Messi seeks elusive glory as France target encore

In 2016, Lionel Messi was left a broken man. The comparison to his legendary compatriot Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in 1986, had followed him like a shadow ever since he burst onto the scene and the burden of it was clearly showing on him.
But it was the defeat to Chile in the 2016 Copa America final on penalties – where he missed the target – had left Messi deflated. By then he had already played in three World Cups, lost twice in the quarter-finals and once in the final. Then came the sucker punch against Chile, which was his fourth consecutive failure at the Copa America. Being a beaten finalist for a third time in South America’s premier competition, he couldn’t take it anymore as he tearfully announced his retirement from Argentina duties.
But, five days later, when the raw emotions had dissipated he reversed his impulsive decision upon reflection. Six years later, that change of heart from Messi – one of the greatest to have ever played the game – has taken him to the cusp of a World Cup title that he has craved for his entire life.
When he finally won his maiden title with Argentina – the nation’s first trophy since 1993 – beating Brazil in the Copa America last year, a huge weight seemed to have lifted from Messi’s shoulders. At Qatar 2022, in what surely is his last World Cup, the 35-year-old has dazzled like only he can as he has taken Argentina to their sixth final, where they will face holders France at the Lusail Stadium today.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni and his French counterpart Didier Deschamps insisted yesterday that the final was not about Messi himself or his battle with PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe, who at 23 could become the youngest player to win two World Cups since Pele achieved the feat at the age of 21.
But it’s hard to ignore the impact the two have had over their respective teams at this World Cup, particularly Messi. The Argentina superstar has played six games in Qatar and he has been man of the match in four of them, having scored five times and made three assists.
Argentina’s shock defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening match on November 22 at the very stadium where they will play the final today seems a distant memory. Messi has played like a man liberated of any pressure, while his teammates have played for him – even belting out a celebratory song in his honour on the team bus after each victory.
Former Argentina centre-back Mauricio Pochettino and Messi’s former coach at PSG said in a column yesterday that his country’s run to the final has one important characteristic. “The Argentina players fully understand their jobs: when you have Messi in your team, you need to run for him. And when you have the ball, you need to give it to him as soon as possible so that he can create something. So the players know what they need to do in every single moment, to give Messi everything he needs to be decisive, like he was on Tuesday night against Croatia,” Pochettino wrote in Theathletic.com.
It seems the stars are aligning for Messi to win a world title and coach Scaloni is making everything possible to make it a perfect World Cup odyssey for his former teammate. Scaloni made key changes after the Saudi defeat and had the courage to bring in youngsters Enzo Fernandez and Julian Alvarez, who have been brilliant since.
He has also made crucial changes to his system, using three defenders against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and three holding-midfielders to neutralise Croatia great Luka Modric in the semi-finals.
After Argentina booked their ticket to the final with a 3-0 win against Croatia, Messi confirmed today would be his last game for his country. Scaloni said that made it an even bigger match for his team and his country: “Let’s hope that if it’s Leo’s (Messi) last game, that we can win the title. It would be great and the important thing is to enjoy it... What better scenario than in a World Cup final.”
Even French coach Deschamps, whose team has been battered by viral flu on the eve of the final, was aware the football romantics all over the world want Messi to lift the football’s biggest silverware today but was keen to make it another night of agony for the Argentine.
“Not the only one in the world, no. I am often alone, but I like being alone,” said Deschamps, who will be in his third World Cup final after he won it in 1998 as Les Bleus’ captain and then four years ago as their coach.
“The most important thing when preparing for a game like this one is to be calm, and of course, a final, any final, especially a World Cup final, there is the game and there is the particular context. But of course, the goal of a final is to win another trophy. But I know the whole of Argentina and maybe some French people too, would like to see Messi win. But we don’t really agree with that, so we are going to do everything we can to get what we want,” he added.
Deschamps said France have not been overly troubled by the virus that has hit several players including defenders Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate, Raphael Varane, midfielder Adrien Rabiot and forward Kingsley Coman.
The virus scare threatens to derail France’s bid to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil achieved the feat in 1962 but with all 24 members of the squad in attendance for the training session yesterday, Deschamps was hopeful it would not impact his team’s performance today.
“We try to take the maximum precautions, to adapt and to deal with it, without going overboard. It is obviously a situation. If it could not exist it would be better, but we manage as best we can,” Deschamps said.
France have shown they can adapt to any kind of team, which could be a big asset against Argentina, who have tested out several systems during the World Cup. “You have to be willing to suffer at times. You have to make the most of the good situations, too,” said captain Hugo Lloris.
“Tomorrow there will be a game plan to respect. We are still studying this team and preparing for this big game. There are always things we are not prepared for. To face that we need a perfect mindset, to be ready to go above and beyond. We know that we are capable of playing with possession and on the counter-attack. We have a lot of fast players offensively. The strength of our team is that we can adapt to any type of scenario.”