The devotion for Lionel Messi in Argentina is significantly shaping the way Argentinians speak.
With Argentina winning the 2016 Copa América and becoming soccer world champion in 2022, Argentinians are euphoric.
I’d love to tell you more about how exciting it felt to win the third world cup, but this is a Spanish language teaching blog.
¡Vamos a hablar del español, campeón!
Are There Spanish Expressions Related to Soccer?
Argentinian Spanish is a language plagued with idiomatic expressions that come from soccer. See some examples below:
Ponerse la camiseta
- Literal translation: ‘to put on the jersey’.
- Meaning: We say this when someone does the hard work in any situation (at work, at university, etc).
Ganarle por goleada
- Literal translation: “To beat someone by a big score.”
- Meaning: To win by a large margin or to dominate completely. This phrase is commonly used in soccer when one team wins by a significantly higher number of goals. However, it can also be used metaphorically in everyday situations to describe a decisive victory or overwhelming success in any context.
Patear para el mismo arco
– Literal translation: “To kick towards the same goal.”
– Meaning: To work towards the same objective. Used to describe people who are on the same team or working together harmoniously.
Colgar los botines
– Literal translation: “To hang up the boots.”
– Meaning: To retire, usually from a profession or activity. Originally used for soccer players retiring from the sport, but can be applied to other contexts.
Estar en la B
– Literal translation: “To be in the B.”
– Meaning: To be in a bad situation or state. Refers to a team being relegated to the second division (B league) in soccer.
Hacer un gol de media cancha
– Literal translation: “To score a goal from midfield.”
– Meaning: To achieve something remarkable or difficult. Used to describe impressive accomplishments.
Jugar de visitante
– Literal translation: “To play as a visitor.”
– Meaning: To be in an unfamiliar or challenging situation. Derived from the difficulty teams face when playing away games.
Tirar la pelota afuera
– Literal translation: “To throw the ball out.”
– Meaning: To avoid a difficult question or situation. Used when someone evades responsibility or changes the subject.
Estar en offside
– Literal translation: “To be offside.”
– Meaning: To be in a tricky or problematic situation, often due to breaking rules or being caught doing something wrong.
Meter un gol en contra
– Literal translation: “To score an own goal.”
– Meaning: To do something that backfires or harms oneself. Used to describe actions that unintentionally cause problems.
What Is the Passion for Messi in Argentina Like?
Even though most of you know who Lionel Messi is, I am going to introduce him to those who don’t follow soccer or, as we call it, fútbol.
Lionel Messi is the best player in the world of soccer.
Sí, es mejor que Cristiano Ronaldo.
He is from Rosario, Argentina, but lives in Miami, with his wife and three children.
For many years, Lionel Messi played for Barcelona for many years. Currently, he plays for Inter Miami in the United States.
The passion for Messi in Argentina has been going on for years, but it’s increased significantly since the last World Cup in Qatar 2022 where Messi led Argentina to victory. However, the devotion for Leo Messi isn’t just about him being the world player of the year.
As a good friend of mine put it, Messi is known as “an example of great leadership, a constant motivator, a humble human being, a devoted dad, a loving husband, and an amazing team player.”
In summary, even if the world cup final against France had had different results, Argentina would still be proud of Leo Messi.
Is Argentina’s Devotion to Soccer Changing the Spanish Language?
While the World Cup of Qatar 2022 was taking place, Argentinians came up with new songs and phrases to cheer for “la Selección”, Argentina’s national team.
There were three phrases that seemed to be the most popular among Argentina’s fans and they are here to stay forever as part of our history.
The three phrases are: “anulo mufa”, “elijo creer” and “qué mirás, bobo, andá pa’llá”.
Elijo creer
Argentines believe in luck and identify as “cabaleros”, which means they have “cábalas”. A “cábala” is an object or an act believed to bring you good luck.
For example, I always wore the same light-blue dress and white bracelet for every Argentina match. This outfit brought good luck, or so I want to believe.
Moreover, Argentinians look for signs of good luck everywhere they can, and 2022 was no exception.
