The Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, said this Sunday that he would not go to the Argentina-France final, unlike his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, suggesting, between the lines, a factor of superstition, for which he would not like to jinx the selection.
“Like millions of compatriots, I will watch the World Cup final at home,” wrote the president of the center-left social network Twitter.
“I am going to live this fantastic moment as I have lived it up to now, with my family”, he added, adding that the ‘Albiceleste’ will now have everything they need in their place. “The best of our people will be on the field, and in the stands of the glorious fans.”
“So, superstitions are superstitions”, he concludes with a wink, referring to the so-called “cabalas”, the superstitious rites, very widespread among Argentines in football matters, which consist of scrupulously reproducing a formula, a gesture, a habit, which has been associated with victory, in this case, the team’s five consecutive victories.
Added to this is the fear of Argentine politicians of being seen as “mufa” (bad luck), seeing an important game that Argentina could lose. Fernández’s predecessor, the liberal Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), has been strongly defending himself in recent days against accusations on social networks of being a “mufa”.
Present in Qatar, mainly as president of the FIFA Charitable Foundation, Macri has seen several games, including Argentina’s shock opening defeat against Saudi Arabia (1-2). Hence the suspicion of “mufa”. He seems unfounded, since Argentina didn’t stop winning after that.
On Thursday, Alberto Fernández and Emmanuel Macron exchanged friendly tweets about the upcoming final, admitting that the South American leader wished his French counterpart the best “except for Sunday.”
“Dear friend Emmanuel Macron, I love you very much and I wish you the best for the future. Except on Sunday,” Fernández wrote. “Argentina is my wonderful country, and it is Latin America! Wear blue and white!”
Alberto Fernández thus responded to a ‘tweet’ from the French president, who told him: “Dear Alberto Fernández, one of the two will be luckier… We’ll see which one on Sunday. With all the friendship… Go blue!” to the color of the French team.
Source: TSF
