BUENOS AIRES, June 12 (UPI) -- Argentines reacted glumly Wednesday to their national soccer team's tie with Sweden in World Cup action, eliminating them from the second round of play for the first time in 40 years.
For a country already reeling from economic meltdown, sporadic civil unrest and a rotating presidency that has seen five heads of state in six months, Wednesday's loss was particularly devastating.
Several of Buenos Aires' leading daily newspapers carried headlines detailing the disappointment Argentines felt in the wake of the loss.
"No comfort for the soul," read the leading La Nacion's afternoon edition. "A broken dream," said La Clarin newspaper. Diario Ole took a more drastic approach, saying the loss was cause for "Harakiri," or suicide.
Argentina's faithful -- some clad in the sky blue and white national colors -- had flocked to pubs and cafes for the 3:30 am kickoff (2:30 am EDT) hopeful that their team could overcome last week's loss to their nemesis England.
Victory eluded them, however, and the final whistle of the 1-1 tie sent fans out into the chilly morning air, deflated by the prospect of a four year wait until Argentines can relish the next World Cup.
Somber faces were the norm Wednesday morning, as the loss appeared to compound the woes Argentines are already suffering in the wake of the economic turmoil and uncertainty that has gripped the country since December.
In an apparent effort to deflect the burden of blame from himself and the team, head coach Marcelo Bielsa, attributed the loss to fate rather than poor play. "We were unlucky," said Bielsa following the game, though many fans in a recent poll placed the onus for the team's poor performance squarely on his shoulders.
Analysts, meanwhile, speculated that no one was more disappointed by the loss than embattled President Eduardo Duhalde, who faces growing discontent in
Argentina's Congress and among voters. A win would have continued to distract Argentines while Duhalde met with the IMF representatives who will travel to the country this week to reevaluate the ongoing economic crisis.
IMF representatives will be in Buenos Aires to "negotiate" with Duhalde regarding the country's mounting international debts rather than participate in what were previous termed "technical missions, because this has (already) added to the uncertainty, and at this point, uncertainty is plentiful in Argentina," said General-Secretary of the Presidency Anibal Fernandez, as reported by La Nacion.
"It will not be easy" added Fernandez saying "the new measures will be closely related to economic policies, and not with previous IMF requisites, which did not have anything to do with the economy in our country."
For many Argentines, the woes they'd experienced since December were momentarily forgotten in the haze of World Cup fever. With that fog of illusion now gone, many are forced to face the grim reality of bank freezes and a devalued currency.
The peso, once the continent's strongest currency -- previously pegged at one-to-one peg with the dollar--is valued at less than of third of what it was six months ago.
For others, even the greatest spectacle in sport couldn't keep their minds off their troubles.
"This loss poses no change in my life. It will only bring great sadness to the true fans of football," said one man. "I for one did not forget about Argentina's hardships ... five people a day ask me to buy them some food on my way home," he added.
"And that didn't change during the World Cup."
