There is a satirical magazine in Argentina that promises 'a European solution for Argentine problems.' It is an early jab, before even opening the first page, at a certain sector of society that prefers to look abroad for the positives. The magazine is called Barcelona.
After another poor performance, in which Argentina was booed off the pitch to abuse from the stands, in which Messi offered photographers nearly a minute of scowls and hands on hips after nothing had gone his way, in which the opposition had clearer chances to win and in which - for all their attacking talent – Argentina’s goalkeeper was man of the match, the daggers are out.
There were chants in Santa Fe for Diego, as if the return of Maradona would bring some order to this mess. There were those evoking the memory of Marcelo Bielsa. There were those who simply wanted anything but this. No goals, a poor performance, and few - if any - signs of improvement from the opening draw with Bolivia.
And it could have been worse. Dayro Moreno blasted wide in the first half when all he had in front of him was an open goal. But the referee could well have, indeed perhaps should have, pointed to the spot and shown Nicolás Burdisso a red card for his foul on Adrián Ramos.
The mistake stemmed from a poor back pass from Gabriel Milito. Late in the second half an equally casual pass from Burdisso played substitute Teo Gutiérrez through on goal, only for Sergio Romero to save once again. It is not only up front where the game plan is not working for Argentina.
Pablo Zabaleta, the only change in the side, initially attacked down the right flank, but the forward runs were few and far between and soon vanished. Once again there was no consensus between the midfield and the front three.
And in amongst the mess, the lack of ideas, the missed passes, the boos, is the conundrum that is Messi. Dejected, he left the pitch, his chances to score limited to a freekick that he blasted up into the stands.
Lionel Messi was left dejected after Argentina's frustrating Wednesday performance against Colombia. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
The contrast between the Argentine Messi and his Barcelona alter ego is more and more stark with every game the national team plays. But what is clear is that the role with this club that allows him to excel and rightly be labeled the best player in the world is not even close to the role he plays for his country.
The Messi dilemma, the insults and the arguments over why Javier Pastore hasn’t played a single minute yet, or why Agüero doesn’t start will rumble on until next week’s match with Costa Rica. The fact that Sergio Batista is already having to class group matches as a ‘cup final’ tells the story of Argentina’s first two matches in this tournament.
With two points, however, and despite all the doom and gloom, Argentina should still qualify. It wasn’t the way things were meant to be after two games. Colombia having guaranteed their qualification first also wasn’t on the cards.
With their win over Costa Rica and the point against Argentina, Colombia are through to the next phase. After the displays by Yepes and Perea in defence, Guarín and Ramos from midfield plus the tireless effort from Falcao up front, it should surprise nobody. Yes, they should have settled the game early on, and they must improve their finishing, but that is the kind of problem that Argentina would love to have.
While Hernán Darío Gómez’s side go about their business, they may have to wait for their turn in the limelight. For now, the headlines are about Argentina, still looking for a solution, whether its European, or South American, or somewhere in between ...
