Challenging for the first ever Ballon d’Or, Champions, World Cup, and Olympic 4 crowns
Is it the coronation of the ‘celestial god’ or the opening of the ‘new star’ Mbape era?
Lionel Messi of Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in QatarPhoto) is followed by the modifier ‘last dance’. “For Messi who has achieved everything, the only goal left is to win the World Cup.”with an explanation. The final, which will be held at midnight on the 19th (Korean time), will be the ‘real’ last dance stage to decorate the finale.
Messi, who announced that this tournament will be his last World Cup, is flying fast to reap the beauty of the end. He showed off his peak skills with 5 goals and 3 assists, starting in all 3 group stage matches and 3 tournament matches from the round of 16 to the semi-finals.
In particular, in the semi-final once morest Croatia, the scene where he evaded the opposing defender with an exquisite dribble and assisted a key goal was a scene that made me understand why Messi is even called the ‘god of football’.
In the first match of the group stage, it was Messi who saved Argentina from a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia, which might be said to be a few numbers below them. He performed a one-man show by scoring the opening goal and assisting an additional goal in the second match of the group stage once morest Mexico.
to this game Messi holds both the youngest record (2006 Germany World Cup once morest Serbia, 18 years and 357 days) and the oldest record to score both a goal and an assist in one World Cup game.I did it. It didn’t end here. In the semi-finals, he scored a goal and an assist, setting another record for the oldest (35 years, 176 days). It was a bonus to record assists in five consecutive tournaments for the first time in World Cup history.
Messi, who has already surpassed Argentine legends such as Diego Maradona (most appearances) and Gabriel Batistuta (most goals), has risen to the ranks of the best in the world. Having set a tie record with Lothar Matheus for the most appearances in the World Cup (25 matches), he will make a new history just by playing in the final.write
Even if you look at this World Cup alone Messi tied with Antoine Griezmann for assists and Kylian Mbappe for goals.is running As the competitors are all French players, the result of the final is likely to be mixed with joy. If he records a goal or an assist, the ‘Golden Ball’, which is the MVP, is also likely to return to him.
But everything I’ve said so far is only secondary to Messi’s final puzzle: winning the World Cup.
motherland If you lead it to the championship, Messi will win the World Cup, the European Football Federation Champions League (UCL), ‘Ballon d’Or’, and the Olympics.go up It is a feat that even Maradona, who won the Argentine championship 36 years ago, might not achieve.
Messi has lifted numerous championship trophies in the club regular league and UCL, and has nothing more to achieve on the professional stage. He reached the top of the UCL four times during his time at FC Barcelona and won the Ballon d’Or, the world’s most prestigious football award, seven times. He also participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won a gold medal.
Coincidentally The biggest obstacle to Messi’s ‘Coronation’ is his team member (Paris Saint-Germain) Kylian MbappeAll. Mbafe, who won the 2018 World Cup in Russia at the age of ten, is considered a superstar to succeed Messi, who is heading into his twilight years as a soccer player. For Messi’s last dance to end with a climax, he must overcome Mbappe.
Is it the celebration that completes the era of Messi or the opening of a new era of Mbappe? All that was left was the final one-and-done match.
Reporter Kim Bong-gu, Hankyung.com kbk9@hankyung.com
