Messi is one victory away from the trophy he has always dreamed of
Lionel Messi has almost everything. He has money. He has gold balloons and gold shoes. With his clubs, he holds many records such as Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish League, French League, etc.
With the Argentine team, Messi had won the Under 20 World Cup. He also has a gold medal at the Olympics. He also won the Copa America and the COMEDBOL-UEFA Champions Cup. What else is left for him?
During his career, the 35-year-old footballer has one of the best records. But there is one thing, only one missing. This is the FIFA World Cup trophy.
Between the World Cups from 2006 to 2018, Diego Maradona’s heir had every chance, especially during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, to win what he lacked, namely: a World Cup with the Albiceleste team.
Helped by Di Maria in the eighth against Switzerland and Gonzalo Higuain against Belgium in the quarter-finals, the Netherlands being sent off on penalties in the half, aWith the contribution of these players, Messi’s band was in the final.
Unfortunately, the Barcelona goalscorer, the player with the most official assists recorded in football history, he had been beaten 1-0 against a powerful German team, especially after that crushing 7-1 victory over the Brazilians in the semi-finals.
After this defeat in the final, Messi would still have to wait four years later to try again. And who knows?
But in 2018 in Russia, the Argentina captain was 31 years old. At that age, he seems to have played it all last chance to win the world cup. And for such a long wait, it all started badly for him. ” It started badly against Iceland:Leo misses a penalty. The Albiceleste’s only goal was scored by Kun Agüero, while Diego Maradona, wearing smoked glasses and a cigar, gestured in the stands. Result: 1-1 against the “Vikings”», for which it is the first World Cup and the first point in this queen event. » He wasn’t the Messi we expected. Thereby, Messi and Argentina left the world through the back door.
After this disappointment in Russia, there were rumors of the end of the career of the captain of the Argentine team. Finally, Leo Messi wanted to try one more time. Why not?
This is how, in this 2022 World Cup in Qatar, at the age of 35, the teammate of Kylian Mbappé and Neymar Junior definitely knows that his last chance to win this cup is being played. If for next season Leo Messi will return to France to compete with them in the club championship at PSG (Paris Saint-Germain), on the other hand Qatar is his last international competition with the Argentine team. The stakes were high. Too big even for a genius who, failing his advanced age, would be forced to put an end to his international career.
Which explains why Messi has had no margin for error in this World Cup. However, for a team that played 35 matches in Qatar before the World Cup, Argentina suffered a defeat at the wrong time. Luckily for him and his teammates, they had realized there would be no more bustouts for the other remaining matches.
Since then, they have won both matches in their group. Then the round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals against Croatia, finalists of the 2018 World Cup. And after five consecutive victories, here they are now, as in 2014, at the grand finale.
This Sunday’s Argentina match is Messi’s last game where he goes in search of a rare, very rare trophy that, so far, he hasn’t yet had the chance to lift like Did Diego Maradona in 1986 and Mario Kempez, Ardiles , Captain Daniele Pasarela, etc. supervised, of course, by Argentine coach César Luis Menotti in 1978.
The final on Sunday 18 December is very important for Lionel Messi. The Albicelestes are obviously in the final. But Messi, goalscorer and passer, is one win away for the World Cup trophy.
Esau John the Baptist
