In the aftermath of their humiliating, chaotic defeat against Croatia, the failures behind the scenes in Argentinian football have been laid bare

On 21 June 1978 Argentina’s World Cup defeat of Peru went down in history as one of the most controversial games ever. The goalfest and intelligent football that unfolded on that cold night in Rosario, as the wonderful Mario Kempes found his feet on his home turf of yesteryear, were eclipsed by allegations which kept conspiracy theorists and investigative journalists busy for years. Argentina, aware they needed to win by at least four goals to progress in their home tournament, triumphed 6-0 amid rumours that an exchange of grain between the countries had been brokered in the dressing room. They went on to lift the trophy.

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On 22 June 1986 a single Argentina player managed to surpass all that by scoring two goals, one with his hand and the other a stunning solo run that still ranks as one the best in history. Those few minutes on the pitch shifted the focus for ever and opened the gateways for further volumes; poets, intellectuals, investigative journalists and conspiracy theorists would be occupied for 20 years more producing great works that only a muse of Maradonian proportions could inspire. Argentina went on to lift the World Cup again.

Fast-forward to 21 June 2018. Argentina, having entered the World Cup with a small player widely regarded as the Goat – an unfortunate acronym for Greatest Of All Time – with the ghosts of these two tournaments weighing heavily on his shoulders, have all but disappeared. Ninety agonising minutes of a shambolic performance, featuring a completely absent and disconnected Lionel Messi and a terrible goalkeeping faux pas that sunk spirits on the pitch, opened the way for a worthy Croatia’s 3-0 win.

The blame game and finger‑pointing started swiftly. Within an hour an audio file of Diego “Cholo” Simeone – purportedly having a private conversation with his Atlético Madrid assistant Germán “Mono” Burgos – was viral online. “But if you had to pick one for your team, who would you choose: Messi or Ronaldo?” his distinctive voice says.

Jorge Sampaoli, who a year into the job has not fielded the same team twice, who has always proclaimed a love for a back three yet never until this fateful night deployed one, who has been repeating ad infinitum that what he was working towards was “connectivity” that would bring out the best Messi, had left the pitch insulted and insulting. “Smoke seller,” angry Argentina fans said.

He assumed responsibility for the fiasco and said “the project failed” before, as if immediately aware that these words were digging a deeper grave, corrected himself: “The project of this game failed.”

Minutes later a journalist confronted Sergio Agüero with a slight edit: “Sampaoli says the players didn’t adapt to the project.” Agüero looked startled. “He can say whatever he likes,” he uttered with a killer look in his eyes and walked off. By morning rumours of resignations and mutiny had been raised and denied several times.

There is no sign the that Argentinian Football Association can steer the path to a brighter future. For the past four years it has talked of rebuilding, restructuring and reforming but all it has managed to do is repeat, relive and reinforce the worst traits and attitudes. Perhaps most damagingly, it opened bids for a youth training project and chose one that was not even part of the bidding contest. Until 15 years ago the country had boasted, for the better part of a century, some of the best and most progressive child and adolescent development traditions in world football. That has been obliterated.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Eduardo Salvio looks dismayed as Croatia celebrate. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The squad that had to perform to the tune of that shambolic backdrop consisted mostly of the last standing warriors of a bygone generation, and a few novices whose first taste of representing the country was being thrown to the wolves without any sensible preparation. And Messi, whose block was total.

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It was clear as the national anthem played that something else was on Messi’s mind. He looked down and scratched his forehead, as if trying to remove something from his head. After that he was largely absent. The superlative Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was generous in the mixed zone: “Messi is an incredible player but in football you need help from the team. We were able to close down spaces and stop Mascherano and other players from passing to him. He is a great, great player but he can’t do everything alone.” Sampaoli also tried in vain to detract fault from Messi.

“Yes, yes! Yes, I want Messi to do it!” one deranged pundit on Argentinian TV screamed at the camera, banging on the table. “You, Messi: I want you to do it! I’m asking you!” he continued.

If football is escapism and the fans were hoping to forget the torrid times of rising unemployment and galloping devaluation for a few minutes, the project has most certainly failed.

If football is a game of beauty and entertainment to be enjoyed by players and observers alike, the project has most certainly failed. It was painful to watch, not only for Argentinians, and those young men who took to the pitch were definitely not enjoying it. In fact, their suffering was palpable.

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If football is a war game, a strategic proposal to defeat an adversary through carefully rehearsed combat manoeuvres, a tactically weak and psychologically frail Argentina did not achieve this: the project has failed.

It is as if the doors of perception have been opened and everything is finally presented before us as it is. A circus with bitter clowns, no safety net under the trapeze, a malnourished caged tiger and a knife-thrower who aims at the heart of his sidekick. The lady in the box is sawn in half and the chained man in the glass box of water is not even trying to break free.