Challenge for the first Ballon d’Or, Champions, World Cup and 4 Olympic crowns
Is it the coronation of the “sky god” or the opening of the Mbape era of the “new star”?
Lionel Messi of Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in QatarImage) is followed by the ‘last dance’ modifier. “For Messi who has achieved everything, the only goal left is to win the World Cup.”with an explanation. The final, held at midnight on the 19th (Korean time), will be the “real” last dance stage to decorate the finale.
Messi, who has announced that this tournament will be his last World Cup, is flying fast to collect the beauty of the end. He showed his maximum skills with 5 goals and 3 assists as a starter in all 3 group games and 3 tournament games from the round of 16 to the semifinals.
In particular, in the semi-final against Croatia, the scene where he evaded the opposition defender with exquisite dribbling and assisted a key goal was a scene that made me understand why Messi is even called the ‘god of football’.
In the first match of the group stage, it was Messi who saved Argentina from a sensational defeat to Saudi Arabia, which can be said of few numbers in terms of power. He performed a one-man show by scoring the opening goal and assisting an additional goal in the second group stage match against Mexico.
to this match Messi holds both the youngest record (Germany 2006 World Cup vs Serbia, 18 years, 357 days) and the oldest record for scoring both a goal and an assist in a World Cup match.I did it. It didn’t end there. In the semifinals, he scored one goal and one assist, setting another record for the oldest player (35 years, 176 days). It was a bonus to record assists in five consecutive tournaments for the first time in World Cup history.
Messi, who has already surpassed Argentine legends such as Diego Maradona (most appearances) and Gabriel Batistuta (most goals), has risen to the ranks of the best in the world. Having tied a record with Lothar Matheus for the most World Cup appearances (25 matches), he will only enter a new story by playing the final.write
Even if you only look at this World Cup Messi tied with Antoine Griezmann on assists and Kylian Mbappe on goals.he’s running As the contestants are all French players, the outcome of the final is likely to be mixed with joy. If he scores a goal or an assist, it is likely that the Ballon d’Or, which is the MVP, will also return to him.
But everything I’ve said so far is only secondary to Messi’s ultimate conundrum: winning the World Cup.
homeland If you lead him to the championship, Messi will win the World Cup, the Champions League of the European Football Association (UCL), the Ballon d’Or and the Olympics.go up It’s a feat that not even Maradona, who won the Argentine championship 36 years ago, failed to achieve.
Messi has won multiple league trophies in regular club league and UCL, and has nothing more to achieve on the pro stage. He topped the UCL four times while at FC Barcelona and received the Ballon d’Or, the world’s most prestigious football award, seven times. He also participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won a gold medal.
Coincidentally The biggest obstacle to Messi’s coronation is his (Paris Saint-Germain) team member Kylian MbappeAll. Mbafe, who won the 2018 World Cup in Russia at the age of ten, is considered a superstar to succeed Messi, who is entering his final years as a footballer. For Messi’s last dance to end with a climax, he must overcome Mbappé.
Is it the celebration that completes the era of Messi or the opening of a new era of Mbappe? All that remained was the last definitive match.
Reporter Kim Bong-gu, Hankyung.com kbk9@hankyung.com
