2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar Match 4 - ARGENTINA 🇦🇷

🇦🇷 ARGENTINA (4 of 32)

22 November 2022 Match 4: Argentina 1:2 Saudi Arabia
📍 Grand Casino Bakery & Café, Culver City

 🇶🇦🇪🇨🇸🇳🇳🇱 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇮🇷🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇦🇷🇸🇦🇲🇽🇵🇱 🇫🇷🇦🇺🇩🇰🇹🇳 🇪🇸🇨🇷🇩🇪🇯🇵 🇧🇪🇨🇦🇲🇦🇭🇷 🇧🇷🇷🇸🇨🇭🇨🇲 🇵🇹🇬🇭🇺🇾🇰🇷

<--- MATCH 3: 🇺🇸 USA v WAL 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿  |  HOME/MAP  |  MATCH 5: 🇩🇰 DEN v TUN 🇹🇳 --->

 

The expectations for Argentina in the World Cup have remained sky high since Diego Armando Maradona led the nation to its last victory in 1986, the second in three tries for the South American nation. When Lionel Messi burst onto the world scene, the countrymen and women he left behind for a career in Spain expected him to lead them to more. Sadly, things have not transpired this way, and often Argentina look disjointed and lacking strategy besides feeding the ball to Messi.

The current squad has been different in many ways, complementary to each other, and full of ideas. It led them to a Copa América title in 2021, Argentina's first major tournament win with Messi, and many think they are co-favorites with Brazil to win the World Cup this year. SIDE NOTE: If you enjoy football podcasts, a current one entitled "La Ultima Copa" about Lionel Messi's life and the upcoming tournament, probably his last, is excellent and available in both English and Spanish.

Most of the Argentinian establishments in Los Angeles and Orange Counties are mad for football and always have it on the television, but because of alcohol laws in the state mandating no sales between 02:00 and 06:00, most of them were not opening for their nation's first match. Grand Casino invited guests to get in early, purchase all the bottles of malbec and buckets of beer they needed, and enjoy the kickoff which started right as sales ended.

The first half seemed cagey and a few chances were not converted that Argentina would come to regret after going into halftime with a 1:0 lead. The tide swung immediately in the second half as Saudi Arabia scored two goals in the first ten minutes to take the lead and Argentina was left chasing. This was something they did not seem prepared for, and were never able to do, marking the first big upset of the tournament and a match that will probably be talked about in Saudi Arabian lore for many years to come.

As the second half wore on and Messi and his teammates could not find their goal to level the score, the language in the restaurant reached a new level of color. It was certainly not the festival to open the tournament that most fans expected from their national team. With their next match against México, Argentina will need to do better and will most likely come at El Tri with all their might.

The late night affair was not a total wash though, at least for the neutral. This choripan was grilled up nicely and served on some of the most excellent bread found on the Westside. A beef empanada with chimichurri finished off the meal, and Argentinians do know there way around an espresso machine having so much Italian blood in their roots.

Previous/other articles featuring cuisine of Argentina:

El Gaucho Meat Market, Redondo Beach

Mercado Buenos Aires, Van Nuys

Puerto Madero, Santa Ana

Un Rinconcito Argentino, Norwalk

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<--- MATCH 3: 🇺🇸 USA v WAL 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿  |  HOME/MAP  |  MATCH 5: 🇩🇰 DEN v TUN 🇹🇳 --->

 

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