20 Years an Argentina Fan

2004 was when I started watching football seriously. I was 12 at that time. Earliest footballing memories include Shevchenko, Arsenal’s invincibles, and of course, Manchester United.

2006 is the first World Cup I remember watching. With India not being there (and I hope that changes one day), it was time to pick a country to support.

2006 – The Infatuation

I don’t quite remember how and why I started supporting Manchester United, but I know the exact moment when I decided that Argentina was going to be my team.

Group Stage: Argentina vs. Serbia & Montenegro

Esteban Cambiasso had just scored one of the most beautiful goals I had ever seen. A 24-pass move that involved almost every single Argentine on the field.

Crespo, Maxi Rodriguez, Cambiasso, Ayala, and who can forget Riquelme. Every move went through him. And then a certain 18-year-old boy wonder named Lionel Messi. Everyone knew this kid was special, but even he couldn’t get into the starting 11.

Argentina had a good run until Germany put a stop to it in a closely-fought quarter-final. In hindsight, I think that Argentina team underachieved considering how strong of a unit they were.

The 2006 World Cup was over, but I wanted to learn more about Argentina football and I wanted to learn more about this one name that I was hearing far too often – Diego Maradona.

My love affair with Argentina football had begun.

2010 – The Underachievers

The best World Cup we have had in recent times. Everything about this tournament was a pure vibe.

Africa’s first World Cup

Shakira’s waka waka, K’naan’s Wavin’ Flag

The mind-numbing vuvuzelas in the crowd

The Jabulani football that seemingly had a mind of its own

Paul the Octopus who knew the outcome of every single game before anyone else did

And Spain’s golden generation – it would’ve been a shame had this team not won a World Cup with the talent they had.

Argentina had a strong squad with Maradona given the responsibility of bringing back the same trophy he famously won for Argentina all those years back.

Tactically, Argentina were poor throughout the tournament and were deservedly knocked out in the quarter-finals (again) by a rampant Germany (again) that was just superior in every department.

2014 – The Pain

Argentina playing the final at the Maracana in Brazil was not something any Brazilian would’ve wanted. Seeing Argentina lift the trophy in their most sacred arena would have rubbed salt into the wounds left by that disastrous 7-1 thrashing they suffered against Germany.

But it was not meant to be.

It was Germany again. A heart-breaking, soul-crushing third successive World Cup loss to the same damn team. We were so so close.

2018 – The Chaos

I was living in Las Vegas when this World Cup came around.

A core memory from this World Cup was watching the Germany-Mexico game at Hofbräuhaus. A strong German support was cancelled out by an equally strong Mexican population that used to call Las Vegas home.

As an Argentina fan, it was a miracle we even got out of the group. Terrible performances right from day 1. The only memorable moment was Rojo’s late strike in a must-win game against Nigeria to get Argentina to the knockout stage.

France was the better team in the round of 16 and a lightning fast Mbappe in front of a Kante-Pogba midfield was impossible to deal with. This game will always be remembered for THAT strike from Pavard. It was all France after that.

2022 – The Glory

Every four years, I used to hope against hope that this would be our year. In Qatar, it finally was.

16 years of supporting Argentina and 5 World Cups later, the dream had come true.

There’s not a lot I want to write about this World Cup. A picture(s) is worth a thousand words, isn’t it?

2026 – The Last Dance

The overreliance on Messi is extremely concerning. Take him out of this 2026 team, and Argentina will really struggle to find the back of the net.

A word about Messi though – Everyone thought that he would go out on the ultimate high after Qatar, but this almost 39-year-old keeps defying logic.

As I am writing this, he has just scored a hat-trick against Algeria – his first for Argentina at a World Cup (edit – and now a brace against Austria makes him the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer. What a legend!)

It all feels incredibly full circle. From first seeing Messi at the 2006 World Cup – this long-haired diminutive teenager trying to find his feet, to now seeing that same kid leading his country, possibly for the final time at a World Cup. It’s been a privilege watching his entire career play out before my eyes.

I don’t know what’s going to happen in this tournament. But I hope the great man gets a sendoff fitting of his stature – with or without another World Cup.

The baton now passes to whoever is willing to step up..

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While trying to find photos to add to this blog, I came across a treasure trove of other non-Argentina football memories that may never make their way to my website. So, I thought I might as well document them here as a footnote.

Pune FC was Pune’s first professional club to play in India’s top division, the I-League. I remember going to Pune FC – East Bengal, Pune’s first ever I-league match in 2009. Baichung Bhutia, India’s then captain was playing for East Bengal that day (left). This signed Pune FC jersey was something I had won for correctly predicting the score of a different game on their Facebook page. (right).