He opened the scoring by taking a penalty and with a magic touch began the play for the second goal. Not even General De Gaulle would stop Lionel Messi in Lusail. World football has a new undisputed king. And happy those who could see him to humanize the Qatar Cup. To see him make it 3-2 and take the penalty as he did after extra time.
Messi played in five World Cups, two finals and finally lifted the cup that no one in this 21st century has done so much to deserve.
He was part of that brotherhood of geniuses who were never world champions. It includes his compatriot Alfredo Di Stéfano, the Dutchman Johan Cruyff, and Brazilians such as Zizinho, Paulo Roberto Falcão and Zico.
“Ah, Zico didn’t win the World Cup? Bad luck for the World Cup”, says journalist Fernando Calazans.
If the Cup could speak, it would be the one to complain about never having been touched by the hands of geniuses whose feet, more than the World Cup, honored the ball.
Well, there’s no more reason to complain about Messi’s missing fingers.
Argentina won, arriving in Qatar undefeated in 36 games, about to equal the Italian record of 37 games.
What are numbers worth? Italy didn’t even make it to the Cup.
He had to lose his invincibility to modest Saudi Arabia in his debut to play six knockout matches.
Messi also became the player with the most games in Cups, making 26 games and leaving the German Lothar Matthaus behind, in addition to also surpassing Diego Maradona in appearances: five to four.
The Don Diego who won in 1986, in Mexico, with the right hand of God and the left foot of the Devil, also for luck in the World Cup.
Messi had come close in Brazil in 2014 and, in extra time, Germany, the team defeated in the final 28 years earlier, won.
Of Messi, what was said was that he didn’t have the dramatic load of the heroes most worshiped by the brothers.
Nothing about Carlos Gardel, who died in a plane crash, or about Evita Perón, whose corpse was kidnapped.
Nor does his quiet life compare to Maradona’s, on the contrary, it is the opposite of it.
And look at that 12 days before the start of the Cup, Messi lost the teammate he had been looking for in the national team due to injury and, finally, he had found, midfielder Giovani Lo Celso.
Faced with the impact of the defeat on his debut, Messi’s anguishing loneliness was decreed there, abandoned to his own luck. Which what!
There was life and the young coach Lionel Scaloni, 44, knew how to find it in the changes made in the team, no longer immovable, because undefeated.
And La Pulga decided to do in Qatar what they have always done for the world’s pitches, especially European ones, but also for South American pitches.
He does with the ball what the best jewelers can do with diamonds.
Scorer, dribbler, passer, disguised, magician, maybe he just lacked the blackness of King Pelé to frequent the very same level.
Because it made Camp Nou the closest piece of heaven in all of Catalonia, Spain, Europe and the world.
With the new ingredient of aggression, as well shown by the reporter Alex Sabino, when making the lemon, which was the assault in the 2019 Copa América semifinal, the lemonade to win in 2021 and, now, the World Cup.
And he still had to face French resistance when Prince Mpabbé, in two minutes, equalized and forced extra time. And again, after he put Argentina ahead in extra time and saw PSG’s teammate and rival seek an equalizer once again.
How lucky was the World Cup.
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.
