Argentina might not have had the most star-studded team at the World Cup, but that may well have helped the Albiceleste to fight their way through adversity, being more used to things going against them. That became increasingly evident after Argentina were victims to one of the greatest World Cup shocks of all time, at the hands of Saudi Arabia.
Rodrigo de Paul is one of those who has been heavily criticised over the last year at Atletico Madrid and was very much the target of negativity after the Saudi Arabia defeat.
Speaking to Telemundo after the final, de Paul was emotional at the size of their achievement.
“The truth is we were born to suffer.”
“We love all of the Argentines, the suffering, it made us greater. For me, it’s one of the happiest days of my life. This is the key to eternity. We will be eternal for what we achieved.”
“I’m proud, we have raised the flag at the summit of the world. The truth is, we f***ing deserve it.”
“If there is a single idiot that still doubts it, Messi is the best of all time,” de Paul had also remarked.
A little less emotional and a little looser, the celebrations continued in the dressing room thereafter, where Nicolas Otamendi secured himself an interesting interviewee in de Paul.
“And to all those who doubted me – suck my d***. They came at me from all sides, but they never knocked me over.”
There is no doubt that during the knockout stages, de Paul proved his quality and his work-rate were first class for Argentina. His giving a little back lies both within his character and within understanding.
High up Diego Simeone’s list of priorities will be finding a way to extract that same de Paul for Atleti.