Peter Anderson ⚽ Who'd have thought that the most controversial World Cup in the history of the sport would produce arguably the best final? 

To be fair, there isn't a high bar in that regard, but Sunday's match was a cracker. Argentina lifted the trophy after doing their utmost to throw it away, Messi is finally crowned the GOAT and 26 years of hurt are finally brought to an end.

For most of the 90 minutes France were awful. They lacked energy and desire. The commentators talked of a virus in the camp, something was wrong. Argentina burst into a two-goal lead after some awful defending for the first and a team goal of pure quality for the second. 

All the pre-match hype around Argentina involved Messi but it was that other old stager, Di Maria, that was making the difference. In his final international game, he looked the hungriest on the pitch. For the first goal he skinned Dembele and then was tripped by the player as he made a desperate attempt to remedy the situation. It was shockingly bad defending which resulted in Dembele being hauled off after 41 minutes. Messi tucked away the resulting pen. 

For the second goal Di Maria finished a lovely move of free flowing, one and two touch, football. 2 up and cruising. Surely France would start the second half better? Marginally. Kolo Muani was having some impact, but Griezmann just wasn't playing like he can. However, as every footy fan knows, 2 goals is not a winning lead. On 76 minutes I looked at the clock and thought that Argentina had it won; on 81 minutes it was 2-2. Man City reject, Otamendi, produced the second example of woeful defending by letting Muani get goal side, then hauling him back inside the box. Penalty to France, 2-1. From the restart Messi lost the ball and, after a one-two between Muani and Mbappe, Mbappe scored a sizzler. Argentina were so close and now they were level. Unbelievable! How many times have we seen a team 2 up and cruising only to throw it all away?

Extra time was more of the same. Argentina started to dominate, then Messi scored again. Surely now? No, wait. France got another penalty on 118 minutes, 3-3 and a penalty shoot-out. In the end the shoot-out was a damp squib. Argentina won it easily and we got to see Messi lifting the famous trophy, at long, long last.

Whether he's the GOAT or not is subjective. For me he is because he is the only one of the contenders that I have seen multiple times on TV and in the flesh. I have seen him 5 or 6 times at Atletico's Calderon stadium, including one of his greatest performances in a Barca shirt when he scored his first hattrick in Spain. If I had seen Best, Cruyff, Pele or Maradona so many times I'd probably think differently.

It has been a challenging journey for Messi in the Albiceleste shirt. Maradona was royalty in Argentina, obviously. To be named the new Maradona was quite the billing to live up to, but his performances for his country were nowhere near as good as they were for Barca. It all started well enough as they won the Olympic gold in 2008 in a team that included Di Maria, Higuain, Agüero, Riquelme and Zabaleta. I wasn't the only one to think that this side would go on to win the World Cup. Instead, they produced failure after failure. Worse than that they were also failing in the Copa America. 

In the three years from 2014 to 2016, Argentina lost one World Cup final and two Copa America finals. Messi took the blame. He was ridiculed in his home country and openly derided as a secret European, more Catalan than Argentine. Unlike Maradona, he never proved himself in Argentina first. Neither is he extrovert or overtly patriotic. Worst of all was his inconsistent form. Everything changed last year after the Albiceleste won the Copa America for the first time since 1993. Belief returned. Could Messi now win the big one on his last chance? He did, but he shouldn't have. Argentina lost their first game to Saudi and have been far from impressive. They certainly weren't the best side in the tournament, but they did what needed to be done. England must be kicking themselves.

I'm chuffed for Messi, but I wish he had done it in his prime, with the golden generation. To see Agüero celebrate with his best mate after the match was a little hard to watch, Agüero and Zaba should have had winners' medals too. It was not to be. So, to Messi's 12 league titles, 7 Copa Del Reys, 4 Champions Leagues, 3 FIFA Club World Cups, 1 Copa America we can now add the biggie, the World Cup, to complete the set. He has literally won it all. If not the GOAT, then surely the greatest of the modern era.
 
Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports.

Messi

Peter Anderson ⚽ Who'd have thought that the most controversial World Cup in the history of the sport would produce arguably the best final? 

To be fair, there isn't a high bar in that regard, but Sunday's match was a cracker. Argentina lifted the trophy after doing their utmost to throw it away, Messi is finally crowned the GOAT and 26 years of hurt are finally brought to an end.

