The Argentine has won football in large part for its football, a unique moment of happiness that it would like to prolong over time. When needs and circumstances see the challenges and needs of everyday life, to feel like a world champion for four years, against the gray clouds, against the illusions of life, will appear at the bottom of their desires to excite them , envisioning that in 2026 they will repeat this feat with another festival of happy songs and tango.
They have won tournaments in high-flying finals where almost every laudatory word has been quoted or written in the media. If the French national team had won the title, the glory of this edition would have increased.
As the ball enters the goal, launched by Montiel, the celebration in Argentina is reflected in the news that reaches us from Buenos Aires, a city as unique at the moment as the last line of its poet Jorge Luis Borges. Must feel The Mythical Foundation of Buenos Aires: “I consider it as eternal as water and air.”
With Argentina’s approval, Qatar 2022 has left us with lessons, certainties and questions in the field of sport. The growth of some teams, the display of good football and the renewal of players which among certainties raise a flatter proposition for the future; Many such questions have also arisen, it is not possible to address them all here, I bring up only two, although they do not seem to be the most relevant, I think it is worth mentioning them.
To review, technology or arbitration?
The World Cup was presented to us as an event that took a step forward with new technology tools incorporated to provide referees with greater clarity and accuracy for teams and fans alike. After VAR was introduced, four years ago, those of us who supported its incorporation were left with good feelings about its prospects for the challenges ahead.
The Qatari World Cup left us flustered in this regard, mainly because VAR implementation came into the World Cup in a period with both central and assistant referees acting in leagues or international competitions that used it. From the cuts, there was less Gray expected than realized, which also featured new equipment and updated capabilities.
Among them we must mention one of the most infamous, Japan’s goal against Spain, the result of which ultimately determined the elimination of Germany and Japan’s leadership in Group E. The referee validated the score; From the television angles with which the goal was broadcast, the impression was that the ball had left the field of play entirely.
A day later, FIFA circulated a vertical shot of its own that showed the ball without being fully released; For this reason, protected by the rules which stipulate that the ball must have completely crossed the lines of the bands, he was still active in the game. Was it necessary to wait until the next day to clarify the decisive move in a tournament that brings fans’ sensitivities to the surface? Transparency is an undeniable argument for providing credibility and trust in arbitration. The shot should have been made immediately available for broadcast.
On other occasions, the criteria and criteria used to judge “serious” fouls and penalize the “offending” team were applied unevenly, depending on whether a hero or whether or not others were involved. Non-replay of a controversial play (normal), short replay or without angles, the lack of consultation with the referee to be able to appreciate it, left discontent.
The next World Cup should reduce those patches, if not eliminate them. This should not be solely for the internal purposes of the arbitration commission, ultimately the “altruistic” purpose (for the sake of fairness) with which appeals for new support instruments are made. The problem is not technology, it is uniform standards and transparency.
Punishment, limitation or stimulating freedom?
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, the popular Dibu, already a legend in the history of the Argentine national team, reached his maximum contribution in the final with three crucial moments: he turned Muani’s point-blank shot with his foot at 122 minutes. deflected off, which practically buried Argentina, giving the Gauls a 4–3 victory; He saved Coman’s second penalty in the final shootout, giving Albiceleste the advantage; And he psychologically affected Toumeni so that he sent his collection away from the target in the third turn, leaving the cup within reach of Montiel on Montiel’s turn, which was perfect. All these transcendental activities.
There is regularly a psychological game in the collection of penalties between the executioner and the goalkeeper, who tries to influence the execution. One is to hit it and the other is to know its direction.
A match contested on the scoreboard over 90 minutes of play and 30 minutes of extra time, conceived to be settled in the final instances of a tournament, penalty shootouts carry an emotional charge, pressure, results in each collection that Gaining more weight as the shift progresses. You walk the rope to extremes without any ambivalence: hero or villain.
Sergio Goiocchia, a compatriot and colleague in celebrations of Martínez, became Argentina’s unlikely hero in Italy 1990, with his participation at the height of Maradona’s contribution. Goycocchia made it possible for Argentina to reach the final by saving penalties in both the quarter-finals against Yugoslavia and the semi-finals against Italy. Germany was the champion through penalties scored during the game; This did not detract from the merits of Goikochia, who came close to arresting him. The opportunity to define the title by appealing to a penalty shootout has not yet been presented.
In this instance there is a greater burden of cruelty which falls on the executor. Among the many facts that we can cite to support its occurrence, we can cite the 1994 World Cup in the United States, which was the first to be defined using this resource. After a 0–0 draw, after 120 minutes of play, with the shootout 3–2 in favor of Brazil, Roberto Baggio, Italy’s best player during the cup and one of the great figures in football, would have to concede the fifth penalty to the Italians. It was not even a penalty that could have given him the title, but one that allowed him to live in hope that the Brazilian closing the fifth turn would make a mistake to continue.
Baggio will send it in the clouds, Brazil will be the champion. With that moment the Italian player would be marked throughout his career. Fortunately the technology allows today, if you look again at the videos of the examples that were solved with this definition resource, Spain since 1982 – the world leader in adopting it – in the two World Cup finals in which they appealed United 1994 and Germany 2006, the goalkeepers showed a measured behaviour.
“Dibu” Martinez has broken this behavior at Qatar 2022. He had already done so during the last Copa America 2021 after a 1-1 draw in the semi-finals against Colombia. In the penalty, Dibu provoked the Colombians with a phrase not worth quoting and a ridiculous little dance.
Now he was the instigator in the quarter-final match against the Netherlands which ended with a score of 2–2. The penalty shootout went 4–2 in favor of Argentina. In the final, he raised the tone of his attack with a scathing attitude towards Coman; To which he added manipulation of the moment on Tchoumeni, kicking the ball aside to force the Frenchman to look for him to steal his concentration; He ended with a final image as the Golden Glove trophy for best goalkeeper rested on his groin. a message with suggestions that has sparked controversy; The staging that the enormity of the World Cup allows should not be compared to matches that are fought angrily in the neighbourhood.
Without detracting from the high sportsmanship displayed by Martínez, taking off the shirt of his favorite team, his demeanor in front of the eyes of the world on the other side of the screen, is this folklore? Shouldn’t it be given resonance or should it be rejected?
Questions rise in the air if we add concerns, for example: the unexpected window that Dibu opened should not be conditioned because it prompted another goalkeeper to raise the bet even higher, with logic Could do it, if a champion of the world did it then why not me?; To what extreme resource kickers are you going to appeal to intimidation as it takes anything to win the title?
In the collection of penalties, regulation establishes that the goalkeeper must place one foot on the line before launching. FIFA and the IFAB may have this concern on the table at some point, considering whether a “moral ground” should be established in a line of behavior that should not be crossed or if “freedom should be continued”. should be kept” which was inaugurated by the Albiceleste goalkeeper in this competition.
You also have a platform to give your opinion. The World Cup has shown the fascinating side of soccer, nothing is said till the end, the technology we can incorporate doesn’t threaten the game as it is done by humans; The various points and questions raised will keep it alive forever.
