When Bati wept, the world broke

July 2, 2002

Translated by Li Cheng Peng

At that moment, you felt all windows on this globe split all of a sudden, and fell down like broken necklaces, echoing liquidly at the tenderest part of your heart.
When a man, a man like an epic cried so helplessly, you felt the whole world was growing old, and life had lost its heartthrob. His tears broke the globe; his tears turned cities into wild lands.

To remember Argentina, you must remember Bati; to remember Bati, you must remember his unparalleled tears. After Baggio, nobody can ever be so touching; After Maradona, nobody has ever been a warrior like him in the field. When he, such an ¡°old warrior¡±, was ready to burn his last drop of blood for the ¡°blue and white¡± uniform, the goal of the Swedish was shot into the diaphragm of his dream, just as that evil bullet was shot into the heart of Guevara 35 years ago ¨C a 13 old, once believed he could find out all silver in the bank of Plata.

After those tears, there will be no more Bati, just as there was no more Maradona after the tears of 12 years ago. From now on, what you will see is a mere old soldier who is related to the world only with glorious memories, or a drunken body in a small dim pub.

I am a firm fan of Argentina and I presume all Argi fans must be of a same mysterious character ¨C We all believe ¡°Love is like morning dew¡±; we all believe in loyalty; and we all think the best life is in the margin between romance and coolness; and we even believe when riding in Pampas, we¡¯ll fly into heaven.

Grace and ferity, gentilesse and strength, dream and desperation¡­ in mixed air of the small pub and among the mysterious rhythm of Tango, Argentina attacks like one tide after another, sending you to the heaven in a mysterious way.

Don¡¯t mention the hidebound Italian, don¡¯t mention the iron like German, and don¡¯t even mention the oily Brazilian. In the heart of an absolute Argi fan, only Argentina represents free creativity and sharp penetration ¨C ¡°3313¡±, only Argentina is qualified for this self-hurting line-up, this desperate, fevered line-up, just like Yang Guo¡¯s (a famous hero created by the most famous Chinese Wushu writer) ¡°Heartbreaking Gest¡±, which hurt his own heart with each attack.

The early exit of Argentina will be a mystery for ever. Is it because the advanced line-up can only survive in 50 years? Or is it just because ¡°God envies the genius¡±? Argentina has the best strikers, best midfielders, and even has the best defenders in its history, but why the early exit? However, this is why we love Argentina ¨C he is the best lover, but he has to die, die before the sunrise of next morning.

The best is not the right. A most beautiful team went back to earth before bringing us any miracle. After Bati and Cannigia leave us, nobody knows whether Argentina will be so attractive and glorious in four years. We have to wait, wait until the next sunrise over the top of the Mountain of Dream, or until the next breaking of the world.

The story of this Argentine team ends here. As Argi fans, we are lonely. What the world leaves us is merely a picture of a time-marked face in tears.

Many years later our disc will be still carved with that pair of weeping eyes of Batistuta, which make us feel at the end of the world, which cannot go across the Mountain of Dream. All of a sudden, the whole world broke like pearls.