Someone has to put him in: Team player Messi opens the scoring (12/18/2022)
Finals thrive on the excitement, if you want to see good football you don’t have to tune in. Never was this rule of thumb so wrong as on Sunday in the final of the soccer World Cup in Qatar between Argentina and France. It was hard to beat in terms of drama. After the score was 3-3 at the end of extra time, the Argentines prevailed 4-2 on penalties – their third world title overall after 1978 and 1986.
Such an escalation was not foreseeable until the 79th minute. Argentina led comfortably 2-0, Lionel Messi had routinely scored from the penalty spot (23rd minute), his congenial partner Ángel Di María (36th) made it 2-0 after a wonderful combination. The South Americans were clearly the better team, didn’t allow anything defensively and repeatedly plunged the French defense into chaos. Superstar Kylian Mbappé only fired the first French shot on goal in the 71st minute. He was like everything the French had fabricated offensively up to that point, above all – harmless. Coach Didier Deschamps’ team, who were plagued by colds during the week, never got any traction in their actions and usually passed the ball around aimlessly.
Di María, who was probably the best player on the pitch for a long time, had already been replaced. Due to injury, the 34-year-old did not play a major role in this World Cup and was a surprise to many in the starting line-up. Before the events rolled over, he was already crying tears of joy on the substitutes’ bench. Because what else could go wrong here?
But football can be cruel – and beautiful. “Football, bloody hell,” exclaimed legendary coach Alex Ferguson when his Manchester United snatched the triumph in the Champions League from Bayern in 1999 with two goals in added time. In the said 79th minute, Argentina’s otherwise flawless central defender Nicolas Otamendi allowed himself to be tempted to foul France’s early substitute (41st) attacker Randal Kolo Muani. It couldn’t be more unnecessary. Mbappé, who had signed off by then, converted the penalty due to make it 1: 2 (80th). Suddenly Argentina was thrown off balance. Because just a few moments later, Mbappé completed a template by Joker Marcus Thuram with a direct acceptance worth seeing to make it 2: 2 (81st). Football, bloody hell!
Now the adrenaline was kicking in, France were in the lead and Adrien Rabiot was already on his way to make it 3-2 (90′ plus 4). But Argentina saved themselves in stoppage time and almost scored the decisive goal themselves through Messi. (90th plus 7)
In the first half of added time, both teams had to recover from the turbulence, everyone ran on the last groove – until substitute Lautaro Martínez almost scored for Argentina (105th). The »Albiceleste« was back – and actually took the lead again in the 108th minute thanks to Messi. It must have been now? No, of course it wasn’t. Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel (remember this name) blocked a shot by Mbappe in the box with his hand. Again the convincing Polish referee Szymon Marciniak pointed to the point, Mbappé scored again (118th). And Kolo Muani almost became a French national hero in injury time, but Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez thwarted the possible decision with a sensational reflex (120th plus 3).
The keeper’s next great moment came on penalties, when he saved a shot from France’s second-scorer Kingsley Coman. While the Argentines were putting all their attempts into goal, Aurélien Tchouaméni shot his wide. Full-back Montiel kept his nerve when it came to the crucial penalty kick. Argentina was world champion. “It was an unbelievable, unbelievable final,” stammered penalty hero Martínez as if he were ARD-Reporter.
Coach Lionel Scaloni had done what eight Argentinian national coaches had failed to do since Messi’s Albiceleste debut in 2005: to build a functioning team for the exceptional talent. The 35 year old thanked Scaloni with his best tournament so far. The crowning glory of Lionel Messi, at least the best footballer of his generation, was not only his masterpiece, but also that of his peers.
