Latin Magic Prevails

After 2 decades we finally saw a South American country take the crown of the FIFA World Cup.

Even now, after all the hype, debates, and celebrations, it still feels like some kind of a hallucination. Yet, what only seemed like a dream, all quite far-fetched before the start of the tournament, is now cemented and penned down on the pages of history.

I still remember the 2002 World Cup, the images on my mind are not crystal clear, but I do remember a fair bit. Brazil won that year, securing their 5th World Cup. The hype surely was real, as I was always surrounded by Brazil supporters, both family and strangers haha.

The scenes back then were bright and jolly; the streets filled with yellow jerseys, the roofs all covered with flags of all sizes, the colors of green, yellow and blue waving high. Even though here in Bangladesh we're thousands of kilometers away from the Latin American region, the love for Latin football goes way back. Even if we talk about Brazil's win in 1970, that's still over half a century ago.

The legendary tales started with Pele and Brazil back in the 70s. Soon after the stories of Diego Maradona took over, just after the World Cup of 86, and even to this the stories of Maradona reigns over all others. The controversial Hand of God, the goal against England all the way from the mid-field, the one that helped cement his name among all the GOATs. And soon after carrying Argentina towards the World Cup victory in that tournament.

Maradona's first touch and control on the ball is still unmatched I'd say. In my eyes, sometimes even Messi and Ronaldinho(the players that I consider to have the best ball control and first touches, in the present and past generation) fall short in this category, when compared to Maradona.

It's getting close to 2 months that Argentina - Messi & Co have secured the third star ⭐️ for Argentina.

Many say that Argentina is popular and "successful" because of Messi, but the love for Argentina and Latin football goes way back, especially in this region. Yes, Messi has a huge contribution in Argentina's success in football, but Argentina and Brazil has never faced a shortage of supporters, and probably never will. And it is what they call "Latin magic", that keeps these supporters devoted towards these two teams.

Of course, there are more Latin countries who have achieved a lot as well. Uruguay for example, having 2 World Cups, securing both in the earlier stages and years of the World Cup. Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavanni are some of my favorite players. After Brazil and Argentina, in the Latin region, Uruguay produced and gave the footballing realm a lot of talented and amazing players.

Luis Suarez AKA El Pistolero, his stats speak for themselves. Suarez is without a doubt one of the best strikes of this generation. If not for Messi and Ronaldo's reign of almost 2 decades, Suarez probably would've secured the most Golden Boots, probably a few Ballon d'Ors too.

Neymar is another player with a lot of potential, but he's injury-prone, and that's what keeps him from dominating in full force. Fortunately, Brazil is still the country and team that produces the most number of talents. So, my bet is that Brazil will keep on performing well, with or without a big star player.

South America may have a lot of magic and a lot of amazing talent, but the European region has numbers and tactics. All the strategy and teamwork so far, has helped Europe dominate for 2 decades in the World Cup. And that is why a lot Latin football supporters slowly started to lose hope in the magic of Latin football.

But, after Argentina's win in the 2022 World Cup, I can quite confidently say that the Latin magic has taken control, and engulfed our environment once more.