The Argentinians and Brazilians have a very complex relationship that goes beyond simple love-hate complexities. Argentina gets its maximum tourists from Brazil; and Argentinians too head to Brazil when they need to take a quick holiday and good amount of sun. But, the relationship takes a nasty turn when it comes to football – or any other sport for that matter.
But when the two countries meet – on the pitch or off it – it is always exciting, at times creating very unique situations. This has been happening here since the neighbours landed in Rio de Janeiro for the games. As a lot of international athletes, including some Indian players, were complaining about the living conditions in the Olympic village, a couple of Argentinian sent out the tweets wondering how the situation can be so bad that “bathroom sinks were falling down” and “fire alarms were going off for no reason”. In their opinion, this is a conspiracy by Brazil to keep Argentina down so that they can’t win many medals, especially in football.
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Brazil has never won the Olympic gold in football. They have a chance at home, especially because Argentina are here without Messi. If Argentina wins the Olympic gold, it could be a big blow to the Brazilian pride, which is already quite low because of the national team’s pathetic play in recent tournaments.
Two years ago, Argentina came very close to winning the World Cup at the Maracana but it lost 0-1 to Germany, which was being supported by most Brazilians despite their team’s shameful loss to the European side in the semi-final.
One can expect the same if Argentina reaches the finals this time too. And if by any chance, Brazil and Argentina play each other in the match for the gold and the hosts are able to win the game, one can expect hundreds of conspiracy theories from the Argentine side.
