pairs of bodies defended Higuain.
“It seems to me that he (Higuain) has been a great striker. It’s appreciated all over the world and treated badly in Argentina,” Batistuta said at Goal.
“We are talking about the fact that the attackers might have missed 200 goals, but then created one or three goals in the right moment, so they were always remembered with the few goals they scored rather than those who failed to score.”
“And I have said ‘there is also the opposite’. Higuain scored 200 goals and failed to score three goals at the wrong time, and in Argentina, unfortunately, that was remembered by him.”
“When he was, in fact, a great striker, one of the best that has been seen in recent years on a global scale,” said Batistuta.