He said local football codes of provocation, ridicule and boasting were not suitable for a global audience.
“We cannot expect the world to understand us, the way we are, feel and express ourselves,” he said.
Still, it was “not right” for the team to turn their back on Spain as soon as they received the Cup, he said.
Lawyer Simeone rejects the notion that physical play makes Argentina a violent team.
He said, “Argentina is a team that fights hard, like almost all of South American football, but Spain also resorted to tactical fouls.” “It’s soccer: If you don’t like getting hit, play volleyball.”
For Evelio Rubio, a 47-year-old Venezuelan neurologist who has lived in Argentina for a decade, it is impossible from the outside to understand “how soccer is experienced here.”
For Venezuelans accustomed to their national team not winning titles, experiencing that passion from the inside is “fantastic.”