Congratulations Argentina 🇦🇷

@adventurousBranch3786

Woohooo! 🥳

@adventurousBranch3786

Not a Messi fan but well deserved. Congrats

@adventurousBranch3786

Was an amazing game!

Also congratulations to MBappé for Golden Boot (8 goals) and France for putting up an amazing and suspenseful fight, also didn't the Argentina goalie get the Golden Glove, and also Morocco for advancing as far as they did, and Croatia for their spirit. At its best World Cup is the epitome of togetherness of nations.

❤️ As a person from Argentina, thank you so much! I’ll take this opportunity to say some things: ❤️

❤️ First of all, I want to raise awareness. Argentina’s victory is a victory for America (America is a continent), specially for Latin America. Normally, my country is known for its football: most immediately make the Messi-Argentina association. But we are so, so much more than that! This world sadly exhibits a lot of stigma, prejudice and assumptions about not just Argentina, but the entirety of Latin America. I met people who know literally nothing about it, even though Argentina is one of the biggest countries of the planet (I found that to be quite surprising). And what do we imagine when we think of a latino/a/e? Society created a label that is getting farther and farther from what said label supposedly represents. That needs to stop, and that can only stop by awareness, information and consciousness. That’s one of the reasons why I love 7 Cups and this community ❤️

❤️ We have people from all colors, accents, backgrounds, cultures, religions, preferences and lifestyles, to name a few variations. Sadly, my nation is not free of issues, but it also is full of wonders! From excellent educational institutions to flabbergasting places, to diverse and magical landscapes (we have mountains, beach, forests, the Iguazú Falls, the Patagonia…), to extraordinary flora, to unique animal species, to historic buildings (and an impressive history overall), to magnificent music, to an immense resilience, to stupendous traditions, to a truly unique and admirable language and slang (believe me, there’s nothing like the Argentinian Spanish), to incomparably delicious food, to brilliant art in all forms, to the people’s passion, to the unequaled Argentinian people (which can be both hilarious and vehement *and* kind, sweet, warm, selfless, loving, gentle, hardworking, generous, caring, open-hearted, cheerful, high-spirited, festive, heartfelt, wholehearted and heartwarming). And that’s naming only some of Argentina’s qualities! ❤️

❤️ And, again, that’s just Argentina! There’s so much to know and see about Panamá, Perú, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Paraguay, El Salvador, México, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, República Dominicana… And that’s just Spanish-speaking countries, therefore skipping radiant places like Brasil and Haití! And that’s just Latin America: there’s a lot to learn about every nation, region and community ❤️

❤️ We are more than football and what the stigma, the prejudices and the assumptions claim. My country (and certain parts of America, like Latin America) is nowhere near perfect, but it truly is marvellous: I hope we can progressively end this obliviousness and misinformation so it eventually gets the recognition it deserves ❤️

❤️ So, before I move on to funnier things, here’s a song: Waving Flag (Spanish and English) and here are the lyrics in Spanish translated (I couldn’t find better translations so I did this, it’s not 100% literal but it’s extremely close): Part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 ❤️

❤️ So, moving on, I personally never cared about football/soccer: I always was awful at it when I had to play it during PE class, I never learnt the rules and I never watch any game. Argentina is, in general, passionate about football (and just passionate overall). I’m the weird one that was never truly interested haha. But I obviously wanted my nation to win, so we could celebrate wit pride and joy. I actually got nervous, which is unusual for someone that never gave a duck about this sport. On Sunday, I had a dream that we were losing (check this out) 39-33! Telling that to my family was hilarious ❤️

❤️ However, I didn’t even watch the game! In Argentina, you can tell how it’s going because of the screams and shouts of the football fans. Each time a goal was scored, you would 100% find out, either by watching the game or hearing those who are watching it. It was quite stressful to hear the yelling but not knowing which team scored, but you end up knowing once you differentiate the desperation from the euphoria. I occasionally got to the TV to give it a quick glance to know what’s up, but that’s it. Of course, seeing my country win made me proud, even though I did absolutely nothing (it’s like “Your group got an A+ but you only wrote your name on it” kind of situation, except that I never did that in school) haha ❤️

❤️ I got up because I thought people were being louder than usual, and you can imagine the reason. They even did a key-smash on the news’ title on TV! Like, “We won hfjajdjaknfkwjdiqilNfmwkfjuwi” haha. They even included slang on another one of those TV titles, and were calling Messi the Messiah. Some got a bit absurd, saying stuff like “There’s no more dessert, there’s football” (statement that I found humorously ridiculous). And, of course, thousands of people went to the Obelisco (an important monument) to celebrate. The loud celebration went on all Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and might be still going on (who knows? It’s Argentina). A general and very festive Argentinian chaos reigned on Monday, and the government declared this Tuesday a nacional public holiday. As a fun fact, the goalkeeper, which everybody calls Dibu, got his Golden Glove (by the way, I often say that Messi gets a lot of deserved credit but other players should also get more credit). Since Scaloni was the technical director, the news were thanking the “Scaloneta”, clearly meaning his team. As another fun fact, fútbol = football, and that’s because we got lazy and wrote “football” with Spanish rules without changing the pronunciation, semi-borrowing the word haha ❤️

❤️ I want to congratulate France for the skill, ability, capability, strength and greatness. I also want to congratulate Croatia and Morocco for their magnificent journey, skill, capability and glory. And, of course, my heartfelt congratulations to every single country, team, nation and community: every single one of you is remarkable, wondrous, virtuous and laureate. ❤️

❤️ Lastly, thank you for the congratulations and love! As I said, I obviously 0% contributed to this victory, but I think I speak for everyone in Argentina when I thank all of you for the kindness, respect and cheers. And, of course, thank you for being the 7 Cups community, a place in which we can safely talk, respect, know, support and love each other. I’m eternally grateful for 7 Cups and you, the one reading this ❤️

@adventurousBranch3786

Thank you, lovely Branch, for thinking of us down here!

I have just seen your wonderful thread thanks to Daf's ( @Daf8 ) terrific post, which gave it a peak of visibility on the homepage right now.

Winning the Cup brought so much happiness to millions of people all around me in this so battered country...

A surge of joy in the middle of difficult times.

So timely and welcome!

This Cup was great with teams so even, there were not "sure" teams to win.

The matches that the Argentine team played were amazing and dramatic, each in its own way.

Culminating with one of the very best soccer matches of all time. Breathtaking.

I have watched the match four times, and every time I find some new amazing details...

So dramatic, with those twists and turns of fortune...

Maybe all that tension buildup helped make it it such a huge explosion of joy for our people when it ended as a win.

Joy is always welcome, even for silly reasons...

We can't get too much of it.

Thank you for reminding us of this joy!

Always yours,

Marcelo.

I can’t resist another Gif!