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Hollywood movie: about the biggest World Cup final in the history of football - voila! FIFA World Cup

2022-12-19T04:40:53.814Z


Emotion, drama, tension, exiles at crucial moments, old generation versus new generation. The best player in the world against the best player in history. The final between France and Argentina was the coming of the entire World Cup


Argentina national team fans celebrate the victory in Buenos Aires (from YouTube)

How do you begin to explain the biggest final in football history?

And maybe of the sport in general?

Is the World Cup game


the craziest, most powerful, dramatic, and the one that changed the history of the industry?

Simply, cramming an entire month of games, moments, decisions, along with 12 years of preparations into one game: the 2022 World Cup final.



The Sunday of the final coincided with Qatari Independence Day.

It was no accident.

The Qataris and the


organizing committee planned for it to turn out this way in the early stages of the hosting bid, but even they did not know how extreme the football match that would be played on this small country's 51st anniversary would be.

The weather was fickle and varied between pleasant sunshine and a chilly wind, as if to suggest a fitting closing day to one of the most exciting, volatile and unpredictable World Cups football has ever known.



Hours before the game, the Qatari metro became a subte: the subway in Buenos Aires.

Tens of thousands


Argentinians sang and made Doha look like an imaginary Argentine colony.

But their encouragement was not


imaginary.

It was completely real.

The songs, the atmosphere, the celebrations.

Everything was there.

"Winning this World Cup for us will be so important," said the fan Fernanda who came from Argentina with her husband and two sons early Sunday morning.

"Our country is not in the best situation right now, and this is the best thing that can happen to us. We want to be world champions, we want to see Messi win the trophy, because it will simply provide us with a moment of happiness that we didn't have."



Compared to the tens of thousands of Argentinians who moved with a passion that ranged from tears to happiness at any given moment, a few thousands


of French made their way to Qatar, and it was felt from the first moment in the iconic Lucille Stadium.

The big surprise in Argentina's lineup was Lionel Scalloni's attacking lineup and the inclusion of Angel Di


Maria, who played for ten minutes in Argentina's two previous games, but that too was only a hint.


Apparently, surprises are expected.



Although it was the game with the least "lively" atmosphere as expected, certainly considering the quarter-


final games against the Netherlands and the semi-final against Croatia, but already from the anthem phase, the Argentinians dictated the tone


and it seeped into the grass in the arena that held nearly ninety thousand spectators.

and then?

That's when the "final of the worlds" began.

Argentina vs. France, Lionel Messi vs. Kylian Mbappe.

Those who want to take the trophy for the first time since 1986 against those who want to do it for the second time in a row.



The greatest final of all time: Argentina beat France and won the World Cup


Messi, the player of the tournament, Martinez the outstanding goalkeeper: Argentina in tears


as with Maradona: in Buenos Aires they wept with happiness.

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online Can't relax: "The greatest football game ever"


Mbappe cried on the bench, Macron went down to the grass and consoled him


Mbappe follows Jeff Hurst and Di Maria's record: the numbers from the grand final

Scaloni's big winner.

Angel Di Maria (Photo: GettyImages)

First half: Di Maria is a winner

Argentina started well with two chances in the opening, and France, just like against Morocco, let their opponent


play and control the pace.

It wasn't very smart.

Because the difference between the two games is that she didn't score after


5 minutes, and that Argentina is a much better team than Morocco.

In the 20th minute it opened.

Di Maria, who as the minutes went by revealed himself to be the 'ace' in Scaloni's lineup, burst from the left, passed Ousmane Dembele, fell in the box and was awarded a penalty.

In the replay it was evident that it was a very borderline whistle, but the VAR team did not intervene, and Messi approached the ball.



Messi looked stressed before the kick, wiping his head as if trying to slap himself.

Another murmur went through


the entire stadium.

Nevertheless, about 50 thousand Argentinians gathered in the middle of the Middle East for this purpose.

Messi rolled into the


net elegantly, making it 0:1 for Argentina, and suddenly the stadium started to move differently.

"I was born in Argentina,


The land of Diego and Lionel..." the song of the tournament began to gain momentum. Lucille really became


Argentina's home.



And it didn't stop there. In the 34th minute, France tried to launch a rare attack, which turned into a loss and from there to an


incredible explosive attack with five passes by Argentina. Quickly, in style, which ended with McAllister's tremendous header to Di Maria, who finished in the net. The same player who scored the decisive goal for Argentina that gave them the Copa America 2021 in Brazil, was the one who gave the signal for Argentine celebrations. 0:2 huge for Argentina,


and Di Maria's tears started to flow by themselves, when Leaving only a few lonely, dry eyes


in the stadium. Argentina scored the goal from the most beautiful team performance of the tournament, a real work of art and it just seemed to be their night. Their tournament. Certainly when France can't produce a goal kick, or even get into the box.



But in the 40th minute a defining moment happened.

Didier Deschamps made a double substitution as Dembele and Olivier Giroud were replaced by Kolo Moani and Marcus Thuram to the astonishment of the entire stadium.

