Half a world away, the beloved Argentina men’s team lifted their third World Cup trophy. And the nation began to march.
In a kind of euphoric procession that took place across the country, millions of Argentines flocked to the central squares and monuments of cities and towns large and small.
In Rosario, the hometown of their World Cup hero Lionel Messi, they marched to the flag memorial. And here in the capital, Buenos Aires, fans walked down broad avenues that pointed to the city’s . Effective Center:
A large plaza centered around a 235-foot tall monument known simply as the Obelisk.”It’s our pilgrimage,” said Elsa Díaz, 70, a craftswoman wrapped in an Argentine flag, who took the same walk she did in 1978 when Argentina won the World Cup for the first time, but this time with her daughter, 32
.
Daughter. “Let’s all go to the obelisk. It is our monument and the center of Argentina. In a country where football is a religion, this was one of the holiest Sundays. net – beating France, ending a World Cup final at the age of and bringing the league back to this football-obsessed country for the first time since 1986 – Argentina went into a kind of ecstasy. Strangers hugged.
Friends kissed. Grown men cried. And everyone shouted, “Argentina, my love!” yelled a teary-eyed man during overtime. “Argentina, my love!” “Emotion, joy and a release,” said Federico Polo, 19, right after the win. Thousands had gathered in Centennial Park. in western Buenos Aires to watch the game on a big screen installed by the city.
After the game, everyone had the same idea: go to the obelisk.But the streets were congested, the subway was closed and the city buses were parked. So they left.
“All of Argentina is on this road right now,” said Sergio Gutiérrez, 46, a pharmacist who plays drums. , who walked with his wife and three children along Corrientes Avenue, a famous thoroughfare closely linked to tango due to the numerous theaters and dance halls that line the street. “We’ll go until we can’t anymore.
