Piensen en estas cosas por un momento. ¿Acaso todo estuvo realmente normal?
1. La familia de Messi no acudió al estadio.
2. Se esperaba que el presidente de Argentina asistiera, pero nunca apareció.
3. Diego Simeone fue visto en las gradas durante casi todos los partidos de Argentina, sin embargo, estuvo ausente en la final.
4. Lautaro Martínez ni siquiera fue mostrado en pantalla por un solo minuto, mucho menos le dieron tiempo de juego.
5. Enzo recibió dos tarjetas amarillas y fue expulsado.
6. La lesión de Lisandro Martínez. Es el tipo de jugador que ha seguido jugando incluso mientras sangraba en partidos ordinarios, pero en una final del Mundial se lesionó sin ningún contacto aparente de un oponente.
7. La lesión de Cristian Romero.
8. Las extrañas sustituciones de Scaloni.
9. Argentina no registró ni un solo tiro a puerta en los primeros 90 minutos. Incluso después de 120 minutos, solo lograron dos tiros a puerta.
10. España completó casi 800 pases, mientras que Argentina completó menos de 300. Es difícil de creer.
11. Argentina seguía perdiendo la posesión. Incluso cuando lograban recuperar el balón, a menudo se lo devolvían directamente a España con su siguiente acción. Una y otra vez, sacaban el balón desde su propio área penal, llegaban al mediocampo y luego inmediatamente cedían la posesión.
12. Cristian Romero no estrechó la mano de Trump.
13. Hasta ahora, Julián Álvarez, De Paul, Lautaro Martínez, Enzo Fernández y Lisandro Martínez aún no han regresado a Argentina.
14. Finalmente, a Messi no se le otorgó el Balón de Oro. ¿Por qué medida estadística Rodri merecía más que Messi?
15. Messi recién volvió hoy directamente a Rosario y se fue a su casa sin saludar a nadie.
Considerando todo, tengo que decir que algo pasó aquí, justo como lo que ocurrió en la era de Maradona en 1990.
El presidente de la FIFA brasileño de entonces simplemente le arrebató la Copa del Mundo a Maradona. Maradona lloró y dijo que Havelange (el presidente de la FIFA en ese entonces) le había quitado la Copa del Mundo.
Hoy, Infantino quizá haya hecho exactamente lo mismo. Dado que narrativas falsas como "Messi, chico de la FIFA, amañado" se extendieron por todo el Mundial, tal vez hicieron esto para que la imagen de la FIFA no se viera manchada y el negocio de mil millones de dólares en Europa no se arruinara.
No sé cuál es la verdad aquí, pero tarde o temprano saldrá a la luz. Hasta entonces, esperamos...
Y fanáticos de Ronaldo, escuchen
Ustedes difundieron la agenda anti-Messi durante todo el torneo. Nunca los olvidaremos. Vergüenza para ustedes, Loser FC.
Bueno, parece que la FIFA ahora no es más corrupta porque no ganó Argentina. Hasta el miércoles lo era, ahora ya no. Hubo muchos abrazos y sonrisas de Infantino con España. ¿Podemos decir que España ganó robando? ¿La podemos llamar Españifa? ¿Podemos decir que a Rodri le regalaron el premio y que no se lo merecia? ¿Podemos hacer una campaña de 4 años diciendo que son ladrones y no lo merecían? ¿Podemos decir que el árbitro europeo los favoreció claramente y que esto fue un plan para dejarnos afuera? ¿Podemos ahora empezar a ser tan patéticos como ustedes en los últimos 4 años? Total, la FIFA es corrupta y es un negocio, nadie lo puede negar, ¿no? Es lo que vienen diciendo desde 2021 que empezamos a ganar todo.
It is ridiculous to claim that Spain’s World Cup victory puts the lie to allegations that Argentina has been receiving preferential treatment.
The preferential treatment of Argentina was consistent, and consistently visible throughout the tournament.
