- Argentina’s Milei on Dollarization, Central Bank, China Bloomberg Television
- Argentina’s populist candidate Javier Milei holds economic talk with IMF Al Jazeera English
- Argentina’s anti-establishment candidate Milei engages IMF in economic talks after shock primary win Yahoo News
- Sudden rise of ‘Argentina’s Trump’ puts economic ties with China at risk South China Morning Post
- Argentina’s front-runner Milei wants closer ties with U.S. but attacks President Biden | Opinion Miami Herald
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Argentinas
Britain says it was ‘regrettable’ that the EU called the Falklands by Argentina’s preferred name – The Associated Press
- Britain says it was ‘regrettable’ that the EU called the Falklands by Argentina’s preferred name The Associated Press
- Rishi Sunak criticises EU for calling Falkland Islands ‘Islas Malvinas’ The Guardian
- Inside Britain’s ‘frantic’ bid to stop EU endorsing ‘Malvinas’ name for Falklands POLITICO Europe
- ‘Regrettable choice of words’: EU backs down after calling Falklands by Argentine name – PM Sky News
- Islas Malvinas: EU signs deal using Falklands’ Argentine name The Guardian
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Argentina’s currency crisis is so dire that it’s allowing people to open bank accounts using the Chinese yuan – Yahoo! Voices
- Argentina’s currency crisis is so dire that it’s allowing people to open bank accounts using the Chinese yuan Yahoo! Voices
- Argentina Allows Banks to Open Yuan Accounts — Economist Says It Could Boost Chinese Currency as Safe Haven Alternative to US Dollar – Economics Bitcoin News Bitcoin News
- Argentina’s expanded use of yuan will speed up Chinese currency’s internationalization, says expert Global Times
- Argentina uses yuan for the first time to settle part of its IMF debt EL PAÍS USA
- ‘Another small step’ as Argentina allows deposits in China’s ‘safe haven’ yuan South China Morning Post
Why Argentina’s win over France was the greatest World Cup final ever
CNN
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It seems only yesterday that Enner Valencia was swatting aside Qatar in the 2022 World Cup’s curtain raiser.
As the dust settles on an enthralling month of soccer action, fans have been treated to arguably one of the greatest ever World Cup tournaments in the sport’s history.
In fitting fashion, Sunday’s final exploded like a firework display to provide the ultimate conclusion to Qatar 2022.
This was a final that had superstar rivalries, penalties, iconic goals and goalkeeping masterclasses, culminating in Lionel Messi’s crowning as world champion after Argentina beat France on penalties.
The pièce de resistance, a moment that will live long in the memory like an impressionistic masterpiece, is that iconic image of Messi – lifted aloft on his teammates’ shoulders – with the World Cup trophy finally in his hands.
This match had been billed as Kylian Mbappé vs. Messi – the 23-year-old French star ready to assume the mantle of the world’s greatest player from his 35-year-old Paris Saint-Germain teammate.
Mbappé was defending France’s 2018 win at the tournament in Russia, Messi was playing in his final World Cup match, looking to claim the trophy which has eluded him for so long and which would enable him to match Diego Maradona’s achievement of winning the 1986 competition.
The opening 79 minutes was all about Messi. Argentina’s captain converted the penalty to give Argentina the lead. Next, his deft touch was key in springing the move which led to La Albiceleste’s second.
Then in the closing stages of normal time, Mbappé single-handedly took a grip of the game, scoring two goals in two minutes and sending the final to extra time.
Messi looked shot and Mbappé looked like he was just getting going.
Except it was the diminutive Argentine who next popped up to score his second goal of the match and restore his team’s lead in the 109th minute.
Refusing to accept defeat, Mbappé roused his teammates, scoring a second penalty to grab his hat-trick and take the final to a penalty shootout.
Both Mbappé and Messi scored in the shootout but in the end – with France missing two penalties – it was the Argentina captain who was mobbed by his teammates as his World Cup dream was lived out in real time.
Over two hours of soccer, these was two players – at two different points of their careers – demonstrating the beautiful game in vivid, glorious technicolor.
The last time a World Cup final went to penalties was in 2006 when France was once again beaten, this time by Italy.
Sometimes, it feels unfair to settle a game in a shootout, a series of actions between the penalty taker and the goalkeeper.
However, at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday, the abundance of penalties seemed to ratchet up the pressure and tension.
Messi’s penalty in the first half gave him his first World Cup final goal, while his spot kick in the shootout was coolness personified.
Mbappé’s ability to not once, not twice, but three times successfully convert from the spot in one game showed extreme gumption.
Previously at Qatar 2022, one team had already experienced the intensity of that pressure cooker atmosphere and emerged the other side, and one which had not.
Argentina got the better of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals in an epic which culminated in a penalty shootout, and one which saw the South American team display distraction and delaying tactics to arguably mentally monster their opponents.
In Sunday’s final, Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez showing his ability to distract the French takers, throwing the ball away before Aurélien Tchouaméni attempt, which flew wide. France’s previous attempt – from Kingsley Coman – had been saved by Martinez.
A penalty shootout is arguably unlike anything else in sports – it’s a modern day duel and a World Cup final with so much at stake only heightens the tension and drama.
World Cup finals are often tight and cagey affairs, with goals at a premium.
Argentina and France threw away that playbook – delivering six goals, two of which were of the highest quality.
Argentina’s second was arguably as good as Carlos Alberto’s breathtaking goal in the 1970 World Cup final in Brazil’s 4-1 win over Italy.
It was in the 35th minute, when a flick round the corner from Alexis Mac Allister to Messi, relieved some pressure on the Argentina defense as France pushed for an equalizer.
