Perhaps it was not the end of an era as much as the end of two. The age of Lionel and the age of Lionel. Each was in tears. Neither has confirmed he has reached the end with Argentina but one hinted at it with his words. In the case of the other, the clue may be in his age. A World Cup final defeat was probably not the way to go – not with Argentina’s bluntness in attack and bad-tempered approach leaving a stain on the occasion – but if their progress had been fuelled by emotion, it got the better of them in the end.
