YOU can simply scream your  heads off for Lionel Messi.

For the Argentinian super-striker, it’s more than a dream come true. 

He’s now the youngest (18 years 357 days against Serbia & Montenegro in 2006) and the oldest (35 years 155 days against Mexico)  player to score and assist in a single World Cup since 1966. Little wonder, he was voted the best player in Qatar.

Former Malaysia Cup defender Matthew Chin hails Messi as “someone close to impossible to match”. He added: My generation can’t compare him to (Diego) Maradona because Messi is simply extraordinary.”

THIRD TRIUMPH

Sunday was Argentina’s third World Cup triumph and the first since Mardona won it for them 36 years ago in 1986 in Mexico. After nearly a month of action filled with exemplary surprises and stunners across 64 games, 172 goals and the dramatic final completed, you just shake your head in disbelief. Just look at the statistics:  

Golden Boot Winner 2022: Kylian Mbappe (France) – 8 goals in 7 matches; Golden Ball Winner 2022 (Player of the Tournament): Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 7 goals and 3 assists in 7 matches; Golden Glove Winner 2022: Emiliano Martinez (Argentina); FIFA Young Player Award: Enzo Fernandes (Argentina) FIFA Fairplay Award: England.

Total Goals Scored: 172 Fastest Goal of Qatar 2022: 2nd Minute – Alphonso Davies for Canada vs Croatia; Most Goals Scored: France (16 goals) in 7 matches; Least Goals Scored: Belgium, Denmark, Qatar, Tunisia, Wales (1 goal); Best Defence: Tunisia (1 goal conceded) in 3 matches; Worst Defence: Costa Rica (11 goals conceded) in 3 matches; Hattricks: 2 – Goncalo Ramos (Portugal) vs Switzerland, Kylian Mbappe (France) vs Argentina.

May I significantlly add congratulations to Qatar, having hosted the world’s first desert-terrained World Cup, something thought unimaginable, by football standards.

Sunday’s final between France and Argentina was genuinely a showpiece. In my opinion, in probably the wildest final in the tournament’s 92-year history, Argentina won its third World Cup title by beating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw. 

MESSI & MBAPPE

It featured  two goals from the 35-year-old Messi and an unusual  hattrick by his 23-year-old heir apparent, France striker Kylian Mbappé.

“It’s a very special final for a special occasion for Qatar which had brickbats thrown at them right from the day they first won the World Cup bid,” said award-winning former Singapore coach  Jita Singh, 74, who spent more than a month in Doha. 

“Qatar has truly proved its critics wrong. A small state that is capable of successfully organising the world’s biggest sporting event, after umpteen setbacks on and off the field. Just unbelievable.”

Hats off to Qatar, having hosted the world’s first desert-terrained World Cup, something thought unimaginable, by football standards.

* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor.

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The football fans are fixated on who is the greatest of all time in the soccer arena with the duel between Cristiano Ronald and Lionel Messi entering its last global phase, perhaps.

Nonetheless, Ronaldo and Messi are the only two popular and talented players in our era who have never won the World Cup.

While it is true that Portugal is not a large team with many talented players that can easily claim the title of World Cup winner, the same cannot be said for Argentina, a country that has produced two World Cup victories so far.

Argentina has reached the World Cup final on four occasions. It was defeated by the Uruguay national team way back in 1930, which is the inaugural World Cup competition.

However, Argentina produced excellent football in the competition winning by big scores and establishing Guillermo Stábile, an Argentine professional football player and manager who played as a centre forward during his career, as the top scorer of the 1930 World Cup, scoring 8 goals including a hattrick.

Alas, it lost the final against the gritty Uruguayans with the match ending in a 4-2 win for Uruguay.

Argentina was also defeated in two other finals, in 1990 and 2014, against Germany and the latter went on to win those two finals by 1-0. In 1990, it was the last appearance for maestro Diego Maradona.

But Messi’s country produced two great final victories against the Netherlands in 1974, winning 3-1 in a display of magical soccer between the two opponents (Netherlands had the father of modern football Johan Cryuiff in its squad) and beating Germany in a thrilling 3-2 final giving Maradona his only World Cup final win.

