Greece and Argentina face off on the soccer pitch at 2:30pm ET on Tuesday, but this will not be the countries’ first encounter this year.
Just over one month ago, Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández warned that a rescue package put together to alleviate Greece’s economic woes was doomed to fail.
Argentina has some form in matters of financial crisis: in 2001, after years of economic stagnation, the country decided to “suspend payments” on $132bn of its debt. The country later declared that it would not repay some $95bn owed to creditors. Result: biggest sovereign default, ever.
But while many analysts have also drawn parallels between Argentina’s troubled history and Greek’s difficult present, the Hellenic Republic’s own politicians and financial institutions have sought to reassure.
On Monday, Greece’s third largest bank — Eurobank EFG — said there were important differences between Argentina in 2001 and Greece in 2010.
Of course, there are also similarities – in 2001 Argentines took to the streets to protest their dire economic fate; their Greek counterparts did much the same throughout May. (Greek protesters even paid homage to those earlier LatAm travails)
But it’s worth noting that over the last decade, Argentina has staged an impressive financial and economic comeback, although its growth has been somewhat hampered by its tumultuous internal politics. Greek-watchers hope the Republic will be able to make an even swifter return to form.
And of course, Argentina has also emerged as a formidable contender this World Cup. Might Greece, which took the crown in the Euro 2004 tournament, dare to hope for a similar performance two World Cups hence?