What Does Messi Mean For Football? The Essence Of The 2022 World Cup Final
Messi
Grigory Telingater’s attempt to understand the historical moment.
In the final of the 2018 World Cup, the players took to the Luzhniki lawn to the song of the composer Ennio Morricone “The Ecstasy of Gold” (“Golden Ecstasy”). Few musics can match the epic. Search the Internet and turn it on – the perfect soundtrack for this article.
The great Lionel Messi will play the biggest match of his career. He already had one World Cup final (in 2014), but now is definitely the last chance for the most crucial title in football. The Argentine has long made it clear that he will not play at the next World Cup because of his age.
Many openly say that they are not rooting for the Argentina national team, but for Messi. And here it is worth formulating what one particular player means for the whole of football. Why the whole tournament even before its start was perceived through Messi’s chance? It was like a thousand-faced hero reached the final boss.
For the past 15 years, they have been arguing about who is number one in football – Messi or Ronaldo. There is no right answer, and it all comes down to banal sympathies. Someone admires the natural talent of Messi more, someone closer to the fantastic dedication of Ronaldo. The case when everything is visible even by the relief of the bodies.
There are many statistics, according to which either one or the other is cooler. Both won one continental championship each (Portuguese – European Championship – 2016, and Argentinean – America’s Cup – 2021). And now the 2022 World Cup was the last chance for both for the world trophy. Someone will say that the key indicator is the Golden Balls. In this regard, Messi is ahead (although this is another criterion). But at the 2022 World Cup itself, it was Lionel who showed himself better. He not only reached the final but also became a key element in the team, which cannot be said about Ronaldo.
Now it has become more relevant to argue whether Messi is the best football player in the history of football. You may have seen the abbreviation GOAT – Greatest Of All Time (the greatest of all time). For example, dozens of times – on the billboards of the Parc des Princes stadium, where Messi regularly performs. True, there this inscription means only the name of the PSG sponsor.
But a photo session with a live goat is already personally about Messi. The goat is translated from English as “goat”, so Lionel is often represented in the form of this animal. Well, or with him in his hands – as is the case with the cover of Paper magazine.
Can Messi really be called the greatest in the history of the game? Even the Argentines are not sure about this. Although you need to understand that it is difficult to compare Maradona and Messi. Football is now generally on a different level compared to what it was 30-40 years ago. Different speeds, different nutrition, different medicine. It is hardly possible to compare those defenders who were wound up by Maradona and those pumped up and tactically trained that we have now.
It’s like chess. The current world champion Magnus Carlsen, most likely, would have beaten any genius from those who were 40 or even more so 100 years ago. Simply because some openings are no longer relevant. Games have become more elaborate – right down to microscopic details. So in a sense, the best football player of today is, by definition, stronger than the best players from the past era.
The biggest match in football history. The tragedy of Brazil is cooler 1:7
At this World Cup 2022, the aura of impeccability subsided a bit with Messi. Here are the rude statements of the striker in the quarterfinals (although the Dutch, for their part, also provoked). This also includes refereeing at the World Cup. Only Messi was given four penalties. The first two (against the Saudis and the Poles) were extremely dubious, and the last one in the match with Croatia is very debatable.
On the one hand, the mistakes of the judges are not the fault of the captain of the Argentina national team. On the other hand, it is harder to sympathize with the team and the player if they are dragged by the judges.
And yet, the career of a great football player and his historical significance is incomparably more than the jambs of referees and boorish statements in the subtribute. Messi has reached the final of the World Cup, and this is his last chance for a major trophy. Lord, for the sake of this, it was worth holding the World Cup in Qatar.
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