Lionel Messi (r.) and Julian Alvarez led Argentina to the World Cup final.
Photo: imago/Dave Shopland
The players formed a long line on the grass, which at one point did just the same thing as the fans in the stands: jumping and chanting uninhibited. The Lusail Stadium was once again transformed into a blue scene of exuberant joy when Lionel Messi after the Gala 3-0 in the semifinals of the World Cup against Croatia he embraced his trusted colleagues Nicolás Tagliafico and Rodrigo de Paul. »Vamos vamos Argentina« orchestrated the stadium management. “Vamos vamos a ganar,” intoned the fans’ block and sent the message that Argentina would win the final next Sunday.
But that’s not entirely certain with Messi either, known for losing his only World Cup final in 2014 to Germany. But why should the world star stop with a bad past? When he appeared in the sacred jersey with number ten at the press conference, the 35-year-old spoke of winning five finals. This is how this World Cup felt after the 1: 2 in the opening game against Saudi Arabia. “The first match was a big blow for us. But this team has shown how strong it is,” said the liberated captain, who spoke like a waterfall on Tuesday evening. After that you won five finals. “I hope it’s the same in the last game.”
There can be no better place than the bombastic Lusail north of Doha, with a capacity of almost 90,000 people, where Argentines feel as if they are at the Bombonera in Buenos Aires, where even the emotions of the fans love to let off steam. When coach Lionel Scaloni embraced his leader in front of the billboard shortly after midnight, tears of emotion fell. He has been saying this for some time, the 44-year-old then explained with a certain composure: “Messi is the best of all time and I am grateful and have the privilege of being able to coach him. Luckily for us that he wears our shirt.”
For the third time after 1978 and 1986, the gold cup will go to the Rio de la Plata. Messi himself did not justify his trust with historical references or religious rites, but he did provide technical arguments after the match against Croatia. “We have a very smart crew. We can read the game and know when we need the ball, when we need to press,” he explained about a match plan that was actually executed perfectly in the semi-final. “We knew Croatia wanted the ball, but we also knew how to take advantage of it.”
The team is called “La Scaloneta” because this national coach, Messi’s ninth, ensures that the symbiosis with his teammates bears golden fruit. The genius found happiness late under a coach with whom he has more than the name: “I have a lot of fun, feel very good and strong enough for every game.” The same player was at the 2018 World Cup after a 0:3 failure against runners-up Croatia, exiting the field with relaxed shoulders. Goodbyes to a loner who seemed to have fallen out of time went around the planet.
Where is the magic potion that the magic foot fell into? Many spot him at the Copa America 2021 in Brazil, where a new spirit emerged in the midst of the corona pandemic in a long phase of isolation. Messi’s long-awaited first title with the Albiceleste has changed a lot, if not everything else. Victory in the deserted Maracanã was one thing, Messi’s speech before the final whistle against the Seleção was another. His passionate words in the locker room are the history of football.
The superstar, paid royally to Paris St. Germain from Qatari money sources and ubiquitous as an advertising figure on Arab televisions, indicated for the first time on Tuesday evening that he was essentially ruling out playing the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico to nearly 40. “I don’t think I’ll get to that point. And getting it done is the best.” For perhaps the greatest of all, it would be the absolute best. Especially since the clichéd superstructure that Fernando Romero, a 30-year-old religion teacher, put into the song about “Diego y Lionel”, i.e. about Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, fits.
When fans chant that Maradona’s parents, Don Diego and Doña Tota, are also looking at the football field in heaven, the former want to acknowledge the reality that heaven and earth merge into each other. Since banners with pictures of both hang everywhere, they are similar the dribbles of Maradona and Messiwhich Argentinian fans kept comparing on their smartphones on subway trains at night.
First of all: Maradona’s goal of the century in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup will always remain unbeaten because he started in his own half and finished it alone. So he fooled half of England. In his solo before the 3-0 win, Messi actually converted only one opponent from Croatia: masked man Josko Gvardiol, who had been lauded as one of the best defenders in the World Cup. When the RB Leipzig 20-year-old has overcome his bout of vertigo, he can mark this lost duel as a lesson for life. The very strong Julian Alvarez, who had already made it 2-0 after Messi’s assist and a splendid attack in the 39th minute, only had to set foot half an hour later to score the final goal.
The 22-year-old Manchester City striker, who Scaloni said at his age already “wants to eat the world”, also seems inspired by an icon, translating his newfound grit into a penalty that splashed after 34 minutes and crashed into the net to make it 1-0. Messi’s 11th World Cup goal (more than Argentina’s previous top scorer Gabriel Batistuta) and his 25th World Cup appearance (as many as record holder Lothar Matthäus) are just further milestones in a mission that continues Qatar National Day live the coronation.
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