Trump hands over the World Cup trophy to Spain amid strong whistling

New JerseyThe most improbable photograph of the World Cup and the one that, surely, Donald Trump would have wanted to avoid. Just over a week after railing against Spain and threatening to cut off trade relations with it, the American president found himself in the position of having to present the World Cup trophy to the national team. When the tycoon stepped onto the MetLife Stadium turf this Sunday, the booing was widespread. The president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, accompanied him and could do little on this occasion to heal the republican's ego.

However, despite the booing, Trump had no problem trying to join the players' family photo. Infantino crossed the podium to stand next to the American president in what seemed like an attempt to get him out of the scene. In fact, there was a moment when it seemed that Rodri was also making a gesture with his hand for the leader to move aside. The sequence, uncomfortable and comical in equal measure, once again underlined the tycoon's megalomaniacal nature.

Despite his criticisms of Spain, the tycoon has not launched any other darts, although he has not dedicated any of the many tweets he has made during the day to congratulating the winners either. Before going down to hand over the cup, when a painful zero to zero on the scoreboard made the fans sigh, Trump met his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez. Both leaders saw each other in the box and shook hands amicably. Far from it were the threats that the Republican was making in Ankara against Madrid, criticizing the socialist executive for its refusal to invest 5% of GDP in defense. Sánchez, however, was not alone: the Spanish king, Felipe VI, also approached to greet the tycoon. The visit of the King of the United Kingdom in April to Washington already showed the weakness that Trump feels for blue blood.

The booing against Trump has also been a kind of catharsis after 120 exhausting minutes in which Spain did not score until the 106th. It has also been the prelude to a clearly emotional Leo Messi who has said goodbye to his last World Cup with more years playing football than Lamine Yamal has. Officially, the World Cup final was Spain against Argentina, but in the stadium what was breathed was the reunion between Leo Messi, Argentina's number 10, and Lamine Yamal, Barça's number 10, almost twenty years after that eventful photo that everyone already knows. Between the red of the red one, surpassed by the light blue Argentinian, a few Barcelona players stood out from time to time. In the stands of the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the present of the Argentinian 10 met his past at the Camp Nou.

This Sunday, the feeling among the public was that many circles were closing at once. Andrew, who had come from Colorado and was wearing Barça's kit, summarized it like this: "It's like the civil war of Barça." The number he wore was 10 because it was Messi who "taught him to love this sport." Many like him, both Spanish and Argentine fans, shared this sentiment.

The followers of the red one they left their voice to sing along to the "Go for them"and the"I am Spanish, Spanish", although they were quickly buried under the massive chants of the Argentine fans. On the pitch, it was eleven against eleven, but in the stands, they were red islands surrounded by a blue and white sea. When the match kicked off, the festivity and joyful euphoria gave way to a stadium where tension could be felt and which vibrated with every player's movement. Lamine Yamal's first goal attempt set the pace for the Spanish, who quickly made themselves heard. One of the most whistled fouls was that of Argentina's number 20 on Dani Olmo, which was met with a loud chorus of "Son of a bitch, Argentinian". Half an hour earlier, in the party's opening speech, actor Tom Cruise had recalled from midfield how football "turns strangers into friends".

More than thirty minutes of the game had passed, the score remained zero to zero and the only things growing were the whistles and the grumbling at the fouls committed by the Argentinians against the Spaniards. The sighs of indignation were quickly replaced by sighs of frustration when Spain came very close to scoring.

The halftime show

Even though they couldn't reach the final, the United States have made sure to leave their mark on this edition. In the land of the Super Bowl, where football is a minor sport, if FIFA wanted to gain more followers, they had to make the jogo bonito more attractive to Americans: a halftime show. Half an hour break in which they have replaced the footballers with Madonna, Justin Bieber, and Shakira, who performed the Dai dai with the same skirt she wore in South Africa in 2010. A large "LOVE" was drawn on the playing field in a country where last week ICE shot and killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian youth, after mistaking him for someone else they were looking for.

Trump's attendance at the tournament was also noticeable from early morning at the stadium entrances. Beyond the massive influx for what FIFA wanted to be the final of finals, the queues became perpetual due to the exhaustive security checks at the venue. Trump's presence at the stadium meant that the secret service was in charge of checking bags and passing the metal detector to each person entering MetLife. Journalists, who accessed the venue through a different entrance than the general public, had to wait up to three hours in line to get in.