Argentina\u2019s football has always been about deity and devotion; love transcending to passion with madness at its climax. At the World Cup in Qatar, there\u2019s been a restoration of faith in one man who they hope will end their long wait for the title and fulfill his destiny of becoming a champion of the world and attaining eternal greatness.
\nLionel Messi is one game away from achieving exactly that, yet there lingers a strong feeling of predestination in the desert. The whole world will pause to witness that moment in the final on Sunday.
\nIt couldn\u2019t have been set up so perfectly as it is. Messi showed he\u2019s a mere mortal as he took a step towards immortality in Argentina\u2019s semi-final victory over Croatia at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday night.
\nEarly on, Messi had clutched his left hamstring several times before he turned on the style to inspire Argentina to a 3-0 victory, scoring once and setting up another for Julian Alvarez \u2014 who got the other two goals, and reach the World Cup final for the second time in his career. At 35, this is his last chance and Messi confirmed that\u2019s the case just before he boarded the bus back to the team hotel.
\nIt had been a busy few hours for Messi after the match had finished. While his teammates celebrated on the pitch; dancing and reliving the moment, Messi was doing the pitch-side interview. He then went to the dressing room to join his teammates in another moment of celebration before sharing an emotional moment with Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni \u2014 the side now within touching distance of delivering Argentina\u2019s third World Cup title and a first since 1986. Tears in their eyes, Scaloni told Messi: \u201cThank you!\u201d As they embraced, Messi said, \u201cI love you!\u201d
\nStill in his top, the blue and white colours of his team, he was ushered to the press conference room to speak on his man-of-the-match performance. \u201cI have no clue,\u201d he would say.
\n\u201cWhat I know is how much I\u2019m enjoying this moment. Luckily, I feel good, I feel strong to face every single game. We\u2019ve made huge sacrifices. Personally, I felt really happy throughout the whole tournament, and I still do now. Luckily, I\u2019ve managed to help the team get the results we wanted.\u201d
\nThis reincarnation of Messi is different from the previous ones. There is a vivid sense of liberation, which some attribute to the fact that Diego Maradona\u2019s brooding presence is no longer there. Maradona, the man idolised all over the world, led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986. After Argentina\u2019s exit in the round of 16 at the last World Cup in Russia, Maradona \u2014 who died two years ago \u2014 said that Argentina shouldn\u2019t \u201cdeify Leo any longer\u201d.
\nLook at the Argentina fans now. Messi means everything. Eight years after his final heartbreak in Brazil at the hands of Germany, Messi has overtaken Maradona and then Gabriel Batistuta to become Argentina\u2019s all-time top scorer at the World Cup with his penalty against Croatia taking him to 11.
\nLast year, he inspired Argentina to the Copa America title as they became South American champions for the first time since 1993. He has a group that rallies around him and he\u2019s appreciative of that.
\nReceiving the man-of-the-match award from a close friend and former team-mate Sergio Aguero, Messi said he would like to give it to Alvarez, the 22-year-old who will be tasked with leading Argentina into the future after Messi.
\nThat future comes soon, after one more game.
\nIt was about two and a half hours after the game had finished that Messi, showered and freshened up \u2014 Argentina\u2019s bright blue training jersey replacing the match shirt, arrived at the mixed zone, his calm demeanor in evidence as reporters scrambled to get their microphones close to him.
\nHere came the confirmation. \u201cI am proud to be able to finish my World Cup journey playing this final,\u201d Messi would say in Spanish. \u201cWhat I\u2019m experiencing is exciting. Surely Sunday will be my last game in a World Cup. It will be many years before the next one [2026] and I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be able to make it. So I hope I can finish in the best way.\u201d
\nAsked about becoming Argentina\u2019s top goalscorer at the World Cup, he would go on to add: \u201cIt\u2019s all well and good but the important thing is to be able to achieve the group objective, which is the most beautiful thing of all. We\u2019re just one step away, after fighting hard, and we\u2019re going to give everything to try to make it happen this time.\u201d
\nIf it happens, it will launch Messi into the pantheon of all-time greats; World Cup trophies have always been used to measure that. His performance on Tuesday; his brilliant outmaneuvering of Josko Gvardiol to set up the third goal for Alvarez with 20 minutes to go, saw calls for the \u2018Greatest Of All Time\u2019 debate between him and his longtime nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo to be settled for now. Scaloni feels Messi is already the G.O.A.T.