The Argentine people found tons of similarities between the 2022 World Cup and the one from 1986 when Argentina won its second World Cup.
Making these somewhat absurd comparisons and predicting Argentina’s victory, the phrase “elijo creer” or “I choose to believe” became extremely popular.
Now, anytime someone says “elijo creer” people will remember 2022’s World Cup.
Anulo mufa
Mufa is the slang word for “bad luck”. Therefore, “anulo mufa” is a message people said to “cancel bad luck” or not to bring any bad luck to the soccer team.
In a way, this was the phrase most fans used to not “jinx” the results during the World Cup. I believe this phrase will be used again in the future.
Given the 2024’s Copa America, predictions were made on social media about whether Chile or Argentina would win. Same with the matches of Argentina vs Peru and Argentina vs Ecuador. Argentinians comment “anulo mufa” on all these posts!
Qué mirás, bobo, andá pa’llá
This is probably the funniest and most unforgettable phrase from the 2022 World Cup. Who said it? The one and only: Lionel Messi.
One of the things that I and most people love about Messi is that he’s polite and respectful of others. Unlike most Argentinians, he doesn’t lose his temper easily. However, he’s human like all of us.
There was a heated confrontation between the Netherlands and Argentina before and during their nerve-wrecking World Cup match.
After the match, a player from the Netherlands was staring at Messi while he was being interviewed. Sadly for him, Messi didn’t like his gaze.
Lionel Messi dismissed the player with this phrase: ¿Qué mirás, bobo? Andá pa’ llá.
“Qué mirás, bobo” means “what are you looking at, fool”. And “andá pa’ llá” comes from “andá para allá” (go over there, literally) meaning “go away”.
Argentinians have a special sense of humor and, as strange as it sounds, they absolutely loved seeing their team leader lose his temper for the first time.
The phrase “qué mirás bobo, andá pa’llá” is now printed on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and more.
Celebrating with Lionel Messi in Argentina
“Lo dimos todo”
“Darlo todo” is to give everything you’ve got to achieve a goal. This is a phrase we hear a lot from soccer players, such as Lionel Messi.
Similarly, the phrase “dejarlo todo en la cancha” is to leave everything on the field.
If one thing persists in Argentine football, it is certainly “darlo todo”.
“No traten de entendernos porque no lo puedo explicar”
Another phrase that ‘s become really popular is “no traten de entendernos porque no lo puedo explicar”, meaning “don’t try to understand us because I can’t explain”.
The celebrations for every one of Argentina’s victories have been insane in every province of Argentina, in Bangladesh, and all around the world where there are small Argentinian communities.
During the celebrations we’ve seen fans singing, crying, jumping, wearing costumes in light-blue and white, and climbing monuments, traffic lights, and buses to wave the Argentinian flag.
The phrase “no traten de entendernos porque no lo puedo explicar” goes for anyone who just doesn’t understand the passion Argentinians feel.
Can’t Explain this Madness
Here’s an example of how the passion for soccer and Messi is shaping society.
Millions of little boys and girls wear Messi’s t-shirt, no matter if it is the original, the cheap one, or the one their mother made with plastic.
In a country where 50% of the population is poor, soccer is one of the few things that brings us together and makes us happy (and a little crazy too).
Messi en Argentina con la Copa del Mundo
Now that Messi and the national team of champions are in Argentina celebrating with the fans, I’d like to teach you some soccer vocabulary in Spanish.
Learn these words and join the celebration!
Soccer vocabulary
- Foul – Falla
- Free kick – Tiro libre
- Kick – Patear la pelota
- Nutmeg – Caño
- Offside – Fuera de juego
- Penalties – Penales
- Save – Atajar la pelota
- Score – Meter un gol
- Yellow card – Tarjeta amarilla
Conclusion
The passion for Messi in Argentina is changing Argentine Spanish. Hopefully, this passion also helps to change people’s attitudes and encourages them to be kinder to one another. As our soccer team demonstrated, united Argentinians can achieve anything.