South American honor on the shoulders of Lionel Messi and his teammates
(Baonghean.vn) - Defeating the Netherlands after a penalty shootout, Argentina became the only representative of South America to reach the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
Attending the biggest football festival on the planet this year, South America has 4 representatives: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Uruguay. However, at the end of the group stage, only Argentina and Brazil won the right to continue. This is extremely disappointing for the region with the most developed football in the world.
 |
| Emiliano Martinez and Lionel Messi were Argentina's two heroes in the match against the Netherlands. Photo: Getty |
In the round of 16, while Argentina had to struggle to defeat Australia, Brazil easily defeated South Korea. It was thought that being in the same bracket would help South America to have a representative in the final, in case Brazil beat Croatia and Argentina won against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
Unfortunately, that scenario only half came to pass, as Argentina defeated the Netherlands, while Brazil fell to Croatia - both after unfortunate penalty shootouts. This result meant that Argentina had to face Croatia in the last 4, instead of their rival Brazil - as South American fans had hoped.
The 2022 World Cup has entered its final stages, the Gold Cup is quite close to the hands of Messi and his teammates. Perhaps, all of South America hopes that Argentina will win the tournament taking place in Qatar. Because since the 2002 World Cup, European representatives have dominated the tournament with 4 consecutive championships.
 |
| Brazil was the champion at the World Cup held in Korea and Japan in 2002. Photo: AFP |
In fact, 3 out of 4 finals were "private affairs" of representatives from the old continent. Specifically, Italy - France in 2006, Spain - Netherlands in 2010 and France - Croatia in 2018. Thus, with the runner-up achievement in 2014, Argentina is the most recent South American team to reach the final match of the World Cup.
Now, the "Land of Tango" team is facing a historic opportunity. As long as Lionel Messi and his teammates show their inherent class, Argentina will not have to fear any opponent. Clearly, the honor of the South American region is placed on the shoulders of Lionel Messi and his teammates. Let's wait and see, will they complete the assigned mission?