It was all to play for, and rightfully, the Argentinians started the match brightly and took the French players to school since the first whistle, dominating from front to back, leaving the Frenchmen with minimal control of the ball, and most importantly, keeping the young superstar, Kylian Mbappe very quiet.
Angel Di Maria was dominating the left wing and earned a penalty in the 22nd minute after being brought down by Dembele. The man of the moment, Messi, converted from the spot and blew the roofs of the Lusail stadium full of France and Argentina faithful.
France looked dull and they were barely seen comfortable with the ball and things only got worse after Argentina worked out an excellent string of passes that led to their second goal scored by Di Maria on the 36th minute.
It was not even half time and the reigning champions were already fading away hopelessly. Didier Deschamps made two changes by bringing in Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram in place of Giroud and Dembele.
Argentina took the 2-0 lead through half time and still had the upper hand at least until the 80th minute when Kolu Muani won the race to win the bouncing ball with Otamendi, which resulted in the Argentine right back to commit a foul inside the penalty box.
France just needed one chance, and Mbappe stepped up and nailed the perfect penalty past Martinez, who went the right way, but the power and pace was enough to get past the big goalkeeper.
No time to celebrate, Mbappe quickly picked up the ball from inside the net and the game restarted. In the space of just 70 seconds, the French magician once again proved why he's the real deal after working out a spectacular one-two with Thuram before firing in a ferocious volley to draw the match at 2-2.
Celebrations were wild because to those who witnessed the game from the start, there's no chance France was going to pull an absolute rabbit from a hat because Argentina displayed pure dominance and it looked as though the script of a 'Messi to lift the World Cup' was written and ready to be published until Mbappe had different ideas.
France, who had zero number of shots on and off target in the first half, were looking far from their usual best. The hopes of retaining the trophy were fading, but you just can't write them off, especially when you have a world-class talent like Mbappe.
Match ended 2-2 in normal time and the game was dragged to extra time. Argentina slowed down after conceding the equaliser. France slowly picked up pace and were dominating, and their momentum rose even higher after Deschamps introduced the likes of Camavinga and Coman, who offered more strength and speed.
In a match of such nature, anything was possible, and either team just needed the right chance to finish off what will go down as one of the finals ever played in the history of the World Cup!
The right moment came, and it had to be for Messi, who caught the French defense napping early in the start of the first half of extra time.
Messi took the script to himself and wrote a line that would see Argentina lift their third World Cup after finishing from close range.
Again, Kylian Mbappe came to the rescue after earning the second penalty for his team deep into the second half of extra time. The calmness of a veteran, Mbappe completes the hat-rick and single-handedly gave France a glimpse of hope of retaining the trophy.
Martinez vs Lloris. Clearly, the animated Emi has the edge over sloppy Lloris in penalties. And finally, the script was written for Messi and team as Argentina won 4-2 in penalties after Coman and Tchouameni missed from the spot kick.
It was a final that had it all, but in the end, the grandest of stage was meant for Messi to complete his missing trophy and possibly, putting an end to the long-time GOAT debate with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner finally is a World Champion.
He surely has done the late Great Maradona proud by bringing home the World glory.
What Messi has done in his footballing career so far is quite exceptional, and adding this latest achievement surely is worth of a book to shout out about.
But let's not forget Mbappe. What an 'amazing force of nature he is' - as quoted by the poetic commentator, Peter Drury. My idol after Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. Peter makes football so much exciting to watch and what a pick by FIFA for the final last night.
Mbappe is a force to be reckoned, and he has proven it multiple times in the past, especially in the last World Cup where France beat Croatia 4-1. This time, although he had put a tremendous Kylian show, but it proved to be so near yet so far.
Messi fans, it's time to celebrate. Enjoy this moment. Congratulations Argentina.
No comments:
Post a Comment