Argentina  1  Nigeria  0

Thank goodness for that! I’m not sure I could have tolerated much more World Cup build-up. The newspapers have been producing World Cup supplements for some time now and long ago ran out of useful things to say. My favourite headline on one of the 24-hour rolling news channels was: “The dulce de leche has arrived.”

For anyone who doesn’t know, dulce de leche is a sticky brown milky caramelly sort of mixture that Argentines smear on cakes, biscuits, ice-cream and possibly even each other. They dip bananas in it. It’s as Argentine as Diego Maradona dancing the tango while he chews on a prime cut of beef.

It’s to Argentines what Vegemite is to Australians or decent tea-bags are to Brits. Even if you don’t indulge that much while you’re at home, it’s a point of national pride to make sure you’re well stocked while you’re living abroad.

So it was big news that the dulce de leche had arrived at the Argentine camp in South Africa. That sizzling headline was only pushed off the top spot when it was announced that Messi would be sharing a room with Veron.

Do any other colleagues, when travelling abroad for work, share hotel rooms? I thought not, unless they work for cash-strapped companies and the Argentine team certainly doesn’t fall into that category.

The thinking is, of course, that Leo Messi is young and Juan Sebastian Veron is a knotty, worldly, experienced sort of fellow. But what’s he going to do? Read Messi bedtime stories? Tuck him in? Make sure he’s up on time and cleans his teeth?

There is almost no shop, bank, estate agent or product in Buenos Aires that doesn’t, in some form or another, display it’s allegiance to the national cause. Sellers of sky-blue and white scarves, flags, hats, masks and general plastic and nylon tat have sprouted on every street corner.

The city council has erected two huge screens in public areas and hoardings for fizzy drinks have built in clocks counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to the World Cup. The sale of flat-screen TVs has gone through the roof, boosting an otherwise sluggish economy.

Sky Blue and White

It was dangerous to be on the street ten minutes before the 11am (Argentine time) kick-off  for Argentina’s first game against Nigeria as all battled to be in front of a screen on time. There was anxious and impatient tutting at the supermarket check-outs where we queued with baskets laden with crisps, beer and dulce de leche. Then a mad dash. Ten minutes after the kick-off Argentines, not known for their punctuality, were still dashing … then – silence.

The birds were quiet, the wind blew the brushwood across the empty streets, the bar-room swing door creaked and a couple of lone Canadian tourists scurried nervously back to their hotel, wondering if perhaps the world had ended or the military were about to take over.

Then there was a collective roar that sent the Buenos Aires pigeons fluttering from trees as Gabriel Heinze, on the other side of the world, strayed into the Nigerian box and, unhindered by opposing defenders who were all attending to Mssrs Messi and Tevez, headed the ball into the net.

This was a solid team performance in which Messi played well. In any other context that sentence wouldn’t sound very dramatic. But given how disjointed Argentina’s recent team displays under Maradona have been and how poorly Leo has played for his national side, it really is very significant.

This was a good start against formidable opponents. Some players, most notably Tevez and Veron, didn’t play particularly well but the team did and the less impressive players will play better. With the likes of Gabriel Milito and Sergio Aguero sitting on the subs bench, they’d better. Most Argentines will be quietly content with this performance which, but for an outstanding Nigerian goalkeeper, would have delivered a more convincing scoreline.

The only dark cloud hanging over a promising start for Argentina is the presence in South Africa of a number of barra brava … the hardcore Argentine fans, some of them with criminal records.

More than a Cardboard Cutout...

The media here lets us know who they are and what some of them have done. Twelve were turned around and sent home by the South African authorities on their arrival in Johannesburg. Some of them have their trips financed and are given tickets for the games by the Argentine clubs, national football association and political parties. Quite what they get in return is not clear.

Thursday’s game against South Korea kicks off a 8.30am so the schools have installed big screens in the playgrounds and assembly halls so that no child need miss a single moment of the action.  Business deals have been rearranged, weddings postponed and non-life threatening operations rescheduled.

Argentina needs football and it needs victory in football, especially on the world stage, to feel good about itself when so much else is not as it should be. And it’s all so much better in high definition on a flat screen that stretches from wall-to-wall.