Even in the final, Spain had a perfectly legitimate goal disallowed, and although Argentina received six yellow cards (with one player sent off after receiving a second), they deserved many more.
Any other team playing similarly would have had at least two players sent off and been handed a full deck of cards.
It seems to me quite clear that the FIFA leadership determined that its commercial interests dictated that Argentina needed to stay in contention beyond what the team’s performance warranted.
Ensuring Messi continued to play throughout the tournament was a FIFA priority. Not because of his indisputable qualities as a great player, but because of his unparalleled ability to draw viewers.
World Cup finals are often anti-climactic. This one was doubly so because one team had no business being in it, and would under normal circumstances have been eliminated several games earlier.
Gianni Infantino’s only significant accomplishment has been to make the world nostalgic for Sepp Blatter.
I'm a huge fan of rules being applied consistently across a tournament.
How is Enzo supposed to know that a tackle like that is going to get a second yellow card when those calls have not been made against Argentina for the whole tournament?
Completely understand his shock.
Me gustaría acordarme de los argentinos decentes que puedan leer esto, que algunos hay, que saben ganar y perder, para decirles que la chupen muchísimo ellos también. Jodeos, jodeos, hijos de puta. Nunca os recuperaréis de esta.
In Georgia I entered a Chick-fil-A drive-thru line of forty cars.
I turned off my engine. I prepared to wait the way my ancestors waited out a siege.
Six minutes later I was holding chicken.
I do not know what happened to the other thirty-nine cars. The line moved like water that had somewhere to be.
A young woman walked between the cars taking orders on a small tablet, on foot, in the sun, smiling like the sun was her idea.
I said thank you.
She said, "My pleasure."
I did not think about it then. I should have.
At the window I thanked the young man for the food.
"My pleasure."
I thanked him for the sauce.
"My pleasure."
I thanked him for thanking me—
"My pleasure."
I want to be clear about what was happening.
This was a duel.
In Japan I trained in courtesy for forty years. Bowing angles. Seasonal greetings. The correct depth of apology for seventeen distinct situations.
I was a white belt in that drive-thru.
I escalated. I used my most formal English. I thanked him on behalf of my entire family line.
He said, "My pleasure," and gave me extra sauce.
Extra sauce. Unprovoked. A counterattack.
I returned the next day to reclaim my honor.
It was Sunday. The restaurant was closed.
All of them were closed. In the entire country. They close every Sunday, and they have closed every Sunday since the beginning, because the founder made a promise, and the promise did not expire when he did.
I stood in the empty parking lot and understood I had lost twice.
Once to a teenager with sauce.
Once to a man I will never meet, who kept his word so long it became a building.
In my country we say a samurai's word is his life.
I had never seen a restaurant say it back.
I returned Monday. I ordered. And this time I said it first, before she could.
"My pleasure."
She smiled and said, "It sure is."
America, I surrender.
It was my pleasure.
The older i get, the more i realize that someone making time for you is one of the clearest signs they care. Everyone is busy. Everyone has responsibilities and their own battles to fight. So when someone consistently chooses to spend their time with you, checks on you, and makes space for you in their life, it means something. time is one thing we can never get back, and people don't give it away lightly.
Phoenix was 1 for the books. Minneapolis get ya affairs in order. You are up next Thursday. Get them tickets asap if you haven’t already. https://t.co/CZfq9MdFtH
We’re sanctioning Russia at speed and scale.
Today’s measures, together with the upcoming 21st sanctions package, will add 250 individuals and entities to the Russia sanctions regime.
This is our biggest round of individual designations since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion, and includes also the EU’s largest-ever cyber sanctions package.
The financial backbone of Russia’s war machine is the main target. Every measure weakens Moscow’s ability to wage war.
My doorstep ahead of today’s Foreign Affairs Council ↓
A tourist was seriously injured after a bison tossed them about 8 feet into the air in Yellowstone National Park. The attack was captured on video by photographer Mike Macleod.