NE SPORTS BUREAU
LUSAIL, QATAR, DEC 18
Lionel Messi had to wait, and wait, and wait. He had to wait until he was 35. He had to wait until he had already lost a World Cup final. He had to wait after he had seemed to have won it for Argentina in normal time, and he had to wait after he had believed he beaten France again in extra time.
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He had to wait until the end of the most extraordinary final in the tournament’s history, in which Messi offered a career-defining performance and was still, somehow, outdone by Kylian Mbappé, scorer of the first hat-trick in the biggest game there is for more than half a century.
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Mbappé, with his hat trick, beats Messi to the Golden Boot as top scorer by one. He looks shattered to have to go get the award though. Messi is next: The worst-kept secret in Qatar is that he is the winner of the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. Shaking hands he has to walk down the stage for photos; halfway there he passes the World Cup trophy on its stand and he can’t resist: He stops and gives it a long kiss.
Messi’s children, to his immense delight, have made their way to the field and to their father. Messi’s father joins in, too, and is only slightly less teary than Messi’s mother was.
Spare a thought for Kylian Mbappé, the first man since 1966 to score three goals in a World Cup final. That type of performance would usually end with a winner’s medal, not a sickening loss. Mbappé was prone on the turf with Argentine celebrations taking place all around him. He finally emerged, given a hand by President Emmanuel Macron, who took to the field to console the deposed champions. It was Macron who this summer convinced Mbappé to spurn the advances of Real Madrid and commit to a new contract with P.S.G., France’s standard bearer club.
Messi is addressing the crowd now. I won’t translate because it sounded a little blue. But let’s just say he’s pleased, and the language will only endear him further to his country. Messi has had a complicated relationship with Argentina, which he left at 13 to seek fame and fortune (and life-changing hormone treatments) in Barcelona. But that has changed in the last month. He has stayed true to himself, and his country has fallen hard for him. With Diego Maradona gone since 2020, he will surely assume his mantle now. He’s earned it for sure.
Mbappé, the hero that was and then wasn’t, in France’s everchanging story, is being consoled at midfield by the president of France.
OK, now he’s crying. Messi’s family and friends — like his former teammate Sergio Agüero — are around him now and that appears to have pushed his emotions over the edge. He wipes away a quick tear — maybe it’s finally hitting him what has happened here, what it all means — but that’s it. Within a minute he is with his current teammates again, in front of their fans, bouncing as they sing.
After a 3-3 thriller across 120 minutes, Argentina bested France 4-2 on penalties to win their third World Cup, after 36 years. earlier, while Argentina took a 2-0 lead via Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria, it was Kylian Mbappe, who got France back with a brace inside 97 seconds in the second half. Messi would find the net once again in extra time but France hit back via another goal from Mbappe from the spot.
Courtesy: New York Times
