2023-11-05 13:03:08
Football is so beautiful and the joy generated by victory is so great, when it comes, that one eventually forgets how the results came about. That same forgetfulness does not occur when one loses. Immediately afterwards, linked to the fall, the reproaches begin. Defeats always hurt, but sometimes they leave a horrible taste and other times not so much: depending on what was given.
Boca reached the final of Conmebol Libertadores 2023 without winning a game after the group stage. If he had been eliminated before the final, it would not have been illogical. He arrived hugging the penalty area and that’s how he stopped to play in the final.
The aesthetic dimension of the game, that which has to do with styles, with tools and forms staged to overcome the rival, is something that is often overshadowed when a team wins. Winning is pleasing, because football is a game and it is also competition and in competition the winner is rewarded.
If you were enthusiastic, if you felt for a moment that Boca could be champion of America, claiming now for the tie game is hypocrisy.
The phrase “you play how you live” is usually evoked. Boca has that DNA where it doesn’t always play well but many times it manages to win. Partly because of the weight of his history, partly because of the hierarchy of the players of the moment and partly also because of the respect that rivals and referees show him.
In football, on many occasions, the results are as relevant as they are fortuitous: you can play better than your rival and lose or play poorly and win, leaving endless variations in between. At the Maracaná, Boca could and should have lost in the ninety minutes and could have won in the one hundred and twenty minutes if they took advantage of the extra man and managed to score the tying goal. It is true, the VAR forgave him for Valentino’s irresponsible header, he had almost no dangerous situations until his right back and the team’s scorer (the Peruvian Advíncula) took that formidable left foot and generated little or nothing afterwards in the rest of the time. game; but this was not a performance not very different from what happened in the semis and quarters.
But unlike past opportunities, now sadness includes anger and reproach. Why did you take him out to Barco? Why did Figal also come out? Could he have come out to play a little later? Genuine questions, which some assume to insult everything that revolves around them, when it should not be that way.
Boca’s performance in the 2023 Copa Libertadores is extremely similar to the performance of the Argentine team in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Chiquito Romero put on the Goyco gloves and took the team much higher than it should have reached per game. Is it logical to change horses in the middle of the field? I don’t think so.
Sports triumph is not the only thing that matters. Shared experiences are also notable facts.
In a final, the most important thing is to maximize your chances of winning and for Boca that meant defending well and playing a long game. In the end it was not given, but it was almost fulfilled.
Therefore, if you were enthusiastic, if you felt for a moment that you could be champion of America, claiming now for the tie game is hypocrisy, because until the last minute Boca was in a match against a better rival, both in the game and in the hierarchy of his players. The only thing that could tip the balance in favor of Boca Juniors was the public and its rich history.
The “Negro” Fontanarrosa said “The football that is worth it is the one that remains in the memory.” Probably, this team is not going to leave a great memory, but the fan will remember Chiquito’s penalties and the experience of winning Rio de Janeiro. Sports triumph is not the only thing that matters. Shared experiences are also notable events.
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