Having watched the World Cup Final last night it got me thinking as why are certain sports teams more aggressive than others? I knew the Argentinian rugby team was bad and are far worse when playing at home in front of their fanatical crowd. I had no idea Argentina was also an aggressive team at football and one has to ask questions as this is not by mistake. There is definitely an inferiority complex when it comes to playing certain teams and they will try their luck and will continue with this ideology until they can no longer get away with this. The weird thing is they are a decent football side and only play dirty when they feel they need to.
There are definitely some similarities between the rugby and football teams and it has to be about having an inferiority complex when playing the bigger teams. In order to move from a free flowing playing style to an all out attack there has to be a game plan to attack the player and not the ball. This would tell you they do not believe they have the team or skills to beat their opponents and the only way is to drag their opponents to their level.
A good few years ago there was a game of rugby in Argentina where the South African team were literally attacked at every move. The match is now known as the "Battle of Santiago del Estero" which had fanatical supporters in a sold out 30K stadium. This was more about intimidation and using dirty tactics because on rugby skills alone they could not win. The idea is to play dirty and to confuse your thinking through anger luring you to think about retaliating instead of playing a game of rugby. This is the same tactic used in the World Cup final last night and it nearly worked.
Any hostile atmosphere will make a game of rugby or football more challenging and we have seen referees wilt not being able to cope with the pressure. Funny enough the referees are learning from their previous blemishes and on Saturday the VAR official had to ask the host Argentinian tv director for a clip 4 or 5 times. England were playing Argentina At home in the Nations Rugby Championship and the clip was about foul play with an Argentinian player, but the VAR official had the exact time of the offense calling for a replay of the 38th minute and 23rd second. Normally they will not show the exact clip because it could be detrimental to the home team, but the VAR had the exact time and they could not avoid playing the clip. Too many times in the past the video evidence is not available and is only available if it benefits the Argentinian team. The French tv channels also do this and it is blatant cheating and why there needs to be an independent tv director for all sporting events.
Last night looking at the Argentinian team they did not have one shot on goal and Spain had over 19 before extra time even took place. When you look at the statistics it is clear and obvious why the Argentinians employed the tactics they did. Some may call it cheating and others may call it smart, but it is up to the officiating to stamp this type of play out. You could call it tactical fouling and playing within the rules yet it was too blatant and over the top stretching the rules past their limits.
During this World Cup there has been too many play on calls when there has been a clear and obvious foul committed. This type of refereeing favored the Argentinean team over every other team as they have this aggressive streak in their locker. This is the real Argentinian way of playing the game and the go to when they know they are outclassed.
Spain could have and should have won by more than 1 solitary goal and the Argentinians nearly pulled off the biggest robbery of all time. They played the man and not the ball and it almost worked and who knows it would have been a 50/50 when it came to penalties. If you remove Messi from the team the attacking ability and flair would be non existent as their plays all evolve around him or what the little maestro can conjure up.
