Kylian Mbappe had converted France's first penalty in the shoot out, the fourth time he'd beaten Argentina's goalkeeper in the World Cup final. Lionel Messi took Argentina's first penalty.
Argentina won the World Cup on penalty kicks over France.
Conventional wisdom says you want your best penalty takers to go last. There wasn't anything conventional or wise about this final or the World Cup.
Messi took his run-up and sent France's Hugo Lloris one way and the ball the other way. He no longer had control of it. Maybe there was something freeing about that. The only thing he could do to help Argentina win the World Cup was to cement his G.O.A.T. candidacy. He greeted each Argentina penalty taker with a hug and a high-five.
Argentina won the title a few minutes later, when Montiel converted his penalty kick and made it 4-2. It was after Messi's spot-kick that he realized he couldn't do any more. His failure to win a World Cup was one of the reasons why he was considered the greatest soccer player of all time.
In this sport, it's especially silly because it's an arbitrary measurement. If you're lucky, you get four or five chances, but you're too young for your first chance and old for your last. You can't control your support cast because you can't pick your nationality, and there's no guarantee you'll be fit when the moment rolls around. The man never won a world cup. Didn't he?
The VAR review of the World Cup final was done.
His status among the G.O.A.T. group isn't determined by this. He had been in a cloud for a long time.
To some, Messi's debut for Argentina seemed to be an indicator. He came on in the 63rd minute and was given his marching orders for a stray elbow 120 seconds later.
The World Cup is news and features.
Even as his career took off, even as the club silverware and Ballons d'Or piled up, even as he demolished Argentine national team records for goals scored and appearances, and even as many had him as the game's top scorer, he was still considered the game's top He was going to deliver with Argentina.
There were some back home who wondered how badly he wanted it. He moved to Barcelona when he was 13 years old. He decided to retire from the national side in the summer of 2016 due to disagreements with the federation. The absurdity of questioning his loyalty was underscored by the country wide campaign for his return. He was ready to go for the World Cup.
To that point, the Messi Era score was a big goose egg for Argentina, with four Copas America and three World Cups, four runner-up medals and bucket-loads of regrets.
The World Cup final delivered on every level as Argentina took the trophy in dramatic fashion, according to the author.
The turning point in Messi's career was at the Copa America. Messi was not Messi-like after Argentina lost to Brazil in the semifinals. He showed an obvious, outward edge when he railed against the ref. This was a different Messi than the one who took over the captaincy a few years ago. The Messi who showed up after the game against the Dutch was hissing at Wout Weghorst.
His relationship with Barcelona, where he had served for nearly two decades, was getting strained after the signing ofAntoine Griezmann. He was ready to go back to Argentina. He tried in 2020 to force a move away. After moving to Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent, he was able to get the Argentina silverware curse off his back and lead his country to the 2021.
Everything that happened after that summer was related to this night. Lionel Scaloni is a man-manager who kept the sort of psycho drama and media circuses of previous regimes, like that of Diego Maradona in 2010, away from his players Argentina developed a system that made it less dependent on Messi. The whole game plan was not affected by him. While the French league offered a bit of respite from the weekly grind of LaLiga, it was overshadowed by the presence of stars like Mbappe and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain.
It was easy to see that everything was pointing in the same direction: for Messi to win the big one. He needs to forget what he did to get Argentina here.
After losing their opener to Saudi Arabia, Messi broke the ice against Mexico, sending Argentina on their way to a crucial victory. If not for the Montiel forearm, he would have scored the winner against the French in the final.
Argentina won the 1986 World Cup, but what has happened since?
On the day the Frenchman scored a hat-trick in the final, there was an inescapable symbolic value to the triumph. Control of the present was going to be against the future. The present is Messi's.
Messi didn't need the golden cup to get into the G.O.A.T. table. After 22 years abroad, he wanted to give back to his teammates and his country. He loves them and doesn't owe them. Messi will be placed at the head of that G.O.A.T. table if he wins his first World Cup. Each of us has a set of criteria.
I don't think you're going to win with numbers when you compare apples and aardvarks.
Is Messi a four-time winner of the European Championship? The Brazilian government passed legislation that prevented him from playing in the European Cup. You had to win the league to be in it, not just finish in the top four.
The world's best players didn't have the benefit of a supporting cast for most of his career. When clubs were limited to three foreign players, Maradona didn't play. Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have 10, 20 and 40 times the budget of most of their opponents. Two other people did not.
You can only achieve what is of your era if you mudddle achievement with greatness. Winning a World Cup doesn't make you great.
Dale Johnson recaps the referee decisions during the World Cup final.
You can't just say that today's athletes are better because of better pitches, better sports science, better genes, better training techniques. It's possible that Harry Kane might be ahead of Sir Bobby Charlton if you take him back in time. So what? Do you think it means Bobby Charlton is a flop? It wasn't in my book.
To some, greatness is such an abstract concept that it doesn't matter. Messi, probably, does not have a charisma, a presence or a social significance that Maradona did. He has a different personality and you can't separate the two. If Muhammad Ali hadn't limited himself to dull cliches in interviews, and hadn't taken a stand on social issues, would he still be the greatest? You get the point that he anointed himself.
It's not a logic that Messi was able to tick a number of boxes by dint of the World Cup. What do you think about me? I'm happy to see that great things are rewarded. I'm done with that. He had the ball at his feet.
Reflecting back on this tournament, Argentina's coach spoke about trust, about putting your fate in the hands of your teammates, and about believing in them. That's what Messi has done in this tournament, and it was driven home most emphatically during that long walk back to the center circle after he scored.
Messi put his faith in his teammates. They didn't allow him to go down. He did not allow them to go down.
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