The greatest trick the devil ever pulled off was convincing the world he didn’t exist.
There is a touch of Keyser Söze about Lionel Scaloni. There is a reason why Luis de la Fuente’s positional organisation, Thomas Tuchel’s strategic detail and Didier Deschamps’ attacking framework have all been analysed, to the minutest of details. Yet, no manager at this World Cup has slipped through tactical scrutiny quite like Argentina’s.
For every time Scaloni has been asked to explain an Argentine remontada, his answer has been the same: it is inexplicable, he does not understand it either. Wednesday’s semifinal against England was another case in point. Argentina overturned a deficit — only the second comeback in a World Cup semifinal this century — to win 2-1. Asked how his team did it, Scaloni offered only a smile.
“I am surprised. This group never ceases to surprise me. It’s very difficult to get people to understand what the players are doing. My understanding is that when we face adversity, when we smell blood, that’s when we play our best football.”
And yet, footballing discourse does not have room for hyperbole. ‘Smelling blood’ cannot account for 12 goals after the 75th minute, seven of them after the 90th. There has to be an explanation.
Against England, there was.