Mbappé leapt onto Giroud’s shoulders and raised his left arm, fist clenched, as he wrapped his right around the center forward’s neck.
He had just scored, in the 3-1 against Poland.
The image is the same as that of Pelé celebrating the first goal of the 1970 final by jumping over Jairzinho. Only differences: the King had a clenched right fist; his party was in the final.
The front page of the French newspaper L’Equipe, on Saturday (17), has the two portraits, side by side.
Messi has another photo, very similar, celebrating one of Barcelona’s four goals over Sevilla, a 4-2 triumph in 2019. The Argentine genius jumped over Frenchman Dembelé, his rival in this Sunday’s decision (18), in Doha.
The original photograph of the celebration of the King with Jairzinho, of Brazil’s 100th goal in Cups, the first in the final against Italy, is by the German Sven Simon. It is said that he was not a photojournalist, but a sculptor.
Mbappé and Messi have their works of art in this World Cup. The way the Frenchman watched the positioning of the Polish goalkeeper Szczesny, waited for what he would do and played the ball in the corner, in the quarter-finals.
Or Messi, when he takes the Croatian defender Gvardiol to the bottom line, like Al Pacino leading Gabrielle Anwar when dancing the tango “Por una cabeza”, in the film “Perfume de Mulher”. The end of the dance was the pass for Julián Álvarez to make it 3-0.
Defender Diallo, with whom Mbappé played at Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, said he heard the France number 10 praising Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he considers the best of all time. There is a beautiful image of Mbappé with an expression of tears, when he receives Cristiano’s shirt, after the 2-2 draw between the French and the Portuguese, in the Euro Cup.
Mbappé won’t be able to spread his certainty about Cristiano Ronaldo’s superiority if he doesn’t beat Messi. If he wins, he will be the first player since Pelé, two-time world champion before the age of 24 – the King did so at 21.
The comparisons don’t stop. At the age of 23, Mbappé scored 9 goals in 12 World Cup games, more than Pelé at the same age. But the Brazilian produced his seven sculptures in just six matches. Messi has eight assists and is tied with Maradona, world record holders, in this criterion.
It turns out that this statistic is only available from 1966 onwards and Pelé provided two passes to Vavá’s goals in Sweden in 1958.
Royalty was present in almost everything in this Cup. His health condition worried FIFA and the fans, who brought tributes to the stadiums. The impressive performance of Messi and Mbappé has so far sparked comparisons, to the point of reproducing almost identical images of the France number 10, celebrating with Giroud, in the same position in which the King celebrated with Jairzinho.
To be a King is to complete 82 years of life and hear, for 64 of them, that Di Stéfano could have been better, Cristiano Ronaldo more goalscorer, Cruyff more cerebral, Maradona more genius, Messi, Mbappé and…
And the comparison is always with Pelé.
This is being king.
Of all that is transformed, the only thing that does not lose its meaning is quality. There’s no Tiktok, no click-bait on social networks that can replace the role of three geniuses, captured by a creation of 1826: photography.
The three almost identical images, with the post-goal smiles of Messi, Mbappé and Pelé, will be eternal.
As a seasoned news journalist, I bring a wealth of experience to the field. I’ve worked with world-renowned news organizations, honing my skills as a writer and reporter. Currently, I write for the sports section at News Bulletin 247, where I bring a unique perspective to every story.
