- Phil McNulty
- By BBC reporter from Lusail Stadium, Doha
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After 5 World Cups, Messi finally wins the Hercules Cup
After the lights went out at Lusail Stadium, Lionel Messi stepped into the spotlight on his own as he finally captured the only clean sheet of his glittering career – the trophy.
The 35-year-old Argentine soccer champion rubbed his hands in preparation for his coronation, put on the traditional Arab costume called “bisht”, took the Cup of Hercules and raised it to the sky. fireworks all over the sky lit up around him.
Messi has made his dream come true. Even the last regret amidst his many accolades was filled – and it was all accomplished in a final that will be remembered for years as one of the most tumultuous in World Cup history, culminating in the icon’s ascent to the top argentina.
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This is the third time in the history of Argentina that they have won the World Cup.
He can now count among his seven Ballon d’Ors, four UEFA Champions League titles, a Copa America title, 10 La Liga titles with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, Germain’s Ligue 1 title and a Coppa del World.
And this is the most important. The 15-inch trophy is the number one argument made by millions of fans when they claim Messi is the greatest player in football history – and those who disagree will have a hard time making their case.
The comparison can span generations, and each point of view has a different frame, but now no one can deny that Messi is as famous as Pelé (Billy), as well as that Sunday grandstand at the Lussel Stadium. same name.
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A World Cup title is the only major achievement Messi has missed out on.
That was Diego Maradona, with whom comparisons to Messi were never inevitable. He is a predecessor who wears the same Argentine shirt n. 10 of Messi, and he has a good reason to be the best player: he won the World Cup in Mexico 36 years ago, something Messi didn’t have before. Now, that gap doesn’t exist.
How would you tell the story of Messi’s summit in Qatar? How do you remember the process by which Argentina won this World Cup and the final match that made Messi’s name forever associated with the championship?
He has been involved in the World Cup since 2006 and has suffered several failures, most notably the pain of defeat against Germany in the final at the Maracana stadium in Brazil in 2014. Messi should know that this honor is not easy.
The fact that on this magnificent night in Lussels it was all the better for Argentina and Messi to finally claim the country’s third world title after so many failures.
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Messi scored two goals in the final.
And this time it was won in front of a bright 23-year-old Frenchman Kylian Mbappe (McBappe). Even if Mbappe is not here now, in the future he will surely be compared to Messi, debating who is the best.
France played almost as if they were rolling out the red carpet for Messi’s coronation in this final, and posed no threat in the first 80 minutes. Lusail Stadium was once Messi’s haven, as he opened the scoring for Argentina with a 12-yard penalty, which also made him the first player in World Cup history to score from the group stage from the knockout stage to the first final players stage.
Messi then created a chance for teammate Angel di Maria to score the second. There seemed to be no suspense in the match, and the Argentine fans had already begun to celebrate, until Mbappé brought the highly anticipated match of the century back to square one in a way that almost horrified.
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This World Cup final is seen as a battle between Messi and Mbappe.
Mbappe first scored a penalty 10 minutes before the end of the match, and then scored an equalizer with a wonderful volley a few tens of seconds later. The big screens in every corner of the stadium showed a close-up of Messi at that moment, and the smile on his face looked incredible.
Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni (Scaloni) chose 34-year-old Di Maria to start the game was a brilliant move, which made France right-back Jules Kounde ) was exhausted, but then Scaloni would replace him with sapper Marcos Acuna ( Aguna) on 64 minutes, but it became a conservative transfer that put himself in danger.
Of course, it was still Messi, who scored his second goal after extra time and put Argentina back in front, but the French, who had been mediocre in the first half of the game, equalized again with Mbappé’s 12-yarder.
In an atmosphere bordering on hysteria, Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (Emiliano Martinez) blocked Randal Kolo Muani (High Road) in the final countdown Muyani), and then the Argentines also had a header from Lautaro Martinez which went to the side.
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The lack of a World Cup champion has always been considered the reason why Messi cannot be considered the king.
To call the overtime “high energy” would be an understatement, and some fans didn’t even get to see it happen on the court with unbearable tension.
Under tense tension, the final match was decided by a 12-yard penalty kick and Argentina won 4-2. It was brutal to decide the match like this and whenever people talk about the World Cup in the future it will be about this match.
When Gonzalo Montiel (Mondia) finally scored the decisive penalty, Messi knelt on the ground in the center circle, crying and throwing his hands in the air, and then a group of teammates dressed in blue with white striped shirts gathered rushed over and overwhelmed him.
Then, in the midst of wild celebrations, he asked for a microphone to address the Argentine fans.
Messi won the Ballon d’Or as the best player of the tournament, becoming the first man to win it twice since the award began in 1982 – he did so in 2014.
Now, he has participated in a total of 21 goals for the Argentina team over five tenures, including 13 goals and 8 assists himself, the most of any player from any country. Goals in this World Cup brought his tally to 793 in his entire career. He was also the first player to score in all stages of the same tournament.
But one fact must trump all these statistics: Messi is now finally a World Cup winner.
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He straddled the ‘8’ shaped stage where he and his teammates had just lifted the trophy, immersed in the joy of finally filling the vacant spot on the trophy cabinet. Moments later, the stage was filled with friends and family from the Argentina team. Their country has once again been at the top of the football world since 1986.
Argentina fans lingered in their seats, chanting through their World Cup playlist, paying homage to the man they could always count on. This man finally made it.
The “earthquake-level” upheaval in the first defeat to Saudi Arabia now appears to be a distant past. It was Messi’s brilliant goal against Mexico that put Argentina’s World Cup campaign back on track, and he was irresistible until the end of the tournament.
Messi holds the trophy in his hands – a task that has been on his shoulders since he came off the bench and scored a goal in Germany’s 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro in Germany 16 years ago, now completed.
The final chapter of Messi’s World Cup story is an emotional journey of ups and downs from start to finish, and the twists and turns of the story finally gave it a perfect ending. A night in Qatar that will never be forgotten.