\n\u201cSometimes it can look like we only say that as Argentinians but I don\u2019t have any doubt [he\u2019s the best],\u201d Scaloni said in his post-match press conference. \u201cEvery time he plays it\u2019s a huge source of motivation for his teammates. There\u2019s nothing left to say about Messi, it\u2019s a privilege to have him.\u201d
\nArgentina\u2019s victory ended the hopes of Croatia\u2019s own talisman; 37-year-old Luka Modric. Croatia protested the awarding of the penalty that saw Messi give Argentina the lead in the 34th minute but nonetheless praised the Argentina great. \u201cHe\u2019s having an amazing tournament and he\u2019s showing his greatness and quality,\u201d Modric told reporters.
\nCroatian coach Zlatko Dalic, termed Messi as the \u201cbest in the world\u201d.
\n\u201cHe was dangerous and he has the quality,\u201d Dalic said at the news conference. \u201cHe put in a high level of performance and it was the true Messi we expected to see.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s the insatiable desire to win the World Cup that is seeing Messi put in these performances. There has been a lot of focus on making sure that this time he doesn\u2019t come short. Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic had been identified as a threat for his penalty-saving heroics in leading his side to victories over Japan and Brazil.
\nIf it was going to come to penalties, Messi was going to be the one taking them. He needed the perfect plan and for it, he called upon Argentina goalkeepers Emiliano Martinez and Geronimo Rulli for advice.
\n\u201cLeo has a lot more experience than us but he listens to us to help make a decision,\u201d Martinez, Argentina\u2019s number one, told reporters in the early hours of Wednesday morning. \u201cWe analysed that Livakovic was very good with penalties closer to the ground so the idea was to hit them over him.\u201d
\nWhen Messi got the penalty, he did exactly that. The glare of the world on him, he found the roof of the net to set Argentina on their way, and his desire to win is radiating through the squad.
\n\u201cWay play for our country but for us Leo is our captain, our leader, he\u2019s like an older brother, few know what he does to always be the best,\u201d said midfielder Rodrigo de Paul, who\u2019s only second to Messi among outfield players who\u2019ve played most minutes for Argentina. Messi has played every minute, alongside goalkeeper Martinez.
\nWhen the final whistle was blown, Messi bowed down with his hands on his knees at the centre circle, looking on as his teammates celebrated ahead of him on the pitch. Some weight off his shoulders but the pressure of the final to come.
\nDefender Cristian Romero then ran up to him and lifted him in the air.
\n\u201cMessi is a reference point for all of us,\u201d Romero told reporters. \u201cWe are grateful to have him. He is always up for more. He\u2019s been criticised so much, at times unjustifiably, yet he gets up again to seek new challenges.\u201d
\nThe final challenge comes on Sunday. It\u2019s this title that\u2019s kept him pushing on, forcing him to return to the national team after he\u2019d announced international retirement after Argentina\u2019s loss in the Copa America final in 2016.
\nBut he returned and, with stellar performances, did away with the questions about not turning up for Argentina as much as he turned up for his former club Barcelona. After the semi-final, Messi was told by an Argentinean television reporter that the mark he\u2019d left on the lives of people in his country was beyond winning any World Cup.
\nArgentina, though, are hoping for the perfect ending. \u201cThe best Messi is always the one that is yet to come,\u201d midfielder Leandro Paredes told reporters.
\nThe world hopes to see the best version on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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