The attack was planned by the group, who armed themselves with weapons and used a level of violence that can only suggest they intended to kill him
Emiliano Matrangolo, 39, a business administration graduate in Buenos Aires, is putting everything on the line for the chance to travel to the Fifa World Cup in Qatar to cheer on his team, one of the tournament favourites, and star striker Lionel Messi.
"It's four years of savings, saving some money every month for this dream come what may. You stop doing things like buying a car or buying a house," Matrangolo told Reuters at a huge barbecue of some 300 Argentine fans ahead of travelling to Qatar.
"It's a dream, it's an infatuation. Many people say look, he spends the money to go to Qatar instead of having 5% of a house," Matrangolo added. "Well I'm sure (a house) is nice, but I'm going to the World Cup."
The tournament, likely to be 35-year-old Messi's last World Cup, starts in less than a fortnight on Nov. 20 and fans from England to Japan are gearing up to make the trip to the Middle Eastern nation in hopes of glory.
Argentina, on a run of 35 games unbeaten and reigning champions in the Copa America last year, hope to add to two World Cup victories in 1978 and 1986, the latter driven by the genius of late idol Diego Maradona, who died in 2020.
"We have Lionel (Messi) on the pitch and Diego playing in heaven," fans sang in unison at the barbecue in Sarmiento Park on Sunday, many wearing the blue-white national jersey, holding banners or inked with tattoos of star players.
Such is Argentina's passion for football, that the World Cup remains a priority for some, despite a sluggish economy, painful inflation estimated to hit 100% this year and currency controls that push up the price of traveling overseas.
"Unfortunately, Argentina is going through a moment of crisis, where everything increases in price every month," said Jonatan Luna, 32, a self-employed worker.
"But one night I sat down and decided to go to the World Cup because I love the national team. I follow them everywhere in Argentina. It's my first World Cup and it brought tears to my eyes when I made up my mind."
Luna is conscious of the financial impact of his decision.
"I know that when I come back I will have the best memories of my life, but it could be that I am renting all my life but I don't care, we have to go to support the team."
The attack was planned by the group, who armed themselves with weapons and used a level of violence that can only suggest they intended to kill him
Fallen crypto hero offers apology to his former FTX colleagues
Sector’s GDP contribution is expected to have nearly doubled this year from 2021 to 36.1%
Rice is grown on 416,000 hectares across Europe and total production amounts to 2.8 million tonnes per year
Investigators say the attackers had received significant amounts of cash and cryptocurrency from Ukraine
Complete breakdown of the positions, along with instructions for job seekers on where to submit their CVs
The company aims to capitalise on technology by connecting its cars with its phones and home appliances
After a five-decade-long career, Juergen Hasenkopf, 73, says he can continue to travel around the world for 10 more years