Did FIFA Ease Argentina's Path to The Final? Analysis

I want to expand on something that you said yesterday. Do you believe Argentina was given the yellow brick road to this final? And what I mean by that is, do you believe that it seems like you know that they carved out a road for Argentina and Messi to get to this final? Are you in that camp that you believe that the FIBA folks did that and made it an easier path for them to get here? The reality is that it's very hard to believe that Argentina, on their way to their second final in a row, had one of the easiest group stages that I've seen in a long, long time for a champion. They did not face any top 25 teams for the first five games of their journey. Not only that, many of those teams were way below the 50, 70, and even 100 level teams. So it is hard to prove that this is happening with an organized effort to get Argentina to the final. These players still have to play the game. These players still have to endure the kicking and endure the fouls, endure the emotional stress of being down on the scorecard. But to be honest, also, the bracket that they landed for the playoffs of this tournament was also the easiest path. So if you see the reality, then yes, Argentina had a very, very easy, easy, easy pretty girl parking road to the final, my friend. From there to say that there's an organized effort, that's hard to prove. But also, it lends itself for that opinion, if you will, because the reality is that there were uncalled fouls, there were controversial calls in favor of Argentina, and things are adding up. So that's why I see a lot of animosity against Argentina in this final. I remember last year, they were the heroes, they were the unspoken heroes of the people, the little team. And now they seem to be the preferred team of the system. So with that perception, I think a lot of people are waiting on them to lose today. But it is like, you know, in this business of betting, it is hard to bet against Messi.