From La Nacion, A Buenos Aires daily.
Losing the final of the Davis Cup to Spain was dramatic. So great was the expectation that the sound of the fall was like a volcano erupting. What you cannot do is lose your poise, be part of the shame. Whatever side you’re on.
The conf rontation between Argentinian captain Alberto Mancini, Jose Acasuso, the one who lost to Fernando Verdasco yesterday, and part of the Argentinean press in the post-tie conference just laid it out for the rest of the world.
The differences, and miseries, were set out by the rumour that spread speedily yesterday that David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri had battled in the locker room after the doubles Saturday. . “It’s a little foolish to call a process that ends in two finals and one semi-final a failure,” said Mancini, who did not speak to his future in the job.
The atmosphere was thick. “This is time to talk about tennis, and not whether there was money or not. Everything was politicized. I don’t know if it caused us to lose our concentration, but a little focus was definitely lost,” Mancini said of the team’s preparation.
He defended his players. “The boys dropped everything to win the Cup. There was a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations, and it wasn’t easy to play that way. The series was very equal. We had it in the doubles, and with Chucho (Acasuso), but we didn’t get it. Spain was a difficult opponent that played at a high level. The absence of Nadal brought them together even more.
One of Mancini’s most foreceful statements was this: “We have to learn a lot from this to be able to win the Davis Cup. I don’t mean only the tennis players, but all of us. Even you, the journalists. They must also reflect, and act as a team with us. The day before yesterday, many ridiculous tings were said, such as the so-called “pineapple (must mean something in Argentinean slang)” in the locker rooms. These things distract the players.
It doesn’t seem right to speak of forming a team between the players and the journalists, who occupy two different spaces. But that and to ask for reporting rigor are two different things. And, in any case, it was the Argentine team itself that didn’t start out right, beginning with the absence of Nalbandian at the press conference after the doubles, for which he received a $10,000 fine, and again after only Mancini and Acasuso showed for the final press conference. They were not all required to attend, but it would have been a nice gesture.
Following that, there were a few conflicts between some journalists, Mancini and Acasuso, to the point that some journalists were denigrating their own. All before the world’s glance. It doesn’t seem to be the best way to rebuild and dream of winning, one day, the elusive Cup.