After Messi’s deft touch to Julián Álvarez and the Manchester City forward’s excellently weighted pass to Mac Allister, who had continued his run, Argentina was in on goal.
Unselfishly, Mac Allister had the presence of mind to square the ball to Ángel Di María who finished off a brilliant sweeping counterattack to put Argentina 2-0 up.
At that point, it looked to be the crowning moment of a dominant Argentina victory, until Mbappé stepped up.
After his penalty reduced the deficit to 2-1, a neat one-two with Marcus Thuram had the ball falling to the PSG star out of the sky on the edge of Argentina’s penalty area.
With seemingly all the time in the world, Mbappé produced a wonderful display of technique and timing to thunder the ball past a despairing Martínez.
These are the moments that capture imaginations and the moments that came to define the 2022 World Cup final.
It will be remembered for so many reasons – Messi’s moment of history, Mbappé’s hat-trick in defeat, the seesaw nature of the game that oscillated from end to end and never ceased to tug on gobsmacked watchers’ emotions.
Of course, there’s plenty of competition for the title of ‘greatest World Cup final.’
In 1950, Uruguay upset Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, while four years later, West Germany provided another huge surprise, beating Hungary’s Magical Magyars, earning the country its first World Cup title.
Geoff Hurst scored the first World Cup final hat-trick in the 1966 final between England and West Geramy. Hurst’s second goal is still talked about 56 years later – had the ball crossed the line? It did, according to the game’s officials and England won 4-2.
The 1970 final marked Pelé’s last World Cup appearance as he secured his third title in Brazil’s swashbuckling victory over Italy.
Four years later in Munich, host West Germany came from behind to win 2-1 against a star-studded Netherlands team – made up of Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens – to win its second World Cup.
Much like Messi at Qatar 2022, Diego Maradona almost single-handedly drove his team to its second title in eight years, beating West Germany 3-2 in the final.
In 1998, France hosted and won its first World Cup, mainly down to the genius of Zinedine Zidane, who scored twice in the final, to beat a formidable Brazil side, composed of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Cafu, Bebeto and Roberto Carlos.
However, with its multiples story lines and the drama and artistry on display, surely the 2022 showpiece now owns the title of ‘greatest World Cup final.’
Argentina’s abortion law enters force under watchful eyes
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s groundbreaking abortion law goes into force Sunday under the watchful eyes of women’s groups and government officials, who hope to ensure its full implementation despite opposition from some conservative and church groups.
Argentina became the largest nation in Latin America to legalize elective abortion after its Senate on Dec. 30 passed a law guaranteeing the procedure up to the 14th week of pregnancy and beyond that in cases of rape or when a woman’s health is at risk.
The vote was hailed as a triumph for the South American country’s feminist movement that could pave the way for similar actions across the socially conservative, heavily Roman Catholic region.
But Pope Francis had issued a last-minute appeal before the vote and church leaders have criticized the decision. Supporters of the law say they expect lawsuits from anti-abortion groups in Argentina’s conservative provinces and some private health clinics might refuse to carry out the procedure.
“Another huge task lies ahead of us,” said Argentina’s minister of women, gender and diversity, Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, who has acknowledged there will be obstacles to the law’s full implementation across the country.
Gómez Alcorta said a telephone line will be set up “for those who cannot access abortion to communicate.”
The Argentine Catholic Church has repudiated the law and conservative doctors’ and lawyers’ groups have urged resistance. Doctors and health professionals can claim conscientious objection to performing abortions, but cannot invoke the right if a pregnant woman’s life or health is in danger.
A statement signed by the Consortium of Catholic Doctors, the Catholic Lawyers Corporation and other groups called on doctors and lawyers to “resist with nobility, firmness and courage the norm that legalizes the abominable crime of abortion.”
The anti-abortion group Unidad Provida also urged doctors, nurses and technicians to fight for their “freedom of conscience” and promised to “accompany them in all the trials that are necessary.”
Under the law, private health centers that do not have doctors willing to carry out abortions must refer women seeking abortions to clinics that will. Any public official or health authority who unjustifiably delays an abortion will be punished with imprisonment from three months to one year.
The National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, an umbrella group for organizations that for years fought for legal abortion, often wearing green scarves at protests, vowed to “continue monitoring compliance with the law.”
“We trust the feminist networks that we have built over decades,” said Laura Salomé, one of the movement’s members.
A previous abortion bill was voted down by Argentine lawmakers in 2018 by a narrow margin. But in the December vote it was backed by the center-left government, boosted by the so-called “piba” revolution, from the Argentine slang for “girls,” and opinion polls showing opposition had softened.
The law’s supporters expect backlash in Argentina’s conservative provinces. In the northern province of Salta, a federal judge this week rejected a measure filed by a former legislator calling for the law to be suspended because the legislative branch had exceeded its powers. Opponents of abortion cite international treaties signed by Argentina pledging to protect life from conception.
Gómez Alcorta said criminal charges currently pending against more than 1,500 women and doctors who performed abortions should be lifted. She said the number of women and doctors detained “was not that many,” but didn’t provide a number.
“The Ministry of Women is going to carry out its leadership” to end these cases, she said.
Tamara Grinberg, 32, who had a clandestine abortion in 2012, celebrated that from now on “a girl can go to a hospital to say ‘I want to have an abortion.’”
She said when she had her abortion, very few people helped her. “Today there are many more support networks … and the decision is respected. When I did it, no one respected my decision.”
While abortion is already allowed in some other parts of Latin America — such as in Uruguay, Cuba and Mexico City — its legalization in Argentina is expected to reverberate across the region, where dangerous clandestine procedures remain the norm a half century after a woman’s right to choose was guaranteed in the U.S.
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AP journalists Víctor Caivano and Yésica Brumec contributed to this report.