The wizard in the strange black cape who received the award he deserved

DOHA (From a special envoy).- The song The Business, by Tiësto, is the last thing that is heard before the start of the game in each presentation show that was made in this World Cup. The tone, between dramatic and conclusive, increases the tension in the environment. It’s a push into an abyss of emotion. Then there is the countdown and football. The game that moved and maddened a nation. While it plays, Lionel Messi’s face is hard, serious. Trapped in his role. They are all waiting to see him and he does not want to fail. Take responsibility in the final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup against France.

Neat beard this time. Messi clothes are accommodated oblivious to the weather. He sure is nervous. No one could not be in his position. But he keeps it to himself. He doesn’t express it. With gum in his mouth, as always. Somewhere he must release all that hidden adrenaline. While the pumping of blood accelerates in the Argentine hearts, Messi walks the field. Literally. He doesn’t run. But when the game passes near him, he does not hide. On the contrary, he activates. At 35 he can no longer be the best in the world. And yet he manages to be the best in history.

Argentina has the ball, but it is when it reaches the captain that something different can really happen. The first thing he does, from the right, is the search for the side that passes. The Barcelona method. He found Tagliafico perfect twice. They were the first signs that Argentina tried to be sharp from the beginning. That he had studied France ad nauseam. That the fragility in the middle and the back of Koundé was an invitation to attack.

They were still in the study phase when Ousmane Dembele committed an unusual penalty against Di María. The fifth that they give to Argentina in the tournament. Messi got fourth. A raid to pure penalty and goal in the knockout stage. The one on Sunday night in Lusail served for his plenary session in the knockout stage. He scored goals against Australia, the Netherlands, Croatia and France. He had never even done one before. In this World Cup he did it in every game. The sixth in the World Cup, the 12th in his career to reach… Pelé. And with those four, too, he has the same ones that Maradona did in his entire World Cup career. How can one person do it all?

In a recovered ball attack, there was a flipper combination: Molina, Mac Allister, Messi, Álvarez and Mac Allister (again), they put together a perfect one-touch run for Di María to score his goal in a World Cup final, the only one in which he needed to convert with the selection. And he started to cry, as if he was heartbroken. One more overflow, in the middle of the game. When everything was yet to be played.

But Messi was not moved. He yelled it like crazy, mind you. She hugged him. They were companions in a thousand battles and suffering. His slap pass in that action was of an aesthetic beauty that will be remembered forever. It was 2 to 0.

While Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister and Julián Álvarez ran like mad around him, he reserved energy. That’s what it’s all about. His Navy did the rest of the work. The leader is needed for other matters. Much more important. He doesn’t want to say that he never collaborated. He went down to recover a couple of balls in the first half for which he received a huge ovation.

Later, they waited for him to pull the strings of the puppet. So that each member of this team moves to the side they want and without the opponents being able to anticipate or decipher each movement. A couple of very good chances were lost to widen the score in the first twenty minutes. It is true, then the worst came: the moment of darkness for the team, which had already appeared in several games in this champion’s campaign. The downturn brought with it two goals from Mbappé, one from a penalty and another from a play, which put the score at 2-2 and forced everything to start again.

At times, when the nerves were already on the surface and the result was more uncertain than ever, It seemed that Messi was vanishing from the areas of influence, but as he did so many times; he reappeared at the right time: in overtime. Four minutes into extra time, he scored the goal that could have given the team the title before the penalty shootout. Lucas Montiel finished off a ball with spin, Lautaro Martínez lowered the ball for the rosarino star who immediately re-enabled Martínez. The Inter attacker finished off before Lloris left, who covered his shot, but it was left to Messi who, from the right, scored the 3 to 2. And there, the explosion, his celebration with his fist raised, his sweaty and red face . It seemed that everything was sealed? Not yet. They had to endure another punishment from Mbappe and wait for the penalty shootout.

It was there where Messi did not fail again. A soft shot, the ball rolled slowly towards goal, while keeper Lloris dived the other way. Dibu Martínez took care of the rest, so that the captain could enjoy the maximum peak of his career, as if he had lacked laurels. So yes, his definitive access to the football Olympus, eternal glory with the World Cup in his hands… dressed in a magician’s black cape.