Everything was ready, the mate prepared and bills bought very early. That we were candidates, that we had to bang on debut to qualify first. That Messi deserves the cup. That the kids don’t go to school, or that they go afterwards with the shirt on. Who could play against Brazil in the semifinals. That the final was England. Everyone above the Scaloneta, even those who destroyed it before. But no one has considered Saudi Arabia.

The Asian team, led by Hervé Renard, was up to the task. And he surprised Lionel Scaloni who, on his debut as DT in a World Cup, took a blow (and a lesson) of incalculable proportions. Not only that, he managed to recover and overturn an initial 1-0 deficit after a highly controversial penalty that Leo converted into a goal. Because this is football. The rival defended himself, was smart and achieved a decent result.

One day we will remember that very rare first half in which we shouted three goals but the line flag and technology deprived us of what we imagined, a victory. In one, the “smart” offside (what a name they gave him!) saw a shoulder! by Lautaro Martínez, who in that defined Batistuta and beat their goalkeeper, who broke it today and will certainly score a goal next match and we will remember the whole family of him.

And Messi? The captain goes from major to minor, but this time he wins not the criticism but the surprise. The joy of Maracana is still fresh, the speech that was seen on Netflix. And nothing can change how you feel about that already grown-up 35-year-old boy who yesterday arrived happy at the press conference and today was the one who regretted this world newspaper. Because the planet’s press is already talking about a historic crash, like other similar catastrophes.

Now we have to win Mexico and Poland, run after. A quality that is part of the Argentine gene but which had almost never occurred in this cycle by Lionel Scaloni. If it had been more than two thousand minutes since he had lost a game. He had 36 unbeaten runs, and what’s more he was playing against the weakest opponent in the Cup. Incredible, Italy isn’t in Qatar but today they are celebrating because they maintain their unbeaten record of 37 games. Like I said, football stuff. Because in Qatar everything happens off the field but the ball continues to reign.

The illusion exists, and it comes immediately after the defeat with a message on Twitter: Spain lost at the opening of South Africa 2010 and ended up as champion. Another recalls on WhatsApp: “And that debut against Cameroon, in 1990?” We too are like this, we cling to a small fact and keep dreaming.

Saturday at 16 will be the second game, the rematch with the minimum margin of error. Those in light blue and white need to go with a little more caution. And to us, prepare the mate again. But this time we change the bakery, just in case.