the provocative exultation in front of the upset players – Corriere.it

On the one hand the Dutch, beautiful, alternative, irreverent, today we would say radical chic, on the other the ugly, dirty and bad Argentines, today we would say Peronist populists. There is this old cliché, which has lasted since 1978, behind it the big mouth that Otamendi addresses the oranjes on their knees and in tears a minute after Lautaro Martinez scored the decisive penalty of the series, while all the Seleccion players start cheering with their faces turned towards the oranges. The Benfica defender explained his behavior (much criticised, on social media and beyond) with Dutch provocations when it was time to take penalties: I celebrated in front of the Dutch because one of them came to provoke our players with every penalty.

A completely different scene compared to the one experienced a few hours earlier, with the Croatians going to console the crying Brazilians, but Perisic’s son goes to hug a desperate Neymar.

But the eve had also been very different, because if Dalic had said respectfully, for example about the ballets of the Brazilians, which is part of their culture, I wouldn’t want my players to do them, but because we are different, Van Gaal said made the mistake of instigating the Argentines. And above all Lionel Messi: In 2014 he didn’t touch the ball, if he doesn’t have the ball how to play with one less. The result was a superlative Messi on the pitch (the assist for Molina, the desire to be leader and driving force, a free-kick just off and the two penalties scored with precision and coolness) and never seen off the pitch: a fury. To the collective grimaces, in fact, is added the gesture of Leo who, in front of Van Gaal, cups his hands near his ears as if to say: Now I want to hear what you’re saying. And then he explained to the microphones: I don’t like that we talk before matches, this is not part of football. I respect everyone, but I’d like to be respected and Van Gaal didn’t do that with us. And again: Van Gaal sells everyone to let his football teams play well, in reality he only put tall people and only random balls arrived in the area.

(article being updated)