REPORTAGE – Pride, tears of joy… In an Argentina where inflation is expected to approach 100% this year, victory at the World Cup has the flavor of a collective reward.
Buenos Aires
At the final whistle on Sunday, Soledad no longer even has the strength to jump for joy. The young woman takes off her foggy glasses and falls to her knees on the lawn of Francisco Seeber Square, in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires. On his cheeks, tears of joy replace those of dismay that Kylian Mbappé’s hat-trick had caused to flow. “I almost passed out, it’s like my heart is going to shoot out of my chest, she breathes between sobs. We deserve it, we suffered so much during this match and we suffer so much on a daily basis as a people… This victory, this joy, we deserved it.
In an Argentina where inflation is expected to approach 100% this year, this third star has the flavor of a collective reward. Around Soledad, the jubilation of the thousands of supporters who came to follow this final on a giant screen covers the voice of the Argentinian commentator who shouts into his microphone. Ramiro holds up a portrait of Maradona, or rather…