Argentina fans are frustrated after their team got knocked out of the World Cup in the Round of 16 stage by France 4-3 but they remain in Russia to see the World Cup and hope that arch-rivals Brazil are knocked out of the tournament as soon as possible.
With Argentina finishing runners-up in Brazil four years ago, their fans expected long stays in Russia but their defeat in Kazan condemned them to their earliest exit since the 2002 tournament, leaving more than a few itineraries up in the air.
Days after masses of blue-and-white-shirted supporters marched to Kazan Arena singing “champions of Russia”, Buenos Aires man Enrique Mayol cut a more subdued figure as he wandered the town centre on a sweltering day.
“This is very tough. In Argentina we are fanatical about soccer. The issue of losing is very tough, especially being here, it alters your life plans,”‘ said Mayol, who is left with a ticket to the France-Uruguay quarter-final in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday.
“We had foreseen going to play the quarter-finals in Nizhny and we had to change the tickets because of what we had been assigned. “But we carry on, and it’s an event which takes place every four years, and it’s fantastic, and we want to carry on watching soccer.” Tables of Argentine fans did just that at the local ‘Twin Peaks’ bar, watching gloomily as Brazil beat Mexico 2-0 to set up a quarter-final tie with Belgium in Kazan on Friday.