Oh, Argentines. You have such a flair for the dramatic.
This morning on TyC Sports, the broadcast crew held an on-air moment of silence after La Albiceleste’s pitiful 3-0 loss to Croatia. It’s sad and hilarious on a multitude of different levels.
Argentine TV held a moment of silence for the national team this morning pic.twitter.com/74SfgDa7JP
— The18 (@the18com) June 22, 2018
First off, just look how awkward this entire thing is. I wonder whose idea it was in the production meeting to say “Hey, I really think we should all stand on live TV and not say a word to honor the death of the Selección. The viewers will really connect with that.”
Where are the Argentines I know and (sometimes) love that are the loudest and most obnoxious in the room. Where’s the yelling for Sampaoli’s head? Or the disdain for Willy Caballero? (I’m sure you can find clips of all of those things.)
You know the other thing, though the odds are slim, Argentina hasn’t officially been knocked out of the tournament. It may feel like they have been eliminated and that their team really has no chance (let’s be honest here, they don’t), but there is still a slim possibility Argentina could make it to the knock out rounds.
The Iceland vs. Nigeria result will clear up the path that Argentina will need to take to miraculously make it to the Round of 16. The best result for Argentina would be a Nigeria victory over Iceland. Then Argentina would need to beat Nigeria in its next match and hope for a tie or a Iceland loss vs. Croatia. An Iceland victory vs Croatia and an Argentina victory over Nigeria would lead to goal differential. You can check all the tiebreaker rules for the World Cup here.
This moment from Argentine TV perfectly encapsulated the Argentina national team: a not-well-thought-out, feeling-sorry-for-themselves unit with no leadership. If someone brought the moment of silence idea up in my production meeting, I would tell them to grow up and figure out some hot takes to make about Jorge Sampaoli’s 90-minute panic attack that occurred on the touchline yesterday.
KHQLOCALNEWS: RT FOXSoccer: Sampaoli's reaction to Croatia's goal: pic.twitter.com/YpPPm0Aerf
— 590 KQNT (@590KQNT) June 21, 2018