LION KING
THE world's greatest-ever player finally did it, triumphing in the best game of football this planet has ever seen. Or is ever likely to see.
Lionel Messi yesterday put a beaming smile on every football fan around the world — young and old — regardless of what club or country they support.
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Because as the little man took to the stage to meet the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to receive his prize, only someone with a heart of stone would not have felt a flicker of emotion and joy.
In a land made rich through oil, Messi finally got his hands on that precious lump of gold that a billion dollars could never buy.
Grinning like a schoolkid, Messi rubbed his hands with glee like he was about to have the meal of his life before the presentation he always dreamed of actually took place.
He caressed the top of the trophy like a newborn baby’s head. He did some dad dancing across the stage to meet his jubilant team before holding aloft the World Cup to kick-start one of the greatest-ever nights back in Buenos Aires.
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The only people on this planet not feeling the love were a few million French — including Kylian Mbappe. The brilliant striker had every right to look a bit p****d off after scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup final... and losing.
But Mbappe already has one winners’ medal from four years ago and his time will come again. But it will not for Messi.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar, like Diego Maradona in 1986, dragged Argentina through this World Cup.
And do not forget, Maradona’s team chucked away a two-goal lead in the final against West Germany before winning 3-2.
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But this game was far more dramatic and complex. Fifa boss Gianni Infantino announced on Saturday that this was the best World Cup ever, yet those sentiments were not shared by everyone.
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But despite obvious issues over the location of this tournament, after this breathless, roller-coaster which Messi and his mates took us all on, Infantino is probably right.
Equally, both managers — Lionel Scaloni and Didier Deschamps — played a part in allowing their teams to go for the jugular.
Their clever substitutions kept changing the direction of the game.
And what a result for Scaloni, who has been under all sorts of pressure to deliver.
West Ham fans, who watched him play in a brief loan spell in 2006, will now probably claim they have won the World Cup again.
Ultimately, Argentina held their bottle in the spot-kicks better than the French as Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni missed penalties and Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel scored the winner in the shootout.
Argentina were the better team but you have to feel sorry for France — although maybe not too much — for their bloody-minded determination to stop history taking its path and sending the World Cup back to South America for the first time since 2002.
How important this victory is for the continent which has been so overshadowed by the big bucks of Europe.
Also, what an absolute shame that, despite all the money wasted by the Premier League, we will never have the chance to see Messi sprinkle his stardust over games.
But that is what Messi has done over these last few weeks. Twisting and turning. Causing havoc with his left boot. Making good players look a bit ordinary.
And he did it again yesterday.
Messi showed nerves of steel, staring out Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris, before planting a fine penalty into the corner after Ousmane Dembele delivered a clumsy challenge on Angel Di Maria.
And Messi and his team were in footballing Heaven when the superstar played his part in a brilliant, six-pass move every bit as good as the famous Carlos Alberto goal for Brazil in the 1970 World Cup.
Messi used the outside of his left boot for an outrageous pass to Julian Alvarez and he released Alexis Mac Allister, who continued a run from the back.
The Brighton man’s cross found Di Maria and while it was not the cleanest of strikes, it was enough to beat Lloris.
Deschamps, panicking, made his changes in the 41st minute. The awful Dembele and Olivier Giroud made way for Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani.
Uninspiring, France did not even manage an effort on goal until the 67th minute when Kolo Muani headed wide.
Incredibly, despite all their injuries before the tournament and the virus which hit players in the last week, Les Bleus finally started swinging punches
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They pulled one back through Mbappe’s penalty in the 80th minute when Kolo Muani was dragged down by Nicolas Otamendi, who also stuck out a knee.
And, just 97 seconds later, unbelievably, Mbappe scored a stunning, right-footed volley following an exchange of passes with Thuram. Remarkably, it all came after Messi lost the ball to Coman.
It seemed Messi had scored the winner in extra time when he scrambled the ball over the line after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was saved by Lloris.
Yet there was one, final, kick in the groin for Argentina...
Mbappe scored from the spot again after his shot was handled by Gonzalo Montiel and both teams — losing all sense of nerves — could have won it at the end.
Aston Villa keeper Martinez should forever be remembered for his brilliant save to deny Kolo Muani.
But this day belonged to talisman Messi, who set Argentina on their way with the first spot-kick.
It is incredible to think the magnificent No 10 lost his opening game against Saudi Arabia. It is even more remarkable when you consider Messi briefly retired from international football in 2016 because he felt under-appreciated in Argentina.
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Until now, certainly at World Cups, he has always lived in the shadow of Maradona, the flawed genius.
Messi is different. He is simply a genius.
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