Argentina Superfan Talks World Cup Comeback, Loyalty to Team — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00A member of our today family happens to
2. 0:02be an Argentina super fan. He's been
3. 0:06talking about it for years, literally
4. 0:08years. In fact, after the last World
5. 0:09Cup, producer Lucas Vazquez, he reported
6. 0:11[laughter] for us on the ground from
7. 0:13Buenos Aires. No, we didn't pay for him
8. 0:15to go. He was there.
9. 0:18He went there to celebrate that team's
10. 0:19historic victory and this morning he is
11. 0:21here to talk about that epic comeback
12. 0:24from the defending champs. I mean, so
13. 0:26Laura was out there watching here at 30
14. 0:29Rock. She's a neutral fan.
15. 0:31>> [laughter]
16. 0:31>> For for Argentinian super fans like
17. 0:34yourself, what was it like yesterday?
18. 0:36>> The closest we'll ever come to a
19. 0:38collective heart attack as a nation, the
20. 0:40closest. I was at a bar with friends and
21. 0:42let me tell you for 80 minutes we were
22. 0:44basically [music] dead and then that
23. 0:46last 12 minutes,
24. 0:48pure joy, pure joy. But more
25. 0:50importantly, the team showed what a
26. 0:52championship winning team needs, grit,
27. 0:54resilience, character. In the worst
28. 0:56moments, it's like Rocky at the World
29. 0:58Cup. Argentina's Rocky at the World Cup.
30. 1:00When they're down, you think they're
31. 1:01done, I thought they were done. I was
32. 1:02like, I'm done with soccer, over. Boom,
33. 1:05Rocky came up. But you know, it was
34. 1:07truly incredible and horrible for my
35. 1:08health.
36. 1:10Really horrible because if you look,
37. 1:11that game three
38. 1:13before that we had Cape Verde, very
39. 1:15similar game. Again, horrible for my
40. 1:17health. Four years ago, again, horrible
41. 1:19for my health. France, 3-3 nail-biter,
42. 1:22that was the only game. We won that
43. 1:23World Cup based on all these matches
44. 1:25coming down to the wire. So, you know,
45. 1:27they always let it get to the wire. They
46. 1:28like making us suffer. That's what it
47. 1:30means to be Argentinian. That's
48. 1:31>> [laughter]
49. 1:31>> it's learning how to suffer, it's
50. 1:33knowing how to be resilient, knowing
51. 1:35when to suffer, sacrifice and that's
52. 1:36what these players showed. And by the
53. 1:37way, at the end of that, you saw
54. 1:38everybody emotional. You'd be like,
55. 1:40they're showing emotion to reach a
56. 1:42quarter finals when they won the World
57. 1:43Cup. Fair point, but the reason why is
58. 1:45because these guys bleed, cry, sweat
59. 1:47Argentina, represent it like no other
60. 1:49player has in a long time and you saw it
61. 1:51with the way they won. They know that's
62. 1:53the essence of being Argentina,
63. 1:54sacrifice and winning despite the odds.
64. 1:56>> You really are showing your Argentinian
65. 1:58pride, Brett.
66. 1:59>> I almost feel like this is Weekend
67. 2:00Update and we just brought in the
68. 2:02Argentinian speaker.
69. 2:03>> Wait, I'm obsessed [laughter] with it.
70. 2:04By the way, not a character.
71. 2:05>> Yeah.
72. 2:05>> Real life.
73. 2:06>> SNL's going to steal you next season.
74. 2:08Um speaking of emotion, Messi, we were
75. 2:10just showing the clip right there. He's
76. 2:12overcome. He's already a legend, right?
77. 2:14Like you said, he doesn't need this, but
78. 2:16you can tell he wants it.
79. 2:17>> He does, and he uh you know, I always
80. 2:19say he's an alien to you. He showed us
81. 2:21that he's human when he missed that
82. 2:23penalty, but he also showed us he's the
83. 2:24most alien of the humans when he made
84. 2:26that whole comeback. The guy's an
85. 2:28animal. He is 39. He's leading the
86. 2:30Golden Boot race against these guys that
87. 2:32are 20 in their peak in their 20.
88. 2:34Uh Mbappe, Holland, he's leading them.
89. 2:3639 years old. He already won everything.
90. 2:38He doesn't need anything else. He's a
91. 2:39god in Argentina. He doesn't need
92. 2:40anything else, but he's crying cuz he
93. 2:42wants more. He's a competitive animal.
94. 2:43The best thing, he's incredibly humble.
95. 2:45After every game, he thanks his
96. 2:47teammates. He doesn't make it about
97. 2:48himself.
98. 2:49>> I know that in Argentina you shared a
99. 2:51detail with us about how much it means
100. 2:53to watch all of these games, even that
101. 2:55something happened for your aunt.
102. 2:57>> Yeah.
103. 2:57>> The last time around?
104. 2:58>> Yeah, it was so just to back up, we have
105. 3:01a sickness for for soccer, football,
106. 3:04whatever you want to call it. It is
107. 3:05absolutely crazy, but there's nothing we
108. 3:07can do about it. In Argentina, it's so
109. 3:08crazy that
110. 3:10schools basically have half days. They
111. 3:12did half days, a lot of schools, so kids
112. 3:14could watch it. The one
113. 3:14>> So kids can watch?
114. 3:15>> Yeah, and the schools that didn't have
115. 3:17the half days, they put screens in the
116. 3:18as you see right there. They put screens
117. 3:20in the in the auditorium.
118. 3:22>> How are you supposed to get any work
119. 3:23done? Look at that.
120. 3:24>> They don't. They don't. It's all right.
121. 3:25And so World Cup's over.
122. 3:27>> They should just make it a national
123. 3:27holiday.
124. 3:28>> They should. And the thing with my aunt,
125. 3:29she years ago in another World Cup, she
126. 3:31had a surgery planned. The doctors
127. 3:33rescheduled it, postponed it because it
128. 3:35was Argentina's playing. It's it's
129. 3:37absolutely And the one thing, the
130. 3:38players, they were in a locker room
131. 3:40after the game. They're chanting This is
132. 3:41very emotional for all Argentinians.
133. 3:43They're chanting a song with a very
134. 3:44specific lyric. We want to win this
135. 3:46World Cup for three reasons. For the
136. 3:47fallen soldiers in the '80s Falklands
137. 3:49Wars, for the late Diego Maradona, the
138. 3:51other goat who who passed away 6 years
139. 3:54ago, and for Messi to win it one more
140. 3:55time. So, they sing that. And you know
141. 3:57why? Because they bleed this this
142. 4:00jersey. They know what it is. It isn't
143. 4:02about winning a soccer game. It's about
144. 4:03representing the identity and the memory
145. 4:05of every Argentinian.
146. 4:06>> Okay, well, here's the thing.
147. 4:07>> You're making your country proud right
148. 4:08now.
149. 4:08>> Team USA's out. I'm team Argentina.
150. 4:10>> No, I mean, done.
151. 4:11>> I'M ALL IN.
152. 4:11>> I ALREADY AM.
153. 4:12>> OH, I've never been TO A COUNTRY
154. 4:14>> DOESN'T MATTER. You converted us. You
155. 4:16converted us.
156. 4:17>> Jeez, Lucas, thank you. And you better
157. 4:19not take a job as an analyst over at
158. 4:21another network after [laughter] this.
159. 4:23>> No kidding.
160. 4:23>> Uh
161. 4:24a reminder, you can watch all of the
162. 4:27remaining World Cup matches in Spanish
163. 4:29on Telemundo and Peacock.
164. 4:32>> Hey, thanks for watching. And don't
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