Lionel Andres Messi, a footballer for some but an emotion for many, completed football by winning the FIFA World Cup title which was the only possible trophy missing from his trophy cabinet before Sunday. Messi settled the ‘Greatest Of All Time’ (GOAT) debate by producing one-off all-time performances in FIFA World Cup history. It was not an easy ride for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner as he failed four times before fulfilling his childhood dream at the age of 35.
It was all written in the stars for Messi to get his hands on the prestigious trophy and etch his name as the Greatest of all Time. The man has made everyone believe that good things take time and the important thing is not to give up on your dreams.
On Sunday, Argentina and France put up a show to remember for ages at Lusail Stadium, Doha. It was arguably the greatest ever final in World Cup history where the match ended 3-3 after the extra time. It was the substitute Gonzalo Montiel who held his nerves and stroked home the winning spot-kick to seal an agonising shoot-out defeat for defending champions France.
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Argentina lifted the trophy after beating France 4-2 on penalties but it wasn’t that easy. The La Albiceleste dominated the majority of the game as Messi scored the opening goal in the 22nd minute by putting the ball inside the post from the penalty spot. The Argentine maestro kept his calm to send French skipper Hugo Lloris the wrong way and helped him take an early lead.
Big-match player Angel Di Maria joined the party soon with probably one of the best team goals in World Cup final history. And if it’s a team goal you just can’t keep Messi out of it as he was the one who started the move by flicking the ball towards Julian Alvarez at the right who put a through ball to Alexis Mac Allister and he ran away with it and passed it to Di Maria in front of the goal as France were caught up with Jules Kounde and Aurelien Tchouameni trying hard to track back but failing miserably. Di Maria didn’t miss the chance to double the lead for Argentina.
The South American giants continued to control the game until the 79th minute when Nicholas Otamendi committed a foul on Kolo Muani. All eyes were on young footballing star Kylian Mbappe and he delivered it by striking the goal from the penalty spot.
Argentina suddenly lost concentration and there came another goal from France courtesy of a sublime strike from Mbappe once again.
Lionel Scaloni regrouped his players before the start of extra time as the La Albiceleste once again started taking control of the game. However, it remained 2-2 at 105th.
Messi kept making moves for Argentina and this time he was not walking on the pitch, he was running hard to fulfil his dreams. And he once again made everyone believe in him by scoring a crucial goal in the 108th minute.
However, Mbappe, who is the Argentine’s teammate at Paris Saint-Germain, turned out to be the nemesis, again. Leonardo Pardes had a handball inside the box while trying to look away from a powerful strike from the PSG forward. And Mbappe scored another penalty in the 118th minute to become the second player in history to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final.
The 2018 champions had another chance to crush Argentina’s dreams but big man Emiliano Martinez had other plans as he made a spectacular save in the 123rd minute of the game.
The two best players of the night – Messi and Mbappe – led their teams in the penalty shootout with the first kicks for their respective teams. The present and the future of football put the balls inside the net with complete ease.
However, Martinez came up big once again and saved Kingsley Coman’s shot, while Aurélien Tchouaméni missed the target as Argentina defeated France 4-2.
Messi became the first player to win two Golden Balls in world cup history but his eyes were set only on the World Cup trophy as he kissed it right after picking up the individual award. It was a pure moment of joy for every Messi and Argentina fan who kept dreaming.
“It’s a very hard blow because we did not expect to start in this way. We expected to get the three points that would have given us calmness. My message to the supporters is to have faith. We won’t leave them stranded,” Messi assured when Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in their first match of the showpiece.
They weren’t empty words from the GOAT as he took the onus on himself from the next match onwards with a magnificent goal against Mexico. He did put up a show against Poland too despite missing a penalty.
Before Qatar 2022, Messi was often mocked for his zero goals in World Cup knockouts and he silenced his critics by scoring goals in every knockout match this time. He became the first ever player to score goals in the round of 16, quarterfinal, semifinal and final in a single edition of the World Cup.
The triumph has put him in an elite list as he has completed football by winning all the possible trophies – league title, league cup, UEFA Champions League, Copa America and the biggest of them all – World Cup.
On the other hand, his biggest rival Cristiano Ronaldo missed out on getting his hands on the glorious trophy in his five attempts. Notably, Argentine Demi-God Deogo Maradona didn’t win the Champions League or Copa America title during his illustrious career and the Brazil legend Pele never played in Europe.
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