While Messi lost in the first ever final in which he participated in 2014, Ronaldo’s Portugal never reached the final though the troubled Manchester United superstar has played in 4 World Cups since 2006.

Who Will Smile at the 2022 World Cup?

We wrote that Ronaldo is a player who sets precedence and sets the tone for styles and goal scoring prowesses. This is so true for the great player and he is also the first to win a ‘regional’ trophy with his country when Portugal won its first ever Euro Championship in 2016, beating France 1-0 in the final after extra time.

It was Ronaldo’s most important national trophy, leaving the World Cup as the only major international trophy he has yet to win.

The star is going through the most turbulent and disturbing period in his football career and his coach at Manchester United is not helping the player with his dictatorial style and his bullying of one of the greatest soccer stars of all time.

This is not going to help Ronaldo in Portugal’s search for a place in the final at Qatar though we know that the latter cna rise to the occasion if he can put all his woes behind him and focus on the football on the field.

A great performance by Ronald at the World Cup will make Eric Ten Hag look like a fool. But Ronaldo is going through pain and this may, unfortunately for his fans and for football, Ten Hag is contributing to a potentially bad World Cup for the latter.

Ten Hag has- sadly –  never played in any World Cup and is already seen as a troubled coach at Man Utd. The 6-3 defeat against Manchester City and the 4-0 drubbing against Brentford are two big dark spots in his managerial career at Old Trafford. Another misstep with a drubbing by a small club or a big one for that matter may mean Ten Hag could see the gate wide open for him to be excluded from the club.

Why sadly? He does not know how precarious it is to be a player who is going to play in a World Cup. If he knew, he would have been more careful in his choices with Ronaldo.

Nevertheless, Lionel Messi is not facing such worries and the Argentinian ace is in the running as one of the top rated players who may perform well in Qatar.

Messi has announced that this may be his last call for Argentina in the World Cup and that he may retire as an international soccer player, meaning he might not play for his country again after Qatar 2022.

Ronaldo has responded to Messi’s plans for retirement from international football by saying he hopes Messi would reconsider and would continue to play as long as he can because he believes the latter is a great player with great capacities.

This is how Ronaldo is. He encourages his opponents to carry on and to perform in order to bring brightness to the most beautiful game on the planet. Unlike some people.

Messi’s World Cup?

Among all the stars in Qatar, Messi will undoubtedly be looked upon as one of the greatest and he will become the greatest versus Ronaldo if Argentina reaches the final and wins.

Messi too started his World Cup appearances in 2006. Unfortunately, like Ronaldo, he has been putting more emphasis on clus football – which brings them more cash – than national football.

Unlike people like Pele for example, who played for their country with the same grit and enthusiasm when they played for their clubs – Pele won many club titles and World Cup finals at the same time – it does not appear the same for the modern ‘Peles’.

However, Messi has a chance now and if he forgets club soccer for a while, perhaps he may spark a riot at the World Cup and bring the trophy home to Buenos Aires and consecrate himself as the GOAT of our generation.

Messi has scored six goals in 19 matches at the Fifa World Cup spanning four editions. Argentina is a bigger soccer country than Portugal, though Portugal has also produced aces like Ronaldo and the once thrilling Eusebio whose team beat Pele’s in the 1966 World Cup.

Ronaldo has scored seven goals in 17 matches at the FIFA World Cup, scoring in every edition he has played in – 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.

While Ronaldo has advised Messi to continue playing in the World Cup or at International level for a few more years, this year may be his last World Cup.

But depending on his spirit and where he is playing after he leaves Manchester United – unless Ten Hag is kicked out of Old Trafford earlier than January 2023 – Ronaldo may still attempt to give Portugal another shot at the World Cup in 2026! Imagine that.

Nevertheless, it is a pity that none of them have lifted the World Cup trophy, just like the legendary Cryuff who re-invented football with his total soccer styles, reached the final in 1974 and lost to Germany by 2-1.

Cryuff missed the World Cup in 1978 which saw the Netherlands reach the final only to be defeated by host Argentina by 3-1. He did not participate in the World Cup for obscure reasons but in 2008 he revealed why he did not play for the country in 1978.

He told the media that there was a kidnapping attempt on him and his family and that shocked him and while he escaped the attempt, it changed his perspective on life.

