BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Luciana Medina was so nervous that she may barely sleep the evening earlier than Saturday’s match between Argentina and Mexico which may have all however knocked the soccer-mad South American nation from the World Cup.After the sport, she couldn’t cease smiling.“I’m so proud. I really beloved the match,” Medina, a 23-year-old communications scholar, stated whereas carrying an Argentina jersey. “I’m so completely satisfied.”Argentines breathed a collective sigh of reduction Saturday afternoon because the nation obtained a decisive 2-0 victory over Mexico dissipating doubts that had emerged about Lionel Messi’s workforce after the shock loss towards Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. That loss had despatched the nation virtually right into a state of nationwide mourning. “The entire week was very unhappy, everybody was very aggressive as nicely, as in the event that they had been misplaced, with out understanding what to do,” Medina stated. “We had been all very nervous.”María del Carmen Martínez, 60, stated she was “very tense” when she arrived at a plaza in Buenos Aires to observe the match on big screens.“I’m completely satisfied now,” the retail employee stated with a smile. “It’s as if the gamers lastly wakened.”Manuel Gauto, 21, agreed he noticed a distinct workforce on the sector than the one which fell earlier than Saudi Arabia.“They rose to the event and put their hearts into it,” Gauto stated. “They’ve one other perspective now.”The temper was utterly completely different in Mexico Metropolis, the place hundreds had gathered in bars and plazas to comply with the match solely to be left dissatisfied by their workforce’s efficiency.The coach “gave away the sport,” complained Daniel Martínez minutes after the match ended. “We’re utterly destroyed, however this doesn’t finish right here.”There have been lengthy intervals of silence in Mexico Metropolis’s Revolution Sq. as followers discovered few moments to have a good time.“I’m crying out of emotion but in addition disappointment,” Lupita Díaz stated. “I like soccer however Mexico is failing us now.” In Buenos Aires, the stress was virtually palpable as hundreds gathered on a sizzling summer season day to observe the decisive sport, and an eerie silence fell over the group all through the primary half as neither facet obtained a objective and doubts as soon as once more crept in in regards to the workforce lengthy regarded as one of many favorites to win the World Cup. “I went by way of quite a lot of feelings, first I used to be very nervous and anxious for the sport to start out and within the first half I noticed that one thing was lacking,” Valeria Benítez, 24, stated.All that pent up vitality made the group explode in jubilation when Messi scored the primary objective.“The planets aligned within the second half, I believed they performed nicely, there was a technique that was nicely thought out,” Benítez stated.Karen Veliz, a 36-year-old accountant, went to observe the match along with her household and pals, however discovered it onerous to have enjoyable at first. “I used to be tremendous, tremendous nervous. It was solely after they received the primary objective that I may lastly chill out,” she stated.For Ariel Rivera, a 37-year-old, software program developer, stated that Saturday’s victory confirmed “there may be nonetheless hope.”“Argentina has all the things that it wants to have the ability to win,” Rivera stated. “I believe we’re going to go far.” ———-Related Press author Maria Verza contributed from Mexico Metropolis.
Argentina breathes collective sigh of reduction after victory
