Arrogance or pride? Argentina grapples with villain label

BUENOS AIRES — Critics blasted Argentina for dirty tactics and poor sportsmanship during its 1-0 loss to Spain, cementing the country's status as a World Cup villain that grew throughout the tournament.

But Argentines argue they are just passionate and misunderstood.

"I think we deserve some credit for not being very well-liked, because of this tendency to be arrogant and look down on most people from a pedestal," said Leo Simone, a 55-year-old lawyer, from his home north of Buenos Aires.

"They confuse arrogance with pride," his wife chimed in, preferring not to give her name.

While star Lionel Messi is beloved around the world, anti-Argentina sentiment grew as critics argued the team was FIFA's darling and received favorable refereeing calls, such as penalties, VAR decisions and cards shown to opponents.

Then came the final, replete with fouls, brawls on the pitch, and Argentine players turning their backs when Spain received the World Cup trophy.

The New York Times called it a "tetchy, petulant and distasteful performance."

Former Germany player Thomas Hitzlsperger wrote on X that Argentina's players were "disgusting sportsmen", and British television personality Piers Morgan said "they basically just went around whacking as many Spanish players as they could."

Near Ezeiza Airport, where thousands of fans welcomed the players returning to Buenos Aires on Monday night, Maximiliano Heredia, a 35-year-old construction worker, said: "We've always been criticized, we're used to it, but we always give it our all."

'We love it'

Many Argentines online wore the criticism as a badge of honor.

"There's something about Argentine irreverence that they can't tolerate. Our rebelliousness irritates them, enrages them. They call us cocky, cheaters, dirty, and we love it, it fills us with pride," journalist Pedro Rosemblat posted to Instagram.

Sports journalist Ezequiel Fernandez Moores told reporters that some criticism was justified: "Sometimes we think we're the center of the universe, that God and our own navel are Argentine."

He said local soccer codes of provocation, mockery and boasting did not translate to a global audience.

"We can't expect the world to understand us, our way of being, feeling and expressing ourselves," he said.

Nevertheless, the team turning its back on Spain as it received the cup was "not right", he said.

The lawyer Simone rejects the notion that physical play makes Argentina a violent team.

"Argentina is a team that fights hard, like almost all South American football, but Spain also resorted to tactical fouls," he said.

"It's football: if you don't like being hit, play volleyball."

For Evelio Rubio, a 47-year-old Venezuelan neurologist who has lived in Argentina for a decade, it is impossible to understand from outside how "football is experienced here".

For a Venezuelan accustomed to his national team not winning titles, experiencing that passion from within "is spectacular".

Racism accusations

Argentine fans and some players have also faced accusations of racism — such as a chant sung by the team in the past mocking the black players on the French team as not being really French.

There is also a long history of club-level fans throwing bananas on the field or making monkey gestures at Brazilian fans or black players.

During this World Cup, FIFA condemned racism in a statement after an Argentine supporter told a black US influencer known as iShow-Speed to go "cry at the zoo" during a livestream.

American actor Samuel L Jackson stirred controversy when he urged black people in an Instagram story not to support Argentina, which he dubbed one of "the most racist countries in the world".

Sociologist Ivan Schuliaquer of the National University of San Martin said people should not take racism related to soccer and apply it generally to Argentine society and history.

This racism exists and should not be denied, he said.

"But, in many cases, these labels come from colonizing countries that have not yet fully resolved the issue of racism."