Lionel Messi’s moment

This has been the longest period of time without an article on my blog since the summer! Christmas socials and shopping, family and partner commitments, university deadlines etc have limited my time, hence this piece wasn’t out on Sunday evening or even yesterday.

There are however some exciting announcements: my website is getting a bit of an overhaul; new name, new outlook, new description, and perhaps most excitingly…a podcast! If you’re interested in being a guest please let me know! I’m welcoming anyone and anything they want to speak about.

I might also be moving from the glitchy WordPress to a different outlet, if I can find one that’s suitable. Anyway, here’s the article:

This was Argentina’s moment. This was Scaloni’s moment. This was Montiel’s moment. But undeniably, above all else, this was Lionel Messi’s moment.

For me, the greatest player of all time. 91 goals in 2012. Countless league titles, Champions Leagues, domestic cups, added to a Copa America, and now a World Cup.

Messi has never relied on lightning pace, super strength, or mega height. If you don’t have any of those assets, everything else needs to be elite. And Messi is beyond elite.

Those factors, combined with his attitude, I would argue, are the reasons he was player of the tournament, whereas Ronaldo had little to no impact and was benched.

That said, the Messi vs Ronaldo debate is exhausting and has always been tedious to me. Whoever fans prefer, they are set in their ways and generally highly unlikely to have their minds changed, making it a pointless and never ending argument.

Perhaps winning the World Cup and being player of the tournament doesn’t change too much in the grand scheme of things (as some might argue the Argentinian has already earned his title), but it undoubtedly further cements the argument that this is the greatest footballer to ever grace a football pitch.

But it’s not just Messi winning the World Cup that makes this the perfect football story; Robert Kennedy once said “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly” and boy have Messi and Argentina failed greatly at several stages

From the heartbreak of the 2014 World Cup, that anticlimactic free kick, to the Copa America disaster where Messi temporarily retired from international football, to a disappointing 2018 campaign, this was the last chance saloon.

It even stated with humiliation against Saudi Arabia in the opening game. At that moment, I could not see how this Argentina side could go on to win the tournament. This was the highest level of sporting pressure one could ever imagine.

Yet Messi passed the ball home as if there wasn’t a goalie to beat. Then again, there may as well not have been. Having spent over ten years in England, Lloris seems to have adopted the traditional English goalie technique of saving penalties; fall over while the ball flies, or in this case. dribbles past you.

Twitter trolls will call him Pessi, but converting ultra-high pressure penalties is no easy feat, and is frequently necessary if you want to win tournaments. Ask England players, both present and past. Ask Harry Kane if it’s easy.

But it wasn’t just penalties that Messi contributed to the Argentine World Cup glory. A vital pile-driver against Mexico gave Scaloni’s side liftoff. The difference for Argentina’s side this year was that Messi was used as a team player rather than pretty much the only outlet used for goals.

That’s not to say Messi has been selfish in previous tournaments; ultimately, a competent striker, who celebrates goals that count rather than goals that are four miles offside, would have won Argentina the cup in 2014.

But in the past it’s just seemed like the team has been waiting on Messi to supply the magic by himself, while the rest are just there to support. Again, that’s not on Messi, but the way he was utilised.

Naturally, as he’s gotten older, it made total sense for him to adopt more of a team player approach, and that’s the change Scaloni made.

And on that, I’m going to move on from Messi, because as has been made clear, he didn’t win this on his own.

Messi was brilliant on Sunday but the star of the show for Argentina was Alexis MacAllister. The first half was an absolute masterclass from the Brighton man. Without a performance of that standard, I’m not sure Messi would have a World Cup to his name.

I noticed MacAllister’s quality when I watched him at Anfield in October as Brighton tore the Reds apart. He was instrumental, skipping past our midfield and playing all the right passes.

At one point, he dribbled past at least three of them in one run. I think I said at the time that his performance was exactly the kind of performance that Liverpool had been lacking in so far this season.

It was quite fitting that he put in a Christmas World Cup masterclass; some might argue he’s as hard to get hold of as the genius Kevin McAllister himself.

The other hero was of course Emi Martinez. Sometimes his shithousery is funny, like the dancing, but at times, I just think he’s a complete wally. Still, he’s a talented wally. His save at the death, to me, is the greatest save I have ever witnessed, closely followed by Alisson’s against Napoli in 2018.

Argentina rode their luck, but at the same time, they were the better team for the vast majority of the game; France were fortunate to even make it to penalties in many ways, and I’m certain most of their players would admit that.

I really struggle to see how you can’t be pleased for Messi, unless you’re actively trying not to be. And I don’t understand why you would do that.

You can see just how much it meant to him. One of the all time great athletes winning the greatest prize available in his sport. Captaining his team and playing an integral role in that achievement makes that a moment will live with him forever.

I am a football fan, not a Messi fan, and Sunday gave me chills. (Not only because I was watching from the north of England where it was snowing).

And then the game itself was utterly remarkable. In terms of drama, it has to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest cup finals of all time. France looked dead and buried, completely off the pace, until a howler from Otamendi opened the door for France, and Mbappe burst through.

Had Lautaro Martinez started, we may well have seen a repeat of the Higuain disasterclass from 2014. He gave it his best shot though; I’m completely useless at headers, but Martinez’s attempt, with a great opportunity to win his side the World Cup, would have had me blushing.

The 2022 World Cup final was fitting in many ways and symbolic of many things. It may well have heralded a new era of football, as we transition from the Messi and Ronaldo era to the Mbappe and Bellingham era. Add young player of the tournament Enzo Fernandez to that list.

Mbappe will rightfully feel hard done by, but he’s got plenty of years and opportunities ahead of him; the sooner he escapes from the Uber Eats Farmer’s league the better for his career.

He is a generational talent and not only did he score a sensational goal, he also showed incredible composure to score three penalties past a goalkeeper who is a fantastic shot stopper from penalties.

The final also personified the Argentina team since Lionel Messsi broke into it all those years ago; highs and lows, fortune and misfortune, quality and howlers, utter chaos, and a moment in which they could have lost it all; this time, they didn’t.

Before the tournament, I said my heart was saying Argentina would win this; but that it felt too good to be true. My genius head was saying Germany; fittingly, Argentina won this tournament with their hearts more than than their heads. We also now know not listen to my head, if it’s worth listening to any part of me at all!

The World Cup, for all the negative discourse, was an enjoyable tournament to watch. I thought the final would be cagey and boring, and while it inevitably reached a period that would fit that description, it was ultimately a blockbuster of a World Cup final.

I’ve made my views on the issues surrounding this World Cup clear, but the final was undeniably an absolute pleasure to watch.

In fact whole tournament has, but I’m now looking forward to having Jurgen’s Reds back; the weekly match reviews return on Thursday as Liverpool visit the Etihad!