Messi the hero as Argentina win World Cup Qatar 2022

Lionel Messi finally has his Diego Maradona moment and make a claim to be the greatest ever to play the game. The Argentina superstar laid his hand on his holy grail – a World Cup title – that had eluded him until last night, which came after a dramatic 4-2 shootout victory in the final against France in what was a fitting end to the Qatar 2022.
On an epic night at the Lusail Stadium there were plenty of twists and turns – not least from Messi and Kylian Mbappe – with arguably the finest World Cup final ever decided on penalties.
When it was finally over after Gonzalo Montiel had converted the winning penalty to give Argentina its third title and first since 1986, Messi had lived through many emotions.
It was a fairytale end to Messi’s World Cup Odyssey. Clearly, it was written in the stars for Messi, even after the most stunning of France comebacks inspired by a terrific Mbappe.
As France, bidding to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil achieved the feat in 1962, made a laboured start, Argentina played with passion and intensity. Messi put his side in front in the 23rd minute scoring a penalty with ease before contributing to a second goal which was a team creation of a beauty finished off by Angel Di Maria.
As Argentina dominated with no sign of France fightback, Messi ambled across the pitch for most of the match. The 35-year-old’s memory must have wandered to his time at Rosario, his hometown in Argentina, where he grew up dreaming of winning a World Cup medal.
But a double whammy in the space of 97 seconds from Mbappe after 80th minute – a penalty followed by a thunderous volley – changed the complexion of the game and put Messi’s lifelong dream in threat.
Les Bleus manager manager Didier Deschamps made two substitutions before half-time, replacing Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele with Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani and both young stars provided the fuel for Mbappe to fire.
Suddenly, Argentina were in danger of losing a final which they pretty much had under control as Mbappe looked unstoppable. But it needed an intervention from French captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to take the game to extra time after he tipped a Messi shot over the bar.
It would have been a perfect ending to the final if Messi’s magical left foot had curled the ball into the net, but it was his least admired right foot that gave Argentina the spark in the extra time.
After substitute Lautaro Martinez’s strike was saved by Lloris, Messi pounced on the rebound with a desperate last-ditch save from a France defender in vain.
In the 1986 final, Maradona had made an assist to Jorge Burruchaga for the winning goal against West Germany and Messi looked to have gone one better than his legendary compatriot in what looked like a winning strike.
But the drama extended after Mbappe’s fierce shot was blocked by the arm of Montiel to win another penalty in the 117th minute. Messi looked the other away as his Paris Saint-Germain teammate calmly dispatched to secure an hat-trick – the first in a World Cup final since Sir Geoff Hurst did it for England against West Germany in 1966 – and a tournament-topping eighth goal.
It set up a wild finish in front of a 88,966 spectators, mostly made up of Argentina’s blue and white stripes, as both sides came agonisingly close. Lautaro Martinez was denied by last-ditch Dayot Upamecano interventions, while Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made a stretching save of his life after a one-on-one from Kolo Muani. Mbappe then made an outrageous dribble past two defenders in the box before he was stopped by the third.
And so it went to penalties, with Mbappe and Messi converting theirs. Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez – who had made two stunning saves against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals – palmed away Kingsley Coman’s spot kick, before Aurelian Tchouameni shot wide.
Then it was left for Montiel to seek a redemption after extra-time handball and the left-back kept his nerves to put the ball to Lloris’ right. As Montiel heaved a huge sigh of relief, Messi collapsed to his knees in the centre circle and was engulfed by his jubilant teammates.
After the weight of the world visibly lifted off his shoulders, Messi, joined by his wife and three sons, celebrated with the trophy and his second Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament, before vowing to continue playing for his country despite realising his lifetime ambition.
“I want to keep experiencing a few more matches as world champion,” Messi told an Argentine television.
Later France boss Deschamps suggested that the virus which laid low several of his players in the run-up to the final was partly to blame for their poor performance over the first hour.
“There were many reasons which explained why we were not as good. Several important players had less energy but bringing on younger players with less experience but plenty of freshness and quality allowed us to keep dreaming.
“But unfortunately the dream did not come true,” said Deschamps, who was in his third World Cup final after he won it in 1998 as Les Bleus’ captain and then four years ago as their coach.