One of the scenes of the World Cup in Russia was Kylian Mbappé passing the Argentine Marcos Rojo as if the defender did not exist. By defeating Lionel Messi that June 30, 2018, in Kazan, the French striker gave his business card in world football.
“They sent a photo of me side by side with Mbappé. He was really similar when I was young. People in Europe think he’s going to be the best in the world”, said Pelé, to Folha, at the end of that year.
To this day, the Frenchman has not managed to win the FIFA award that Lionel Messi has accumulated since 2009, when he won the first time. It’s seven.
Mbappé has the title that the Argentine wants most: he is world champion.
The two share artillery of the World Cup in Qatar (five goals), are the greatest offensive weapons of their teams and decide the tournament this Sunday (18), at the Lusail stadium.
It would be the end of Messi’s career dreams in World Cups. At 35, he has already warned and confirmed that this is his last Cup. The confrontation with the French, winning or losing, will be their last in the competition. At 23, Mbappé could have multiple opportunities ahead of him.
When France defeated Argentina four years ago, Lionel was in the middle of a lost squad, unable to show his football and with a technical commission in which the coach (Jorge Sampaoli) did not speak with his main assistant (Sebastián Beccacece).
The Europeans were a well-oiled machine that ended the tournament undefeated and lifted the cup with four goals in the final, something that had not happened since Brazil in 1970.
This time it seems to be different. Messi leads the show in an Argentina with fans that have filled stadiums in Qatar and should take over the Lusail arena. France have become an efficient team, with Antoine Griezmann transformed into a maestro in midfield, with Mbappé a deadly weapon on the counterattack.
With 35.5 km/h recorded, Kylian is the fastest player in the World Cup. He is the technical reference of a selection that went to Qatar with the absence of Benzema, Kanté, Pogba, Nkunku, Kamara and Kimpembe. Even so, it became the first team to reach consecutive tournament finals since Brazil between 1994 and 2002.
Messi and Mbappé are Paris Saint-Germain strike partners. The club is part of a power project of the royal family of Qatar, which, at the end of the day, owns the club.
But, if the Argentinian was the signing of impact two seasons ago, his younger colleague is the jewel in the crown, the future not only of the club but of French football – Neymar, another who was worth a high Qatari investment to wear the colors of PSG , fell by the wayside at the World Cup.
“To be able to achieve this and play my last game in a final is exciting. Everything I’ve been experiencing here is very emotional,” said the Argentine captain after the 3-0 victory in the semi-finals against Croatia. A match in which he scored a goal from the penalty spot and set up Julián Álvarez for the third.
In this last bid, the number 10 alviceleste applied a disconcerting dribble on Gvardiol, a defender valued at 100 million euros (R$ 564 million) and 15 years younger. For the fourth time in six opportunities in Qatar, he was named man of the match.
At the end of the semifinal duel with Morocco, Mbappé exchanged shirts with a rival and missed the salute of the other players to the French crowd behind a goal. Afterwards, the group made the movement that they have repeated in all matches, running at a sprint from the edge of the area and jumping before reaching the goal. The attacker ran with everyone and came in last.
He must have saved his energy to face Lionel Messi for the second consecutive World Cup. Now in the final.
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