Hence, Messi is the best placed in the Qatar 2022 versus Ronaldo who is going through a difficult time, to go and win the cup for once!

The top four favourites have qualified for the next round of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and while most of them know who they will face in the elimination round, Brazil is still waiting to find out who they will face next week.

The Brazilians are still playing Cameroon in their final group-stage match. They advanced to the next round, win or lose.

But how likely are their chances? And who are the top four contenders for this year’s trophy?

Aside from Brazil, we chose France, the defending champions who were defeated by Tunisia in their previous group match and will face Poland, Argentina, the country of Lionel Messi, the GOAT in the arena, and England, the country that invented football and once won the title.

Brazil on top

We begin with Brazil. The odds are stacked in Brazil’s favour, and an AI predicts the Selecao will win the trophy this year.

They breezed through their group, winning the first two games. They did, however, lose Neymar, on whom their entire offensive strategy is based.

Brazil is rarely displaying the radiance and vigour of the offensive samba with which it is synonymous, and this could be because they have a conservative coach in Tite, who has had a good run with just 27 goals against his side in 78 matches.

The current squad is not playing like the flamboyant Brazil of Socrates and Zico, and it appears that they are focusing on winning, even if only by a single goal, to advance their cause.

The plus of this side: It lost very few matches under Tite. It has a balanced defensive and attacking lineup with veterans behind and younger players in front.

Note that both Serbia and Switzerland could not place any shots on target against Brazil.

Now, they are without Neymar who is expected to be back in the elimination round.

If Neymar is ruled out for the remainder of the competition, Brazil can still rely on Gabriel Jesus, who has been consistent for both club and country.

Argentina and Messi

Argentina was shocked and the world too was shocked by their 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia. While it looked like they took the Saudi team for easy prey, the latter played the match their match of the year. It was their final and they gave everything against the Argentinians and won.

This defeat puts Lionel Messi’s mission to conquer the cup in doubt.

Messi scrambled in the next two matches winning them for Argentina but will he be able to continue on this run against bigger opponents? They do look good at times and this is what has given their fans hope that Argentina is still a big contender in this tournament.

Too much dependency on Messi shows that something is not right with Argentina but we never know.

England with set pieces

England has big goals and wants to go further than the 2018 semifinals. They can if they keep playing like they did against Iran and Wales.

Experts argue that they are better with set pieces, which they heavily used during the 2018 World Cup.

They are lower on set pieces this time, but that should not be a problem because they can easily turn on the goals from free kicks and corners.

So far, they are the team with the fewest odds stacked against them, thanks to their incredible frontline.

France Double?

Brazil won the World Cup back-to-back in 1958 and 1962, with Pele as the star player.

France is missing many of its star players, but it still has the potential to advance to the next round if it can defeat its next opponent, Poland, the surprise team at the tournament.

Kylian Mbappe, young and fabulous, is the reason they can win this World Cup. They went through the second round in a breeze beating Australia and Denmark and gave Tunisia a chance to grab three points with an extremely light squad in their last group match.

Not surprising at all that France is still strong in the competition four years after winning it big in Russia. They have young talented players who can win it.

But experts say they give too much chances to opponents and they keep the ball less than the other top favourites, which could be a problem when they advance against tougher sides that are excellent in keeping the ball during elimination matches.

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THE final farewell. The final World Cup goodbye for Lionel Messi.

Argentina is in the Qatar finals. And on Sunday it will attempt to win the World Cup a full 36 years after Diego Maradona and company won the title in Mexico. 

Leading the albiceleste will be Lionel Messi, the team’s true dragoon (five goals to his credit). He made it clear: “I am proud to be able to end my World Cup career playing this final. What I am experiencing is something exciting. Definitely Sunday will be my last game in a World Cup. 

“There is too much time left until the next one and I don’t think I have any. So I hope to finish in the best possible way.”

FINAL QUESTION

So this is goodbye as far as Argentina is concerned. Still, what a way to go. It is not done yet: the greatest game of all awaits. It is colossal, of course. 

But even getting there felt a little like something had been won, like some realisation had been reached. By Messi and about Messi. You don’t know what you have got until it’s (almost) gone. 

