Argentina need to win this one. Not for Lionel Messi, the players or the support staff. Or for the fans back home who celebrate like mad in the streets.
They need to win for Bangladesh (in one of his news conferences coach Lionel Scaloni had even thanked the country for their continuous support), they need to win for the fans in Kerala who had a cut-out of Messi in the middle of a river or those who live stream even a friendly against Estonia at unworldly hours. This World Cup means a lot to them.
For many of these fans 1986 had happened when they were not even born, for them the final stumble at the Maracana eight years back and the loss to France in the round-of-16 in Russia are something which took place yesterday.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was in Russia as a fan with his brother to feel the humiliation, he was partying with friends in Argentina thinking his team will win the final against Germany only to “cry like a child” after Mario Goetze’s goal made the slimmest difference in Rio de Janeiro. He knows how the fans feel with years of despair. “I know what it feels like,” he said at the pre-match news conference on Saturday.
Yes, the fans, who have endured years of taunts, want to feel what it is like to have that “world champion” tag. The song that reverbates around the stadium every time Argentina play in the World Cup and the the one the team sings to celebrate victory goes like this: “Guys, now we’re getting our hopes up again, I want to win the third one, I want to be a world champion.”
Yes the Copa America triumph, a title after ages, give reasons to smile about but this is the World Cup. The Cup they won 36 years ago. Despite lack of success, Argentina have never been short of global fans and numbers only grew with the advent of Messi.
On Sunday in Lusail, it will be his last match for Argentina, the grand finale against France. “The most important thing is to enjoy Messi because this is the World Cup final,” Lionel Scaloni said.
Argentina have seen both the lows and highs during the tournament. And the Saudi Arabia debacle seems to be now an aberration, a minor blip, as teams like Mexico, Poland, Australia, the Netherlands and Croatia fell by the wayside. Now they are just a win away from what will be a memorable triumph.
France are billed as the favourites and they have earned it. Kylian Mbappe is the man everyone is talking about, the one who will destroy Argentina. Antoine Griezmann is once again playing like the way he did when Les Bleus won the Cup in Russia, a compact defence, and some very talented midfielders.
“Add to that their goalkeeper (Hugo Lloris),” Martinez says about his France counterpart. It goes without saying that both the finalists will hope for their No. 10s to fire.
Messi, 35, and Mbappe, who turns 24 on Tuesday, play for the same club Paris Saint-Germain and it’s the senior-pro who links up with his junior partner-in-crime to toy with their rivals every weekend. On Sunday they will be on a different mission.
Mbappe is being seen as the player who will take over Messi’s mantle of the best player in the world. The heir apparent as they say. Both have five goals and are in the running for the Golden Ball award as well the Golden Boot. “France will look to stop Messi from getting the ball behind the midfield and Argentina will have to stop Mbappe from making those runs,” Arsene Wenger said at a news conference of the Fifa technical study group.
Scaloni scoffed at the idea that it will be match between two Ms. “It’s not Mbappe vs Messi. Tomorrow France play Argentina. And both the teams have enough influential players to make the difference.”
Clash of No. 10s
Teammates at Paris Saint-Germain will turn rivals on Sunday when Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe face each other in the World Cup final. Both are stars, one at sunset at the age of 35 and the other, 23, a promising dawn for world football. Before Messi and Mbappe fight it off on the field, Sudipto Gupta dares to draw a comparison between the two geniuses.
Skill vs skill: Who outscores whom
Target talk
Both are masters of conversion. Give them a half-chance and they will drive the nail into you, no matter how acute the angle or how many defenders are around them. Both have scored five goals in Qatar so far. But Mbappe will be ahead for his combined sum of power, precision and skill.
Fast card
Mbappe wins hands down if it is only about speed. There is perhaps no footballer on earth who can run with the ball as fast as the Frenchman, and it’s not a rudderless run, he knows where he is going. The 35-year-old Messi is not as fast as he used to be, but does he really need speed? Ask Josko Gvardiol.
Kylian Mbappe. File photo
Dribble dudes
Messi is poetry when he dribbles, sketching unreal paths past defenders young and old. Not that Mbappe is a novice. Remember the way he created that goal for Randal Kolo Muani in the semi-final against Morocco, tip-toeing past defenders? But Messi is perhaps a class above here, floating past challenges with the grace of an angel.
Pass perfect
Messi again. It’s bewildering how he finds the right player without ever taking his eye off the ball. Not much is spoken about his passing skills, but Messi can win matches with his pinpoint passes. Like when he picked out Nahuel Mollina in the quarter final against the Netherlands. Mbappe is good, but in passing, he lacks Messi’s creativity.
Combative edge
It’s a new Messi that the world is witnessing at the Qatar World Cup. Gone is the silent genius who would just go about his job quietly, he is now the leader of the pack, willing to engage with the opposition and give them a piece of his mind when angry. Louis Van Gaal got a taste of it. Mbappe too is a teamman, but his leadership skills in crisis are yet to be tested.
Last time they met
(International)
Four years back, at the Russia World Cup, an Mbappe-inspired France edged out Argentina 4-3 in a Round-of-16 match. While Mbappe scored two goals and won a penalty as well in that game, Messi was goalless.
Fact factor
Messi is yet to defeat a team containing Mbappe — club and country together — while the Frenchman has beaten the Argentine twice and scored six goals across their three meetings.
Playing paradox
Though in the running for the Golden Ball and Golden Boot, both Messi and Mbappe have walked more than half the distance they have covered on the field in their respective six matches. While Messi has walked 30.61km of the 53.11km distance he has covered on the pitch, Mbappe is not much behind, having strolled for 22.85km of the 44.54km he covered. Preserving energy?