Today, there is no vals in the music repertoire able to process the sadness behind Perú's elimination from the 2022 World Cup. The defeat against Australia in the FIFA intercontinental playoff is still a wound too open for the country to come back to normality.
The sorrow is generalized, but it hits harder for Luis Advíncula, the right-full back who missed one of the shots in a penalty kick definition marked by the dancing antics of Australian goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne.
Australia: ❌ ✅ ✅
Peru: ✅ ✅ ❌— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 13, 2022
Advíncula quits after penalty saved by Australian dancing goalkeeper
Although the loss was a team affair, Advíncula went into harakiri mode, blaming himself for the failure in the qualification process.
Once the game was over, Advíncula couldn't resist throwing himself onto the pitch, crying and regretting his penalty shot.
Luis Advincula, you and the whole team will come back from this!!
¡Arriba Perú!
pic.twitter.com/Io4CQYWsF0— Diego Montalvan (@DMontalvan) June 13, 2022
The pain continued hours after when he decided to vent all his feelings in a tearful story on Instagram, in which he announced he was retiring from international soccer.
"I'm the ONLY one responsible for this debacle, and I will not have enough life to apologize," he wrote. "From today, I can't go further anymore, and I quit the national team. I think I don't have the strength to rise from this. Thanks to my teammates, and sorry for so little."
Darn!
That went deep. The only issue? Advíncula eventually erased the post, casting doubts about how serious his plans are.
If Advíncula keeps his word, Perú will lose one of its most experienced players. The 32-year-old has 106 caps and two goals on the national team, and he has served as captain on more than one occasion.
