Football Soccer – Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup – Final – Argentina v France – Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar – December 18, 2022 Lionel Messi of Argentina kisses the trophy while celebrating the championship World Cup REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
LUSAIL, Qatar — As fireworks exploded and about 80,000 people cheered, Lionel Messi smiled. His Argentina shirt is covered by the bisht shirt the Emir of Qatar has just worn him – a robe reserved for top officials and followers of Islam. He smiled, he paused, then he lifted the world championship trophy, a lifelong dream come true.
For all the titles, all the accolades, the wealth, the titles and the silverware, there is a stain on his career résumé, and that is a stain he has erased forever in one year. Magical World Cup night for Argentina.
“It’s anyone’s childhood dream,” Messi said. “I am so lucky to have achieved everything in this career… and this is what is missing here.
“It’s crazy… look how she (World Cup) is, she’s gorgeous. I want her so much. I had a vision that this would be the person… she was getting closer.”
On this patch of green in the Qatari desert, all that matters most to the 35-year-old is bringing back the World Cup he so desperately needs for Argentina, and he did so with a stellar performance. train against the defending champion France in what happened. a final for the ages.
After giving Argentina a 2-0 lead which they blew away in the final 10 minutes, he then gave them the lead in stoppage time, before successfully delivering his penalty in the shootout. penalty shootout which they eventually won.
As tens of thousands of Argentines packed into the stadium eagerly jumped to hug each other, cry and scream, so did the Argentina team, sobbing and sending off the man who had been their talisman. in a generation.
It took five tries and a record 26 World Cup finals, but the boy from Rosario – a farm-centric city about 300 kilometers north of Buenos Aires – was finally able to lift himself up with Another Argentinian football god, Diego Maradona, who took his country to the title in 1986.
“We suffered, but we had it (World Cup),” Messi said. “I want to end my career with this, I can no longer ask for anything else, thank God he gave me everything.”
This Argentina team that has arrived in Qatar has been described, unfavorably by some, as ‘Leo Messi and 10 others’. The lackluster defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia in the first match could not dispel that notion.
He has come to Qatar again with the dream of a country on his shoulders.
Eight years ago, during a World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, Messi was muted, spellless and seemingly tired of the weight of expectation as Argentina fell in the final to Germany.
This time, however, he wore it lightly, seemingly inspired by the desperation emanating from every voice in the stands.
This victory is the culmination of an extraordinary career that has seen him voted the best player in the world on a record seven occasions.
He has won 1 Copa America, 11 national championships, 4 Champions League titles, 3 Club World Cups and 3 UEFA Super Cups. Now he has the most coveted of all.
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