Atlanta —
Often in life, moments pass us by, and we do not have even the slightest support to grab onto. Before we know it, they are gone and we are left wishing we could have enjoyed them a little longer.
And sometimes there are moments that you can see before they happen. Moments when you are able to grasp their meaning, their greatness, nanoseconds before they become reality. The moment when life gives you the opportunity to fully exist in the spectacle and absorb it.
For the vast majority of the more than 68,000 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Tuesday, that moment came when Lautaro Martinez slowed down on the right flank of Argentina’s attack, assessed the situation in front of him and crossed.
It’s such a cliché, but clichés exist for a reason: it played out like slow motion. The ball flew towards the penalty area, over the Egyptian Yasser Ibrahim and towards the head of Enzo Fernandez.
There was enough time to think. Enough time to say to yourself: “Oh my God, they scored.” Plenty of time to prepare for the tidal wave of noise from the blue and white-clad fans crammed into one of the World Cup’s best venues.
Of course, Fernandez was not mistaken. Header of a lifetime, miraculous comeback with three goals in 13 minutes to send the ball into the goal Albiceleste reached the quarter-finals by beating the Egyptians 3–2.
After two days of hand-wringing over the World Cup being derailed by US President Donald Trump’s phone call to Gianni Infantino over Folarin Balogun’s red card, Egypt and Argentina reminded us all what this tournament is really about. The underdog’s fighting spirit and the champions’ steely resolve combined to create the ultimate drama.
For those lucky enough to be in this building, the experience will be forever etched in their memory. And we are lucky enough to know how this happens.
On paper, Argentina is likely to push back the Egyptians. Talent shown for Albiceleste makes them potential multiple world champions, something that hasn’t been done for generations. The Egyptians have one standout player in Mohamed Salah, who is already several years behind his best.
But as Cape Verde reminded Argentines last week, World Cup matches are not won on paper. They are defeated with courage and steel, using the greatest opportunities.
And Egypt prepared for battle.
Pharaohs didn’t shy away from the challenge posed by the defending champions and stuck with them in the opening minutes until Ibrahim rose above the Argentine defense to head home Emiliano Martinez. Small groups of Egyptian fans in the stadium went wild, jumping and tearing off their shirts as their team went crazy underneath them.
A few minutes later, it looked like the football gods had found favor with Egypt. Lionel Messi’s penalty was saved by Mohamed Shobeir, who spent the rest of the first half acting as if he had been anointed the savior of his nation. He made save after save, putting up a brick wall in his own goal as Argentina looked rattled. The Egyptian fans at the stadium’s 300 level were in the minority but felt brave enough to jeer the Argentine crowd behind them.
A controversy that will live long in the hearts of Egyptians arose in the 55th minute after Mostafa Zico appeared to have doubled the goal. pharaohs lead. As Egypt celebrated wildly, referee Francois Letexier went to the video assistant referee (VAR) screen to review a foul that may have occurred during the build-up to the game. Letexier had Zico’s goal waved away due to a foul that occurred 18 seconds before the apparent goal.
After the match, Egypt coach Hosan Hassan and Zico himself criticized Letexier for his performance during the match. There were potential penalties, hard tackles that weren’t whistled for fouls, soft calls for Egypt that were ignored when similar moves were made by Argentina. It’s safe to say that the referee will not be a welcome guest in the Land of the Pharaohs anytime soon.
Zico eventually doubled Egypt’s lead in another blow on the counter-attack. The score 2:0 hardly seemed plausible. Even with Egypt’s complaints about the referee, the stage seemed set for a major upset.
But no team with Lionel Messi on it has ever been truly dead.
Watching the Argentine top ten is like watching a conductor working with a football orchestra. With his movements, he chooses where Argentina will play: when he goes in one direction, the play goes the other way, but when he runs, the ball flies towards him. He passes passes to his teammates, slowly moving around the field with the leisurely nature of an evening stroll.
At 39, Messi conserves his energy when he can, when he needs it most. When such moments come, he explodes.
As Argentina tried to get back into contention, Messi grabbed onto the game as if he were a boa constrictor on Egypt’s chest. The pressure increased and increased and increased until it felt as if Pharaohs and their fans could hardly breathe.
And then came the first moment of genius. Messi flicked the ball over the Egyptian defense to Christian Romero, who headed home. 2:1 in the 79th minute.
Albiceleste went in search of an equalizer and Messi’s movement intensified, tightening its stranglehold on Egypt’s upset bid. When they found him, it was the perfect reading of the game, which the diminutive genius had mastered late in his career, that was crucial.
He played the ball and ran towards the goal. He saw the pass bounce off some goals, fly around the penalty area and fall to the ground a few yards away from Shobeir. He arrived at just the right moment, taking the lightest pass from Gonzalo Montiel and knocking the ball from the goalkeeper’s hand, off the crossbar and into the net.
He celebrated wildly, clenching his fist as he raced to the corner and hugged his teammates tightly. The stands shook from the tramp of tens of thousands of jumping Argentines, screaming hoarsely.
When Fernandez headed into the net almost 10 minutes later, the Argentines were plunged into a realm of sporting nirvana that can only happen once or twice in a lifetime. Strangers were hugging, margaritas were flying (at least I think it was the margarita that struck me, it smelled like fruit), shirts were flying off. One fan just kept screaming, “Oh my God!” again and again.
Outside the Egyptian gates, a huge group of Argentines were jumping and dancing, singing at the top of their lungs until their throats couldn’t take it anymore. At level 300 they were throwing shirts and scarves over their heads with incredulous grins on their faces. When the official whistle blew, they roared with joy, relief and gratitude.
Their hero worship on the pitch below was enough to move Messi to tears as he and his teammates celebrated the victory in front of a huge crowd. Music was playing from the stadium’s sound system, but over the Argentines’ singing and shouting, not a word could be heard.
It is this kind of moment that makes this tournament – and sport in general – so special, so important for our common humanity. The overwhelming joy of this moment led to Argentine fans hugging security guards, hugging journalists, hugging everyone who stood in front of them, such was their desire to simply share this moment. The human desire for connection manifests itself in many ways, as we saw at this remarkable World Cup, and never more so than after a once-in-a-lifetime escape.
Argentina celebrated as if they had already won the cup again. They still have to win three more to return to the heights they reached in Doha.
And even if they do, it’s hard to imagine they’ll feel the victory as deeply and fully as the one that came Tuesday in Atlanta.