"I knew this would happen" — Two months for Romero's right knee

AT&T Stadium, Dallas, June 22. Romero lay collapsed on the turf, his right hand clutching his right knee.

Someone from the bench was already running over with an ice pack.

Two months ago, against Sunderland, he was clutching the same leg. On April 12 in the Premier League, Tottenham faced Sunderland, and their striker Brobbey pushed him into goalkeeper Kinsky. His right knee was done for the season. He left the pitch in tears, missing nearly two months.

Now at the World Cup, the same knee hit the turf again.

In the second half, during a challenge with Austrian midfielder Sabitzer, his right knee took a blow from Sabitzer, and his entire leg gave way. He didn't get up. In the 57th minute, Otamendi replaced him.

After the match, speaking to an ESPN reporter, Romero admitted: "I knew this could happen to me. There's a little issue there, and I felt it again."

A center-back went into the World Cup with that premonition, and sure enough, his knee didn't hold up. Saying it out loud carried more weight than any A4 paper from a team doctor.

On the same turf, less than 10 minutes into the match, Messi missed a penalty but later scored two goals. His 17th and 18th World Cup goals, surpassing Klose's 16 and Marta's 17 in the Women's World Cup, making him the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history alone. Argentina beat Austria 2-0.

Messi was breaking records; Romero was waiting for an ice pack. Football never guarantees a happy ending for everyone.

Before the final whistle blew inside the stadium, the information war outside had already begun.

TyC Sports journalist Gastón Edul leaked the news first: The MRI was done, results were good, no ligament damage, inflammation was subsiding, and he could train with the team the next day.

Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia waded in directly, posting on social media: "The national team is serious when communicating medical matters." He denied that an MRI had been performed, directly accusing Edul of spreading lies.

The World Cup was only in its second match, and the president of a national football federation was publicly accusing the country's most prominent beat reporter of fabricating a story, all over a debate about whether his center-back had actually laid down in an MRI machine. The old grudges from the 2024 Copa America were getting a sequel through this knee issue.

Head coach Scaloni played it safe in the press conference: "We don't know the severity of Cuti's problem. It's something he's been dealing with for a while. We hope it's nothing serious."

Romero himself seemed unfazed: "It'll be fine in 3 or 4 days. Nothing serious. Head up, I'll come back stronger."

Going into the World Cup with an injury from two months ago, then taking a solid hit to that same knee... the words "nothing serious" probably only fool fans glancing at the scoreboard.

In the first group stage match, they beat Algeria 3-0, with Messi scoring a hat-trick. In the second match, they beat Austria 2-0. They secured top spot in Group J early. For the final group match against Jordan, Romero's name wasn't on the starting lineup.

On June 28, the knockout stage kicked off. It was just one day after the group stage ended.

An ice pack was strapped to Romero's right knee. As for the ligaments inside that had already ended one season, only the turf knew how many more high-intensity sprints they could take.