Kylian Mbappe successfully made the French team’s first penalty kick in the penalty shootout. This is the fourth time this superstar has defeated Argentina goalkeeper Martinez in the 2022 World Cup final. Before that, it was a hat-trick. It was Messi’s turn to step up and take the penalty shot.

Messi stopped for a moment in front of the ball, hands on hips, then made a run, fooling Hugo Lloris to gently kick the ball into the net. The shootout score is 1-1, and now the match is out of reach for this Argentine superstar. At that moment, something was released in Messi. Messi couldn’t have done more to help Argentina win the World Cup – which in the eyes of some could cement his title as the greatest player of all time, as it is the biggest prize among team sports. .

Messi can do nothing else but cheer for his teammates as captain. For each Argentinian player who stepped up to take a penalty shot, he gave them a hug and a high-five.

Argentina became World Cup champions a few minutes later, when Gonzalo Montiel successfully converted a penalty to increase the penalty shootout to 4-2. This championship also freed Messi from the obsession throughout his journey to conquer records: Not being able to win the World Cup.

In football, if players are lucky, they will have 4 to 5 World Cup appearances, often too young in the first and too “old” in the last. There are no guarantees at the time of the finals, injuries are not asked, and unlike club football, a superstar cannot control his “supporting cast”, because he cannot choose his nationality. me. Alfredo Di Stefano has never won the World Cup. So does Johan Cruyff. So does Cristiano Ronaldo.

This is not what determines Messi’s status in the GOAT group (the greatest player of all time), but this World Cup championship has dispelled the unnecessary dark cloud that has followed this great player for many years. over, since his first appearance at the 2006 World Cup.

There, Messi’s debut match for Argentina lasted only 2 minutes, and for many people, it was a bad omen. In the summer of 2005, Barcelona’s 18-year-old future prodigy was brought onto the field in the 63rd minute, but left the field after only 120 seconds with a red card from an ugly elbow jerk.

Even when Messi’s career flourished with a series of club titles and Golden Balls piling up, even when this superstar broke the Argentine team’s record for the number of goals scored (completed in 2016). and number of caps (summer 2021), and even if many consider Messi to be the number 1 player in the world, there is still lingering doubt. When will Messi lift the trophy with Argentina?

Indeed, many Argentine fans question how much Messi wants to bring glory to his homeland. After all, Messi left Argentina at the age of 13 to move to Barcelona. Then in 2016, he announced his retirement from the team right after Copa America. The success of the campaign launched throughout Argentina to bring Messi back only raised questions about this superstar’s loyalty. Ultimately, because of that massive campaign, Messi returned to the team.

And yet, up to that point, the achievements in Messi’s era in Argentina’s shirt were just a plump goose egg: 4 Copa America and 3 World Cups, 4 runner-up finishes and countless regrets and “what ifs.” ..”.

Those who follow Messi’s every step must remember the turning point at Copa America 2019. Argentina lost the semi-finals to Brazil and after the match, Messi decided he was no longer “Messi” anymore. Messi “ruffled his feathers” and reacted to the referee in a way that no one had ever seen before. Messi has worn the captain’s armband a few years ago, but this is a completely different Messi: angry Messi, angry Messi, street Messi. Messi is like the way this superstar shouted at Wout Weghorst in the match against the Netherlands: ” What the hell are you looking at, you idiot! “.

 At the same time, the relationship between the Argentine superstar and Barcelona – where Messi has been with nearly two decades – became tense when this team signed a contract with Antoine Griezmann. A year later, Messi officially turned around and tore up his contract with Barca to leave, not peacefully. In 2021, Messi came to PSG as a free agent, and that same year he escaped the curse of Argentina’s silver cup, leading the home team to the Copa America championship.

In a spiritual way, everything that happened after that summer was a prelude to the final night in Doha. Argentina is led by Lionel Scaloni – a former teammate of Messi, and most importantly, turns off the “circus” mode in the South American team under Jorge Sampaoli. Under Scaloni, Argentina had a super long unbeaten streak and gradually became less dependent on Messi. This superstar still maintains his value and is a decisive factor, but no longer casts his shadow over the Argentina team.

Meanwhile at PSG, with Neymar and Mbappe on the same team, Messi no longer has to shoulder the responsibility of the media. And in Ligue 1, this superstar gets more rest compared to La Liga’s dense weekly schedule.

Messi “broke down the barrier” called Mexico, leading Argentina to an important victory after losing to Saudi Arabia in the opening match, then continued to score every match until the final before scoring the winning goal. from the penalty spot to open the score against France, participating in the counter-attack to increase the score to 2-0 and rushing in to score the goal in extra time that would have brought Argentina to the championship if not for the foul of Montiel led to a dramatic 3-3 equalizer.

There is an undeniable symbolic value in Messi’s victory over Mbappe on the day the French superstar scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final. It is the force that is about to become the past that fights against the inevitable future to control the present. And now it still belongs to Messi.

Messi does not need the World Cup gold trophy to firmly establish his position at the top of the football world. That trophy, Messi dedicated it to his teammates and his country after 22 years of traveling in a foreign land. Not because Messi owes them, but because Messi loves them. However, for many people, winning the World Cup is the final step that brings Messi to the greatest position of all time.

Arguing about that is pointless.

Messi won 4 Champions League titles? Great: Pele has never played in the Champions League (or C1) because the Brazilian government issued a law prohibiting him from going abroad to play football. And Diego Maradona played football in an era where you had to be the champion to participate in C1, not even the fourth-placed team still had a place.

For most of his career, Pele did not have a “supporting cast” of the world’s best talents around him. Maradona was the same when playing at a time when each club was only allowed to have 3 foreign players. Messi plays in an extremely polarized era, where “super clubs” like Barcelona or PSG have budgets 10, 20, even 40 times larger than their rivals. Where did Pele and Maradona come from?

With Messi, I’m only happy to see greatness rewarded. It’s enough for me! And that greatness was not just as a player. At the 2022 World Cup, Argentina coach Scaloni always talks about trust, about putting his fate in the hands of his teammates, believing in them. That is what Messi has done in this tournament, and it is shown most clearly in the image of the latter when returning to the center circle after a successful penalty shootout.

Messi puts his trust in his teammates. And they did not disappoint him. Just like he didn’t disappoint them.