MESSI-AH MOMENT

NEW DELHI: Lionel Messi will cherish the moment as he led Argentina to its third World Cup victory and crowned himself as one of the alltime greats.

The 35-year-old diminutive Argentine defied the sands of time with a superlative performance that saw him scoring a record seven goals in his fifth World Cup appearance, at Qatar. Argentina pipped defending champions France 4-2 on penalties after both teams were locked 3-3 at the end of two hours, in what most felt was the greatest World Cup final. ‘Magician’ Messi also set some personal milestones, which will be difficult for most to break.

France’s Kylan Mbappe also showed why he is the ‘successor’ to Messi when he scored a hattrick in France’s losing effort as he ended the tournament with the highest goals to bag the Golden Boot award.

In the final on December 18, where the fortunes oscillated like a pendulum, Argentina dominated for most parts and seemed to have the match under their control when they led 2-0 till the 80th minute. Just when it looked that goals from Messi (23rd) and Di Maria (36th) would clinch the issue for the South Americans, Mbappe seemed to have different ideas. First, he converted a penalty in 80th minute and barely a minute later, scored another brilliant goal to send the French crowd into raptures.

The extra time proved equally thrilling. Once again Messi’s strike saw Argentina nose ahead in the 108th minute. With Argentina two minutes away from glory, the genius of Mbappe came to the fore again as he converted a penalty to deny the South Americans yet again. In the ensuing penalty shoot-out, Argentina could not be denied victory.

This was the first final of a World Cup which saw six goals and the tournament also eptiomised the glut of goals scored – 172, the highest in any edition of the World Cup. Argentina, which came under a lot of flak after losing their opening match against Saudi Arabia, were quick to recover from their reverse. The inspirational Lionel Messi was at the peak of his form not only scoring in every match but also assists (giving passes for others to score). He became the highest Argentine scorer in the World Cup, and also equalled the great Pele’s record of 12 in the World Cup. Most importantly, Messi achieved his childhood dream of winning the World Cup at his fifth attempt.

“Messi had won everything sans the World Cup. He has many personal milestones, but then the World Cup was missing from his silverware. To be compared as Greatest of All Time (GOAT), it was important that he had a World Cup under his belt. With the Qatar triumph, he has ensured that and now will be considered on a par with Diego Maradona and Pele, two of the greatest who played the sport. For me that’s the best part of his exploits in Qatar,” said ex Indian goalkeeper Subrata Paul.

Messi had hinted that the Qatar World Cup would be the last one he would be participating in. But after winning the final, he reportedly told the media: “No, I am not going to retire from the national team. I want to keep playing as World Cup champions with the Argentina shirt.”

If Messi was terrific in Qatar, Mbappe was not too far behind. The 23-year-old Frenchman was in great form throughout the tournament and ended up as the leading scorer with seven goals. His hat-trick in the final made him only the second player after England’s Geoff Hurst to achieve that feat. His speed, vision and brilliant execution were another talking point of the World Cup and it’s unfortunate that for all his efforts, France could only end as the runner-up.

JULIAN ALVAREZ (Argentina) This 23-year-old Argentine showed the promise and poise to be heralded as the future Messi. His stellar show came in the semi-finals against Croatia where he scored two goals. When one takes into account that he was not even fielded in the opening two games, it was a remarkable show by the Manchester City player. He also showed his potential by scoring against Poland and Australia, before his exploits against Croatia. One will hear a lot about Alvarez in the coming years.

JOSKO GVARDIOL (Croatia) From a relative nobody to be hailed as one of the best defenders in the tournament, Gvardiol has come a long way.. The very fact that the 20-year old was competing in the World Cup was a miracle as he had suffered a fractured nose doing club duty for his team Leipzig last month. He wore a protective mask in the tournament where his performance as a defender was top-notch, especially in the matches against Belgium and Brazil.

JUDE BELLINGHAM (England) The 19-year-old has been something of a revelation. The England midfielder arrived as someone with a huge potential only to establish himself as one of the best in the tournament. Bellingham, who plays for Borussia Dortmund, scored the opening goal in his side’s crushing 6-2 win over Iran. The tall Bellingham played a major role in setting up England’s win over Senegal.

GONCALO RAMOS (Portugal) Nicknamed the Wizard (O’ Feticiero), Ramos shot into instant fame when he was selected ahead of his more illustrious compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo in the World Cup match against Switzerland. This resulted in Portuguese coach Santos coming in for a lot of criticism. Ramos wasted no time in asserting his class when he scored a hat-trick, thus becoming only the second player in the history of World Cup to score a hat-trick in the knockout stage. With Ronaldo’s retirement, the 21-yearold Ramos will be the spearhead of Portugal’s attack.