The crack had to give its best version and overcome anguish to finally be crowned
It must be written somewhere: Leo Messi would become world champion, yes, but in his last chance and in an agonizing way, after authentic physical and mental torture as Argentina has experienced yesterday since France, much inferior until then, he surprisingly came back from 2-0 in just two minutes, between 80 and 82. Then extra time would come and Messi had to watch how, after scoring a goal that seemed final in the 108th minute, the French tied again with a lucky penalty – the ball hit Montiel’s elbow – in minute 117. At the time, many of us thought history had been made, yes, but against the wishes of the Argentine captain, as a tragedy. Only when ‘Dibu Martínez’, in his last breath, took with his foot a miraculous ball from Kolo Muani that could have taken the title, did the question of Messi’s fate return. And if it was about the only thing that could be crowned with the utmost suffering, having to win the same game three times, the last time on penalties?
Well, that’s how it was. The best footballer of the 21st century, and perhaps of all time, has done all the merits in Qatar to win that great title he missed and which will now rest in peace. It is impossible not to imagine the tremendous sense of fullness, of absolute inner peace that the Rosario man must have felt when Montiel scored the decisive penalty. He no longer has a thorn to remove. And he must also feel extremely satisfied, as he led his team at an impressive level and could be decisive in the final with two goals and scoring his penalty in the shoot-out.
Messi’s influence has been enormous in a team that has had an extraordinary and unexpected architect: Lionel Scaloni. The former Deportivo player came to the albiceleste with one of the lowest profiles remembered in Argentina. In fact, he had not coached any team. Sampaoli’s assistant at the World Cup in Russia, nobody cared for him when he took up the role on an interim basis following the resignation of the Sevilla coach. Well, four years later, Scaloni is already a legend, the author of a historic team that managed to chain the Copa América and the World Cup, the first to beat Brazil in the Maracana and the second the current world champion. Nothing more nothing less.
The Argentines did not deserve such suffering. You could say it’s scientifically impossible to win a team with the players France has, starting with the devastating Mbappé, author of a hat-trick yesterday. It may be true. ‘Les bleus’ seem to have solutions for all matches, even pathetic ones, like the one they played yesterday until minute 79. But Argentina’s superiority in the final was beyond dispute. They were just better. They won through play and through spirit against a France whose only merit was to redeem herself with two goals in the final stretch in which neither Macron nor Deschamps no longer trusted. Incidentally, the French coach was very upset after a match in which Scaloni bathed him in every way.
The image of the French team began to cause confusion from the very beginning. After five minutes we thought that ‘les bleus’ had gone cold but that they had everything under control, although Di María, Scaloni’s great entry, was already causing some problems on his flank. At ten o’clock who began to suspect more and less that the Deschamps team was becoming too arrogant and too speculative. After the twentieth minute, when Dembelé gave Di María a stupid penalty and Messi made it 1-0, the French thing, which failed to make two passes in a row and was outmatched by a much more powerful and accurate Argentina, started to look like nonsense. . At half-time, more than one wondered if the champions had been hit by the camel virus or some kind of narcotic.
disappeared
Griezmann was not there and barely appeared all afternoon, contributing to his team’s collapse. Mbappé was a decorative figure – he only appeared after minute 78 – as was Giroud, who was substituted in minute 40 along with a Dembelé in a catatonic state. Theo Hernández, for his part, also did not give justice. And Tchouameni didn’t even smell it. The world champions simply fooled themselves and the ever-growing albiceleste tore them apart with a superb second goal, an exact and lightning-fast counter-attack that will be captured at the top of their country’s collective imagination from now on. behind Maradona’s goal against England.
That was an individual action. Yesterday’s, a collective. The thing has its symbolism. Scaloni has united a group of footballers with sailor’s knots who, beyond the quality of their members, impress with their commitment, their attitude, their volcanic dedication, their desperate desire to win. Seeing them in front of a France who came out contemplatively, like a melancholy Marchioness, gave the impression that even Scaloni’s youngest pupils felt like Messi, convinced that yesterday was the last chance of their lives to become world champions. Rarely has a team been seen with such a desire to establish itself.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
