The Messimanía conquers the attention in Argentina

The Obelisk, one of the most emblematic monuments of the city of Buenos Aires can testify how the ‘mania’, admiration, faith and any similar feeling for a soccer player gathers thousands of fans around its perimeter.

It is not the only place where seas of fans celebrated Argentina’s victory over Croatia, the game that gave the Albiceleste the ticket to their sixth World Cup final. Soccer is taken seriously in Argentina, with epicenters of jubilation in key areas like the Mar de Plata, Córdoba, Parque Centenario, but the Obelisk, draped with images of Lionel Messi, flags, beer, chants and more, is something that used to provoking football when Diego Armando Maradona was the key to push the National Team, when he led the team to its second World Cup title in Mexico 1986.

“Argentines are brave, determined and full of suffering,” an albiceleste fan told the Financial Times at a sports club in the Palermo neighborhood.

The World Cup has been the refuge of Argentines from a national reality that does not look good for their economy in the long term. The erroneous decisions of President Alberto Fernández in financial management, the growth of inflation at 100% in the year, the increases in poverty rates, the government indebtedness to maintain subsidy programs and to top it off, the former vice-presidency Cristina Fernández is prosecuted for corruption. Even so, the 46 million Argentine inhabitants can unite to see Messi in the World Cup. ‘La Pulga’ and La Albiceleste are the ones who have that convening power.

Labor Minister Kelly Olmos said the fight against inflation could wait and that the first priority was to “win” the championship. After what was said, she apologized for her comments after public criticism.

Soccer permeates politics and social protests are experienced day by day in several cities, the Argentine media have a constant in their highlights and also Messimania, which before the World Cup was a stream of fans who celebrated their arrival at PSG in the french league. The shirt with the number 30 on the back and the surname Messi sold out in just seven minutes after being put up for sale on the internet. The Parisian club reported that more than 150 shirts with an average cost of $176 meant a profit of $28 million.

The same emotion for having the jersey with Messi’s number 10 is manifested. Another reality is that the South American country is in seventh place among those that bought the most tickets for the World Cup, with 61,083 tickets. The Argentine airlines reported that they sold all the plane tickets from the Argentine capital to Doha that were available for Friday, December 16. In response to the demand, the airlines enabled special trips.

Next Sunday, Argentina will have one of its most deeply rooted loves in the Qatar 2022 final.

deportes@eleconomista.mx