Javier Mascherano only knows one result in the Olympic world: winning. He competed in two Games, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, and won the gold medal in both. But there is one more fact that magnifies his figure, already immense for being one of the two Argentines who achieved two Olympic golds (the other is the polo player Juan Nelson in Paris 1924 and Berlin 1936): In those two events he played 12 games and achieved 12 victories.
On the verge of 40 years (he will celebrate them on June 8) He will once again enjoy the Olympic magnetism, now as coach of the Argentine national team, with the poise that comes from the experience and responsibility of leading the team. Happy after the decisive 1-0 against Brazil in the last match of the Venezuelan Olympic Qualifiers, he declared: “The most important thing is what the boys have done, who have qualified us for the Olympic Games once again. Is not my bussiness, I only accompany this great group of players. The tournament is theirs.”
Then he expanded his concept: “We had the objective of qualifying and It was a great relief for everyone.. First for them, because for me, we were the best team in the tournament. In the seven games we went out to get the three points and for one reason or another some results that we achieved at some point in the game escaped us. Against Brazil it was clear who took the reins of the game. Our plan did not change. It was a matter of not despairing. I am happy to be able to enjoy a process like this.”
Masche’s connection with the Games began in Athens 2004, at the age of 20. Weakness of the coach Marcelo Bielsa, in a rare event he debuted first in the Argentine national team and only later in River, his club, precisely the August 3, 2003, in the team led by the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini. Although the captain’s ribbon in the Greek capital was worn by one of the three reinforcements over 23 years old: Roberto Ayala.
The campaign was devastating: 6 to 0 to Serbia and Montenegro, 2 to 0 to Tunisia and 1 to 0 to Australia in the group stage. Already in the quarterfinals there was a 4-0 win over Costa Rica, later a 3-0 win over Italy in the semi-finals and a 1-0 win over Paraguay in the decisive match. Six played, six won, 17 goals for and none against, and with Carlos Tevez as the top scorer (8 conquests). Unbeatable.
In relation to that historic competition for Argentine soccer, the Jefecito recalled his experience in a video made prior to the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, held in Buenos Aires: “Athens 2004 is a very nice memory. Living the Olympic experience was something new for all of us. It was an unforgettable experience. We spent three or four days preparing for the final, getting up at six in the morning because the game was at 10″.
In relation to the final against the Guaraní team, Mascherano shared: “That day started very early. We got up, had breakfast in the Olympic Village and from there we left for the Olympic stadium in Athens to play the final.”
Furthermore, he told of his feelings once the victory against Paraguay was achieved (1 to 0, with a goal from Carlos Tevez): “First is the relief of being able to win a title with the Argentine team after so much time and then how everything happened. Being able to win the first Olympic gold medal in football. So it was an unforgettable day for Argentine sports.” Much later, Mascherano also remembered that on Greek soil “the match against the Australians was the most difficult”. “It was a tough opponent, it was a very hard-fought match, with many situations, but we were able to convert and, from there, we advanced with much more ease.
Four years later he was proud to be chosen by Sergio Batista, coach of the Olympic team, as one of the three over 23 to defend the title on Chinese soil. The other two were Juan Román Riquelme and Nicolás Pareja.
Next to A crop of excellent footballers, including Lionel Messi, Sergio Romero, Ezequiel Garay, Fernando Gago, Pablo Zabaleta, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Sergio Agüero and Ángel Di María, Argentina was crowned two-time Olympic champion. Once again there were six wins in a row, although this time they conceded two goals: 2-1 against the Ivory Coast, 1-0 against Australia and 2-0 against Serbia in the group stage, followed by a 2-1 win against the Netherlands in extra time (quarterfinals), a resounding 3-0 win over Brazil in the semis and the decisive 1-0 win over Nigeria in the final, with that goal from Di María over the goalkeeper.
Without even taking into account what his double Olympic gold medal meant for the history of Argentine sports, Masche declared to TyC Sports: “From football it gives us enormous joy to put Argentina at the top. I don’t have words to explain this. “Winning a medal for your country is something very nice.”
In relation to his new role, he added on Chinese soil: “I came as one of the elders and had a little more responsibility than in Athens”. And about the final against Nigeria he analyzed: “We didn’t have a good game. The opponent also plays, he knows how to counter our players. That’s why it was difficult for us. The match had a slow pace, it was not the best played in this tournament. It was a final, we both had to be careful.”
In Paris, Javier Mascherano will seek to carve his name in stone again. Because he will arrive in Paris with that epic of having won the 12 games he played as a player, but at the same time will try to give Argentina its third Olympic gold medalwhich would make him the only inhabitant of our country with three golds.
The first objective, which was to qualify, has already been achieved. With the plus that In the Pre-Olympic they did not lose in the seven games played (three wins and four draws). Masche and the Olympic Games meet again and that aura of glory and gold lights up again around him.
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