The secret that Messi's Argentina has inherited from Maradona

BarcelonaFrom the 2022 World Cup is common to see on social networks that Argentine players share photos and videos of their roasted with the national team. Fans follow them wherever they are: in Qatar, at the Ezeiza fields – where the internationals train in Argentina – or in the United States. "It has already become a ritual. They usually do it 48 hours before the matches. The players, the technical staff, and the rest of the staff technician. The grid is always handled by Diego Iacovone,” says Bruno González, an Argentine journalist.

Iacovone is the chef and theroast official of the South American combined team for over 25 years, a worker much loved by the group who travels wherever Leo Messi, Julián Álvarez and company go. For this year's World Cup he ordered 500 kilos of meat that were sent to him in Kansas, which is where thesky blue has its headquarters and from where it has already prepared five roasts. If this Monday at dawn (03:00, DAZN) Argentina eliminates Switzerland in the quarter-finals, they will play another one.

The liturgy of the roast'

“The same faces and customs are always repeated, surely due to a matter of kabbalah, of superstition,” reveals Bruno González, who follows the day-to-day life of the national team through his YouTube channel. What works is not touched and since Argentina lifted the World Cup in Qatar, the ritual of the asado remains intact. “Dibu Martínez, Giuliano Simeone, Lautaro Martínez and Nico González are among those who get closest to the fire. Also the president of the federation, Chiqui Tapia. Lautaro is always the one who puts on the music, Giuliano is the one who tastes the meat and Dibu records it and shares it on social media,” adds the journalist.

In one of the latest videos published, the Argentine goalkeeper is seen preparing cheese provoletas and joking with the nutritionist about the calories of the meat on the grill. “Chori, chicken, asado, vacío, ojo de bife and entraña,” enumerated Iacovone. The ritual of the asado has become a habit for the team; a liturgy, with a mystical component, non-negotiable for Lionel Scaloni. “It's a moment of relaxation, a way to bring the group together, build relationships and foster good vibes. As a coach, it's a way to connect with the players without the hierarchy of the position,” explains former Argentine player and coach Raúl Longhi, originally from Mar del Plata.

“It's a classic in teams with players and, above all, Argentine coaches. I used to do them at Figueres, at Sant Cugat... And at Nàstic we often had sardine parties. The concept and the objective were the same. I remember that when Pochettino was coaching Espanyol, he also used to organize them,” says Longhi, who was then with the white-and-blue reserves. “It's not just about eating. Normally, when Argentinians get together, we organize an asado. If we do it for lunch, we start preparing it at nine in the morning,” says Longhi with a laugh.

A tradition that comes from Maradona

“In the Argentine national team, asados were already being made at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the second World Cup they won. The asadores were Diego Maradona's father and his father-in-law, Roque Coco Villafañe, Claudia's father,” explains González. The coach Carlos Bilardo, an extremely fussy and superstitious technician, understood that the asados, which were made before important matches, cohesive the group and worked as a good luck charm.

From Maradona's Argentina to Messi's, because Diego Armando Maradona had asados in Mexico, Argentina, and also in Barcelona. Raúl Longhi knows it well, one of those who introduced him to the Catalan capital when he signed for Barça in 1982. “Miguel Ángel Brindisi knew me from Las Palmas and recommended that he get in touch with me – says Longhi –. The first thing we did together, with Cyterszpiler – his representative – was to go and watch a Barcelona City Trophy at Sarrià, at Espanyol's stadium”.

“I went to more than one asado at his home, in the upper part of Barcelona. There was charcoal, there were a lot of people. It was a meeting point, an excuse to get together. I remember that sometimes we had done it to watch Argentine national team matches,” reveals Longhi. Especially during his first months in Catalonia, he was very close to the Argentine star, one of the precursors in the Argentine national team for the liturgy of the asado, one of the secrets of Leo Messi's albiceleste who dreams of winning their second consecutive World Cup.