As a matter of principle, I am always with the underdog, i.e. with the poor against the rich, with the weak against the strong, with David against Goliath.
So I will be supporting Argentina in their match against France in the World Cup soccer final on 18th December in Qatar, because Argentina is a poor, underdeveloped country whereas France is rich and developed.
Not that I have anything against the French. I am a great admirer of the great French Revolution of 1789 and the principles of liberte, egalite, fraternite it proclaimed. One of my favourite novels is Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, and I enjoy reading Maupassant’s short stories. Among my heroes are Voltaire, Rousseau, and the French Encyclopedists. Nevertheless it is a mattter of principle that I always support the underdog.
I will not only support Argentina in my imagination, I want to give some practical, effective advice to the Argentine team to help them win, a secret mantra, which any of you having some contact with the Argentinians may convey to them.
And that is this : whenever a French player has the ball, all Argentine players should shout together ” Dien Bien Phu ” or ” Moscow ”.
That will so much shock and stun the French players that they will leave the ball and run away. Then the Argentine players may take the ball and score.
P.S.
In the battle of Dien Bien Phu the French army suffered one of its worst defeats at the hands of General Giap’s Vietminh forces in 1954, which compelled the French to withdraw from Vietnam.
In 1812 Napoleon’s Grand Army, which had invaded Russia, was compelled to retreat from Moscow, and then perished in its retreat in the cold weather
