The triumph of the national team against Mexico last Saturday had as its common denominator the suffering of millions of Argentines. In a personal capacity, and with the reference of the people who accompanied me during the match, we all underwent the development of the match. Argentina wasn’t playing a good game, repeating some past mistakes. Pessimism dominated the scene, until the stroke of luck arrived: Lionel Messi’s great goal, a situation that meant an emotional outlet for players and fans. For those who were playing, this was reflected in the ease with which the team ended the game with another goal. And for the fans the way we all ended up celebrating.
An image that went around the world, and that will always go hand in hand with Lio’s goal, was that of Pablo Aimar crying, breathing nervously. Lionel Scaloni’s aide-de-camp could not hide the significance of that conquest. Continental Radio talked to Carlos Wyszengrad, sports psychologist (MN 25863) who analyzed this situation from his point of view: “When I see a coach of a professional team who is also a former player like Pablo Aimar, I see an evolved person who could find the moment to let off steam and not for this reason. Stop being a serious professional. I think it’s nice to express emotions even on the pitch and that it shouldn’t be taken as a weak point or an Achilles heel that will give the opponent an advantage”.
Many times, in the world of sport, the idea of hiding any kind of emotion or gesture from the person in front of you is promoted; that non-verbal communication that can be very useful for the current rival or for future opponents. In that gesture by Aimar, for many, the entire World Cup was warned of the tension that Lionel Scaloni’s selection was experiencing. Something as spontaneous and genuine as happened to Cordobese was analyzed by a professional: “In ancient Greece and Rome, sport was a fight for honour, for life. Clearly from the beginning, showing fear was not well received because you went out into an arena where another gladiator could kill you or even eat an animal. This carried over to the modern Olympic Games and in high performance sports, originally, it was not well seen to show emotion or weakness. We have heard many times about the coldness with which Roger Federer played, but if we go back to the Swiss’s early days, he was very emotional and impulsive. Just in his last game in the Laver Cup, Roger burst into tears and Rafael Nadal contained him as he should have. I think it’s nice to be able to express emotions, which is actually not frowned upon. In the most developed and evolved athletes it is even an advantage to connect with emotions and be able to express them”.
After the match, in the press conference, Scaloni was asked about that episode: “The feeling is that you are playing something more than a football match. We will try to correct it. It’s hard to make people understand that the sun will rise tomorrow, whether you win or lose.”
In a football-loving country like ours, this concept of a coach has been criticized by many people. Especially for the more passionate ones who load football with too much weight. But as leader of the group, according to Wyszengrand, the message that the DT launches is the correct one “It is logical and correct that the coaching staff bring this message of serenity. The coach has an influential role on the coaches. He will always be like this. In this case Scaloni must see beyond what the players see of him. Consequently, in winning or losing, there is a work process that goes beyond the World Cup. Logically, the World Cup is a very important stage, but it is not the last station of this train of competitive sports as it is a footballer’s career, even if for many it is his last World Cup ”summarizes Wyszengrad.
Now comes Poland, and another 90 minutes await us in which hearts will beat faster than normal and passions, once again, will show us that football is more than just a sport.
