FIFA World Cup 2022: Clowns Versus Rascals
THE WEEK India|November 20, 2022
Brazil and Argentina head to qatar as hot favourites. While Neymar leads a hugely talented side, Messi, in perhaps his last world cup, is in search of the missing silverware. Two of the biggest democracies in latin america share a passion for the beautiful game, food and colonial history
Milan Sime Martinic
FIFA World Cup 2022: Clowns Versus Rascals

Rising less than a metre from the edge of the sidewalk in Buenos Aires’s Boca neighbourhood, tall, blue-topped gold columns mark the massive perimeter of the chocolate-box-like La Bombonera, one of the world’s grand temples of football. The Alberto José Armando Stadium is set in a working-class, Italian-immigrant neighbourhood at the mouth of the Riachuelo waterway where its waters flow into the Río de la Plata.

Looking and feeling a lot like the South Side of Chicago, the area takes a sudden and decidedly Argentinian air as one notices the different colours of wooden and corrugated-tin walls that clad the houses, and then there are the milonga dancers, street tables, and bars that brighten the storied El Caminito, the little road of tango fame that inspired its name.

Under the imposing shade of the stadium, home of the popular Boca Juniors club, one feels that there is more in the moment than concrete and colours. Standing there, tempted by the smells of chimichurri-topped choripán sandwiches from the street grills and serenaded by the romantic strands of tango from the traditional bandoneon, one can almost hear the drums and the fans inside, ghosts of games that go back a half-a-century and more.

Two thousand kilometres north of La Bombonera, at the majestic Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, too, the ghosts of games past live. Sitting in the empty stands, you can feel Brazil’s disappointment at its loss to Uruguay in the final of the World Cup in 1950, the year Argentina withdrew its participation due to “a disagreement with the Brazilian Football Confederation”.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 20, 2022-Ausgabe von THE WEEK India.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 20, 2022-Ausgabe von THE WEEK India.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS THE WEEK INDIAAlle anzeigen
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
THE WEEK India

What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?

IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.

time-read
5 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
THE WEEK India

Trump and the crisis of liberalism

Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
Men eye the woman's purse
THE WEEK India

Men eye the woman's purse

A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
When trees hold hands
THE WEEK India

When trees hold hands

A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges

time-read
3 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
Ms Gee & Gen Z
THE WEEK India

Ms Gee & Gen Z

The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing

time-read
5 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
THE WEEK India

Vikram Seth-a suitable man

Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
Superman bites the dust
THE WEEK India

Superman bites the dust

When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
THE WEEK India

OLD MAN AND THE SEA

Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port

time-read
4 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE WEEK India

Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets

THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
THE WEEK India

Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay

AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
December 08, 2024