For most of the 90 minutes France were awful. They lacked energy and desire. The commentators talked of a virus in the camp, something was wrong. Argentina burst into a two-goal lead after some awful defending for the first and a team goal of pure quality for the second. 

All the pre-match hype around Argentina involved Messi but it was that other old stager, Di Maria, that was making the difference. In his final international game, he looked the hungriest on the pitch. For the first goal he skinned Dembele and then was tripped by the player as he made a desperate attempt to remedy the situation. It was shockingly bad defending which resulted in Dembele being hauled off after 41 minutes. Messi tucked away the resulting pen. 

For the second goal Di Maria finished a lovely move of free flowing, one and two touch, football. 2 up and cruising. Surely France would start the second half better? Marginally. Kolo Muani was having some impact, but Griezmann just wasn't playing like he can. However, as every footy fan knows, 2 goals is not a winning lead. On 76 minutes I looked at the clock and thought that Argentina had it won; on 81 minutes it was 2-2. Man City reject, Otamendi, produced the second example of woeful defending by letting Muani get goal side, then hauling him back inside the box. Penalty to France, 2-1. From the restart Messi lost the ball and, after a one-two between Muani and Mbappe, Mbappe scored a sizzler. Argentina were so close and now they were level. Unbelievable! How many times have we seen a team 2 up and cruising only to throw it all away?

Extra time was more of the same. Argentina started to dominate, then Messi scored again. Surely now? No, wait. France got another penalty on 118 minutes, 3-3 and a penalty shoot-out. In the end the shoot-out was a damp squib. Argentina won it easily and we got to see Messi lifting the famous trophy, at long, long last.

Whether he's the GOAT or not is subjective. For me he is because he is the only one of the contenders that I have seen multiple times on TV and in the flesh. I have seen him 5 or 6 times at Atletico's Calderon stadium, including one of his greatest performances in a Barca shirt when he scored his first hattrick in Spain. If I had seen Best, Cruyff, Pele or Maradona so many times I'd probably think differently.

It has been a challenging journey for Messi in the Albiceleste shirt. Maradona was royalty in Argentina, obviously. To be named the new Maradona was quite the billing to live up to, but his performances for his country were nowhere near as good as they were for Barca. It all started well enough as they won the Olympic gold in 2008 in a team that included Di Maria, Higuain, Agüero, Riquelme and Zabaleta. I wasn't the only one to think that this side would go on to win the World Cup. Instead, they produced failure after failure. Worse than that they were also failing in the Copa America. 

In the three years from 2014 to 2016, Argentina lost one World Cup final and two Copa America finals. Messi took the blame. He was ridiculed in his home country and openly derided as a secret European, more Catalan than Argentine. Unlike Maradona, he never proved himself in Argentina first. Neither is he extrovert or overtly patriotic. Worst of all was his inconsistent form. Everything changed last year after the Albiceleste won the Copa America for the first time since 1993. Belief returned. Could Messi now win the big one on his last chance? He did, but he shouldn't have. Argentina lost their first game to Saudi and have been far from impressive. They certainly weren't the best side in the tournament, but they did what needed to be done. England must be kicking themselves.

I'm chuffed for Messi, but I wish he had done it in his prime, with the golden generation. To see Agüero celebrate with his best mate after the match was a little hard to watch, Agüero and Zaba should have had winners' medals too. It was not to be. So, to Messi's 12 league titles, 7 Copa Del Reys, 4 Champions Leagues, 3 FIFA Club World Cups, 1 Copa America we can now add the biggie, the World Cup, to complete the set. He has literally won it all. If not the GOAT, then surely the greatest of the modern era.
 
Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports.

3 comments:

  1. Yeah but could he do it on a cold wet winters night away at the H&W welders club in East Belfast I ask you?

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was the best World Cup Final I ever saw. And in my view Messi is the greatest player ever to grace the field of play.

    Great piece.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Steve R
    Wee buns for Messi!
    AM
    My Spanish mate, who saw Maradona many times at Barca, argues that Maradona won Serie A with a shit Napoli team and a World Cup with a shit Argentine team, whereas Messi won almost everything in a great Barca side and with Xavi and Iniesta by his side. Also, Maradona's influence was greater and that he had less protection than Messi. I only saw half a dozen Maradona games in my life so I'll go with Messi.

    ReplyDelete