Late at the Lusail Stadium, one Argentinian television reporter down on Level 0 chose not to ask her final question. Instead, and you may have seen the clip by now, she used it to give thanks: “Whatever the result, you have made people happy,” she said. “You have made an impact on everyone’s life.”

Eventually, he made himself happy too, with more than a little help from new friends and old. At the end of the 2016 Copa América, defeated by Chile in the final, he had walked away. He had not always felt embraced, the weight overwhelming; he said he came to feel that everything was his fault. 

DIFFERENT ARENA

As it was put to him here: “You had to eat a lot of shit.” Yes, he conceded, but it’s different now. “For a while now I’ve been enjoying it so much, everything that’s happening to us. Being able to end all this in the final makes me happy.”

This has been the doctrine of the manager, Lionel Scaloni: the sun will rise tomorrow. Messi has embraced that message and the time he has left; it has become his message too, and there has been a sense of his teammates being invested not just in Argentina’s success but his happiness, in doing some sort of justice.

“People have understood that this is something we have to enjoy,” Messi said. “We did extraordinary things: the Copa América, the 36 games unbeaten, a World Cup final. 

“Obviously, we all want to win it but it’s a football match and anything can happen. Hopefully, this will be different to Brazil [in 2014, when they lost against Germany]. I don’t know if this is my best World Cup, but I’ve been enjoying it since we got here.”

In Qatar he has five goals and three assists. 

The stellar moments here are his. The goal against Mexico and the goal against Australia, so very Messi both of them, seen a thousand times if not quite like this. 

Now at last he is, the time of his life and theirs carrying all of us to a Sunday final farewell.

* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor.

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North Korea

The World Cup has produced other incredible surprises; while Argentina’s loss to Saudi Arabia is a significant setback for Lionel Messi’s team, let us share with you one of the biggest that had an impact on the victor.

A few surprises, controversies, and physical assaults against Pele—possibly the greatest player to ever live—were produced in 1966.

The surprise

But the biggest surprise came when the North Koreans beat one of the biggest teams in football at the time, the Italians, to qualify for the World Cup.

Following their shocking loss to the tiny pawns of a communist nation, the Italian team received a “tomato” welcome from their supporters.

As for the North Koreans, it was their very first appearance in the popular competition.

It happened after Fifa decided to put all African and Asian countries in one group to decide which one would qualify for the World Cup. 

The Asian and African nations boycotted the elimination rounds, dissatisfied that only one of them would be selected for the competiton.

The North Koreans were left to play the Australians, and to everyone’s surprise, the North Koreans won both games and qualified for the World Cup.

After an early defeat by the Soviet Union in their group match, everybody thought the Koreans would pack their bags after meeting the Italians.

But Pak Doo-ik made history with his lone goal that shock two-time winners Italy at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough.

North Korea have only been back to the World Cup once, at South Africa 2010.

Saudi Arabian Glory

The much anticipated win by the Argentinians turned sour after the Saudis woke up in the second half, playing a very different football than what they displayed in the first half and started attacking the Argentinians.

While Messi scored their lone goal, he had one goal rejected for off-side and the Argentinian side saw another two by Lauturo Mrtinez chalked off for offside. This must have been very frustrating for them as they were leading 1-0 through Messi’s penalty in the 10th minute.

However, we believe the biggest upset in the World Cup will remain the 7-1 defeat of the mighty Brazilians against the Germans in 2014. The crushing defeat occurred on Brazilian soil and there is nothing the Brazilians can do to erase this complete bashing.

However, we are not finished with the North Korean shocker in 1966. Rumours had it that the North Korean national television station on that day played the moment the North Korean scorer netted the goal

The TV station then allegedly said North Korea had won the World Cup by beating the Italians in the final of the competition. It was time for a great celebration.

For the Saudi Arabians, this victory is also savoured as the biggest in their football annals, with the country announcing a public holiday on Wednesday.

The public holiday will be for all state employees “and the private sector, and male and female students in all educational stages”, the government announced on Tuesday evening.

Fans were seen in Qatar celebrating the victory and on YouTube, the players were also seen celebrating their first win in their opener in the World Cup.

How will the Argentinians receive Messi and his mates if they fail to qualify for round two? No tomatoes we hope.

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