Duka pointed to the World Cup final: “What happened today that we will never find out?”

The recent defeat of the Argentine National Team was not just a simple sports setback, but the harsh manifestation of how the interests of power have plundered national honor. Under a disastrous refereeing and a series of technical decisions that defy logic, former leader Andrés "Duka" Ducatenzeiler —who presided over the Club Atlético Independiente between 2002 and 2005, a period in which he conquered the 2002 Apertura Tournament— revealed a reality that the official press tries to hide: the transformation of football into a "perfect business".

According to Duka, we are witnessing the beginning of "the worst of tragedies for football fans", where "the poor have had their favorite sport stolen" so that only "the wealthy or the rich" can access it, while the "working class" must settle for watching it on television or falling into the "gambling addiction" fostered by communicators who encourage betting.

From a general perspective, it is statistically impossible that the "highest-scoring team of the tournament" went "120 minutes without shooting at the goal" in the final.

Ducatenzeiler rightly points out that the only one who dared to shoot was the young Simeone, curiously "the only player who was not a World Champion" and who was not tainted by the system.

This offensive void occurs in a context of global suspicion, similar to what happened in the France-England match, where "sports betting" may have manipulated the score so that "Mbappé would be the top scorer of the World Cup".

When delving into the particular details, the management of injuries during the match borders on the scandalous and the unpatriotic. Andrés Ducatenzeiler emphasizes that "there is no precedent" for a final where they request substitutions for "the 4, the 2, and the 6 due to injury".

Figures like Cuti Romero and Licha Martínez —who once carried the "Malvinas flag"— left the field in an act that Duka contrasts with the lineage of heroes like Leopoldo Luque, who played "bloodied", Palermo, who did so "lame", or Rubén Galván, who played a match with "a fractured tibia and fibula".

The suspicion is serious: in a World Cup where they played "by order of a president", it is not ruled out that a call from high spheres forced the exit of defenders who play in the Premier League.

The technical injustice was also a protagonist. Lautaro Martínez, author of the "most important goal in recent times" against England, did not play for "a single minute" in the 120 minutes of play, a decision that for Ducatenzeiler lacks any rational football explanation. Meanwhile, it was allowed for the "goalkeeper" to play "injured in every match" and for Rodrigo De Paul to be a starter when "he could not move".

Only Tagliafico showed the necessary defiance by refusing to leave despite the insistence of the coaching staff. The debacle was sealed with the expulsion of Enzo Fernández, an act of indiscipline that, according to Duka, in a prestigious club like Real Madrid would mean that "he never plays again".

After the match, the behavior of the Argentine delegation only increased the doubts: "no player spoke to the press", the AFA issued a confusing statement about the return of the players to Europe, and the coach left the conference in tears, admitting that "there are things he cannot say".

In light of this scenario, Ducatenzeiler poses the question that resonates in the heart of the nation: "What happened today that we, the common people, will never find out?".

Amid this darkness, the only figure that remained "intact" and "honest" was Lionel Messi. At 39 years old, the captain was the only one who understood that he had to "defend a title" with professionalism, marking an absolute contrast with a system that uses players as pieces on a financial board.

The editorial conclusion is bitter: while "workers are not explained anything", Argentine football has been handed over to the highest bidder, leaving an "eternal stain" and a question mark that history will hardly erase.