A wave of euphoria has gripped Argentina at the gates of the World Cup. Leo Messi's fifth and his last chance to win it. The students and teachers who have given them permission not to go to class when the Albiceleste play know it. It has been stated that no attendance will not count. The euphoria has also moved to Qatar. Yesterday a colony of 300 Argentines disembarked and immediately went to the University of Doha to receive the team. The landing was scheduled for 10:45 p.m., but it is already known that Argentine punctuality is sometimes a victim of improvisation. And Scaloni's men landed four hours later since they decided to have dinner after the game that faced them in Abu Dhabi against the national team of the United Arab Emirates.
Even so, the fans endured stoically and with great joy. The 23 degrees of temperature, a figure considered "fresh" in Qatar helped. “I have sold my car to be here. I already did it in Russia 2018. So I went back and went to work to buy another one. I will do the same when I return from Doha. It is an older model every time but nobody takes this away from me”, a fan related to the Argentine correspondents displaced to Qatar. "I quitted my job. When I come back I'll look for another. But if I didn't leave him, I couldn't come," explained another. An Argentine fan even arrived with a Maradona painting and a silver frame. The party was complete when two white vans arrived and about 15 venues dressed in light blue and white with an Argentine flag got off. In total, according to the newspaper El Clarín, there are some 12,000 Argentines in Qatar who will cheer on the albiceleste.
"Meeeeessi, Meeeeessi, Meeeeessi", the fans sang for the cameras. "This is going to be the year of Argentina, which has good captains like Messi and Di María", read another of the most sung songs in Arabic. According to the newspaper El Clarín, even Sergio 'Chino' Vittor, an Argentine defender who has been playing for a couple of seasons in Qatar, approached the University. He wore the shirt with the number 8 number of Marcos Acuña, his teammate at Racing.
With this street party, Messi and company arrived at the University of Doha at 3 in the morning, Qatari time, a place that they will share with the Spain of Luis Enrique during their participation in the World Cup. Messi by the way, without Kun Agüero, he won't share a room with anyone. The Argentine striker trained today with the group at 5:00 p.m. in a session behind closed doors.
It remains to be seen if the coach Lionel Scaloni makes any changes to the list. Despite the 5-0 win against the United Arab Emirates, the performances of players like Juan Foyth, at a slow pace after overcoming a left knee injury, were not to the coach's liking. "There are players who are not completely well. There is a possibility of changing the list of 26," said the coach. A worrying message after a game in which Romero, Papu Gómez Dybala and Nico González did not play. "Some are touched and it was not convenient to risk them. The four non-players as a precaution," he added.
The AFA may only make changes to the list as long as it is confirmed by FIFA doctors that there is an injury that prevents the player in question from playing in the World Cup. Finally Nico González returned home and in his place Scaloni summoned the Atlético de Madrid player, Ángel Correa. Argentina will begin their journey on November 22 against Saudi Arabia, they will face Mexico on Saturday the 26th and Poland on Wednesday the 30th.
