The 2-0 loss to Brazil in Belo Horizonte has caused much criticism on the Argentine star player, Lionel Messi, who captained the tournament.
Returning to the locker room, defeated and dejected, Messi delivered a stirring speech that caused everyone to blink back tears, said Angel Di Maria who was also present in the room.
On the field, he couldn’t be the captain that everyone wanted him to be. But he sure was the captain that everyone needed after their uneventful journey through the tournament.
Since 1983, Argentina had not been able to move past the group stages in this South American Football Championship tournament. Now, in 2019, they put in line to battle the Brazilians.
Everyone was aware of the huge task that the Albiceleste had in front of them. As it stands, Brazil had consistent nerve-wrecking training with the great Bachhi Tite since their disastrous performance in the 2016 Copa America. They trained like warriors honing in on victory.
Argentina, on the other hand, did not have the best of circumstances since their own subpar performance in the 2016 Copa. They had four different coaches, and inconsistent strategic plans, which only created a line up that struggled to hold up on their own.
Under these unfavorable circumstances, only did La Albiceleste face Brazil, but they also played them bravely. On the day of the match, the shaky Argentine team managed surprisingly to come together and work in complete unity.
But alas, the whistle blowed at the end of 90 minutes of pain-striking effort and the scoreboard pronounced the obvious winner to be Brazil. Argentina played better than anyone expected them to. With only a slightly tougher defence and some bit of luck, they could have well managed to overpower the rock-solid defence line of the Brazil team.
Nonetheless, the White and Sky-Blues had been defeated again. Lionel Messi, the forward and the captain, had done nothing. The weight was heavy on him. With downcast eyes and broken spirits, the players walked together into their locker room.
When inside, Lionel Messi laid out the bare truth to them. He said, they had gotten quite far with a team that is still in its budding phases. He was proud with the dedication and the performance that the young players showed in the field.
But in order to win, they would have to go much further. And with the sheer strength of their spirits and the soul-wrenching dedication towards them team, he sees that their victory stands not far away.
Persistent efforts will spring them back up at the top of their game. They need only to set their hearts on it.
In this difficult time of tremendous defeat, Messi was like a supportive parent to all of them. He faced all the interviews and stood by his team. He did everything that a good captain is supposed to do in times like this, said Angel Di Maria, the famous winger/mid-fielder of the team.
