Lionel Messi’s last dance will continue until the music stops in Qatar on Sunday as he now stands just 90 minutes away from the ultimate reward of having a World Cup forever attached to his name.
Just as Diego Maradona was indelibly imprinted on Argentina’s 1986 victory in Mexico and Brazilian striker Ronaldo wrote a story of redemption in Yokohama in their 2002 triumph, it will be known as Messi’s World Cup if he inspires victory against France or Morocco in the final.
Argentina’s campaign in Qatar opened with the ignominy of what remains the biggest shock of this World Cup, when they lost to Saudi Arabia.
But the way master Messi and his apprentice Julian Alvarez swept through Croatia in their 3-0 semi-final victory delivered an ominous warning that they were hitting the kind of perfect crescendo their fans have been hitting at the Lusail Stadium for a long time yet. after the final. whistle.
So it’s back to Space Age Lusail on Sunday to see if Argentina can win their third World Cup in their sixth final and if the player some are calling the greatest the game has ever seen can finally put on the hand on the price which remained terribly beyond his reach.
It seemed, for a few minutes at least, that the perfect ending the romantics craved would turn into a nightmare as a grimacing Messi leaned over in the 19th minute, stretching and feeling the top of his left hamstring.
Messi moved in step, which the 35-year-old does a lot in his current modus operandi, clearly feeling some discomfort.
But he received the biggest tonic of them all after 34 minutes when he struck the opener past Dominik Livakovic from the penalty spot after the Croatia keeper fouled Alvarez.
Alvarez then headed in from Messi just inside the Croatian half five minutes later before embarking on a long, winding road to goal, aided by rebounds from Josip Juranovic and Borna Sosa, before beat Livakovic.
The highlight of this duo’s masterclass came after 69 minutes when Rosario’s magician Messi more or less obliterated one of the tournament’s standout defenders.
Messi appeared to be trapped by the touchline but a twist and sleight of hand took him away from Josko Gvardiol, now considered an ‘A-List’ defender and touted for a £70m move away from the RB Leipzig, to set up predatory Alvarez.
In that time, Messi not only hypnotized Gvardiol once, but a few times for good measure.
He was started as Messi for Argentina against Luka Modric for Croatia, two magnificent players whose World Cup history dates back to Germany in 2006.
It was not to be Modric’s night. He won’t have a chance to make amends for the loss to France in the 2018 final in Moscow, but received hearty applause from across the stadium when he was substituted nine minutes from time.
At the final whistle, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni broke down in tears in Messi’s arms in a gesture of thanks for the performance that brought them both to the brink of the crowning glory of their careers.
Messi’s story continues until Sunday, when he will finally have the opportunity to erase the memories of his very obvious distress and disappointment when he failed to prevent Argentina losing 1 -0 against Germany in the iconic Rio Maracana in 2014.
And as an indicator of his longevity and enduring talent, his contribution against Croatia saw him become the first player to score and attend four separate World Cup matches since 1966 – against Serbia in 2006 and Mexico, the Netherlands and Croatia here in Qatar.
Argentina scored 12 goals in this World Cup. Messi scored five and assisted three – he didn’t receive another assist for the header which put Alvarez on the way to the goal to double Argentina’s lead.
He has 11 goals in total in the World Cup, which is the Argentine record.
And Messi is now level with Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race in Qatar with five goals. Could this contest also be settled on the world’s greatest sporting stage of all on Sunday?
Messi or Maradona?
Alan Shearer, BBC Sport pundit and former England captain, suggests Argentina’s lifting of the World Cup on Sunday could have a wider significance when it comes to the argument about who is the this country’s greatest footballing product – Messi or Maradona?
Shearer said: “What a story would it be if Argentina won the World Cup. Would that end the debate over Messi or Maradona?”
“We said if Messi wins the World Cup here, maybe it should be him. That’s the difference [in the past], that was the starting point – Maradona won the World Cup. If Messi were to win here, my view would change.”
For club and country, Messi has won and done everything – except winning the World Cup.
Could this moment of fate arrive at Lusail Stadium on Sunday? If so, it will always be known as the Lionel Messi World Cup.
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