Messi was about to follow Cristiano Ronaldo’s path home this Tuesday. Both ended up crying, but the Argentine did so out of relief after a dramatic comeback (including a missed penalty and questionable refereeing bias), and Cristiano so that everyone understood that the news was that he would no longer play in any more World Cups. It was a moment that arrived amidst general indifference, including that of his teammates and the Portuguese press, who are fed up and eager to lock him away in the museum once and for all.
That Donald Trump and Cristiano Ronaldo were eliminated from the World Cup on the same day has something poetic about it. They represent infantile narcissism elevated to the nth degree. Both share a pathological need to praise themselves in public. In fact, Trump could have signed Cristiano’s famous self-definition from 2011: “I think that because I am rich, handsome and a great player, people are envious of me. There is no other explanation.”
Therefore, Belgium became the team of half the world for a few hours, and the 1-4 against the United States and the videos of the Belgian players dancing the Village People’s Y.M.C.A. in the locker room did popular justice to Trump and the presentable FIFA president, the ball boy Gianni Infantino. The Americans, champions in so many specialties, are improving, but they still do not have their own football culture, and that cannot be improvised. Meanwhile, not brilliantly but solidly, Spain has one foot in the semifinals and, at this stage of a World Cup, the end is very open.
