Qualifiers: The team played with boldness, intelligence and heart What leaves Argentina’s victory over Bolivia in La Paz

Some time before the match, colleague and friend Daniel Miguez was recounting this funny exchange between two of his grandchildren, four-year-old twins.

-I think I saw Messi in the street.

-No, it cannot be. Messi is not present in the cities. Messi is present in the stadiums.

It’s almost a symbol of these strange times we’re living in and how they view us in the area. There is no human Messi: he is a Messiman, a superhero who transcends boundaries and perhaps that is why the Bolivian players had to ask people to cheer for their team and not Messi. Moreover, in a few moments during the match, a timid little song was heard from the local fans calling for the superhero who was on the bench, but sneaked out in sneakers, without the possibility of entering. Very rare.

In South America they envy us for the way the Argentine national team plays (with or without Messi) and see us as a true global power while in the same region they look at us with pity and bewilderment due to the political times that surround us.

Write a column in it Nation Wilbur Barral, former foreign trade minister of Brazil: “Much of what we saw in the 2018 election campaign (and what we are seeing now in Argentina) repeats the foreign trade playbook.” Correct alternative North American (alt-right), a political phenomenon that has been expanding for a decade. The model repeats partial truths or complete lies through various channels – the media and social networks – to capitalize on mass discontent. Its statements range from normalizing the absurd (the Earth is flat) to direct attacks on traditional actors through… deep country Or “class”. That’s why a feeling of déjà vu is inevitable when you see Javier Miley.” He goes on to warn of the dangers of “anti-science.”

Everything is strange these days, and what happened at the Hernando Siles stadium also goes beyond the guidelines we assume have been set. In La Paz you can’t play but the Argentines press and run more than the Bolivians and on the same field where they once scored six goals against us, the national team won 3 to 0, clearly through authority and even through dancing.

It’s strange to see this much difference. It’s strange to see Angel Correa wearing Messi’s No. 10 shirt (should we start getting used to it?) It’s strange to see the Uruguayan referee Esteban Ostokhic allowing the Uruguayans to hit that much. It’s strange to see the blows that Bielsa received. In Uruguay.

As Scaloni said, the national team’s virtue “is the desire to play, and not being afraid to do it with the ball.” The qualifiers will continue on October 12 and 17. On the 12th, Argentina will play with Paraguay at home, and on the 17th with Peru as a visitor. Almost immediately after that comes the general election on October 22.

You can wait quietly until the double date of the qualifiers whether Messi plays stadiums and cities or not. The other thing, the 22nd thing, is the most troubling one, and we need to see it. It must be played boldly, intelligently, and with the heart that the Scaloni team puts into every show. Because you have to win at all costs.