“Yes, I am very happy for my country.”
It was a stunning moment on the San Jose Earthquakes beat: head coach Matias Almeyda responding to a question in English, something he does not do, as he normally answers questions in his native Spanish.
But the circumstances that brought us to that moment on Wednesday were stunning too, after Argentina won the 2021 Copa América last weekend.
Considering Argentina is a soccer-crazed country generally and the men’s national team is perpetually regarded as part of the handful of contenders in every competition it enters, the fact that they went 28 years between winning a major competition is, itself, stunning.