Deschamps is probably the only national team coach in the world today who can make such a change and that everyone, including the players, will accept it relatively calmly.

It was a good change, because despite what the Argentinians thought, this game was far from over.

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Came out of nowhere after being virtually non-existent for 78 minutes.

Mbappe (Photo: Reuters)

Second half: Mbappe is a king, not crying

The second half started and the game continued exactly in the same direction.

What attracted attention was


a huge gap that opened up in the stand of the dignitaries, who simply did not return for the second half.

And so it turned out that at the World Cup final, thousands of


chairs remained empty for twenty whole minutes.

It was symbolic and unflattering for this World Cup, which throughout


the month tried to fight in its catalog as a "plastic" World Cup, precisely in the climax event it provided a


very plastic and embarrassing moment.

And not for the first time tonight.



In the 60th minute, the stadium rose to its feet when Lionel Scalloni replaced Di Maria with Marcus Aconia.

Nearly


80,000 people applauded "Atria", in a kind of standing ovation that was a bit excessive for the stage of the game.

And still enough


Maria was in the game of his life.

And it was worthy of appreciation. But as the game progressed something happened to Argentina.

The intensity dropped, and worse, she lost the finger on the pulse she kept throughout the first half.

In the 71st minute France kicked for the first time in the game towards the goal.

Mbappe did kick the sky, but again, provided a hint of things to come.



When it was already possible to hear the crowd shouting "Up, up.." with every pass from Argentina, the 78th minute arrived.

Argentina failed in the field, and France also received a somewhat borderline penalty.

Here, he finally enters the story of the hero of the new generation of soccer superstars.

Kylian Mbappe, with a frightening composure, scored and made it 2:1, and suddenly the same spirit that floated in Losail in the match between the Netherlands and Argentina, came back to play.

Within a minute, in the 80th minute, Messi lost the ball in the center of the field to Coman, and France went on a rampage with an amazing attack and no less beautiful than Argentina's second goal, when Mbappe, who as mentioned was absent throughout most of the game and the two games preceding the final, finished in style from outside the box.



Crazy 2:2 less than ten minutes to go!

Here the hearts of the Argentines have already begun to crack and maybe even tear.

You could almost feel it in the stadium, how tens of thousands of people feel that their dream, which they had in the palm of their hand right now, is slipping away.

Again it happens to her, to Argentina.

As against the Netherlands, they lost a two-goal advantage in the decisive minutes, only this time it seemed that the Argentine players were about to fall off their feet.

But somehow, this game dragged into overtime.

The best player in history beat the best player in the world (Photo: Reuters)

Overtime: The best player in history against the best player in the world

In overtime, the pace loosened, and suddenly, the World Cup final would look like a ping pong or heated match between


two contestants who know each other very well and challenge each other to see who hits harder and faster, or


harder and more beautifully.

The physicality and exhaustion started to affect Argentina, and France


were completely back in the game, both in terms of threats and opportunities.

In the center: Messi and Mbappe, of course.

Messi distributed balls to Lautro Martinez, who replaced Julián Albers, who was relatively weak compared to his ability in the previous games, but an amazing slide by Ofamacano saved France from the third goal.



In the second overtime, Argentina took the lead again, this time from a beautiful attack finished by Messi, the representative of the "old" generation who


scored with a ball that was kicked out of the goal.

It required a moment to digest and try to understand if it was or wasn't.

Messi


does not give up, in his fifth World Cup, in his last opportunity, with Argentina.

The ball did cross the line.


And the Argentinian tears in Lusail began to flood the stadium.

It's getting closer, at least that's what everyone thought in the 108th minute


, when suddenly the confidence returned to Albiceleste.



The minutes passed and all around people were rubbing their eyes.

It's just unbelievable what this World Cup produces in


terms of drama and tension.

But wait, that's not all.

Like in Hollywood, or Bollywood, or some Qatari movie, France


wins a penalty in the 117th minute.

Mbappe, for the second time in the match standing for a penalty kick - and in complete contrast to Harry Kane


in the quarter-finals - scores.

A hat trick for Mbappe in the final of the World Cup, and in the state of affairs he became the king of goals in the


tournament with eight conquests.

The world champion did not want to give up, and it was clear to everyone present that Argentina was in trouble.

Until... another hero of this evening arrived: Emiliano "Divo" Martins.

France is out


For the outburst that placed the substitute Moani's voice against the Aston Villa goalkeeper one on one, and the latter stopped him with a heroic save.

There the momentum changed completely, and the belief, passion and emotion returned to the stands and the players in blue and white.



The one who entered right at the end as a substitute was Paulo Dybala, who played only a few minutes throughout the tournament.

At that moment


, there wasn't an Argentine in the stadium who didn't say to himself: "Dybala is going to miss the penalty in the penalty shootout."


And then the duel really came.

If it weren't for him, Argentina wouldn't even have reached the penalty shootout.

Emiliano Martins (Photo: Reuters)

Penalties: a circle closes, South America returns to the winners' podium

But it was not so.

In penalties, Mbappe scored the first, and then the tension began.

The Argentines opened with


Messi scoring their first kick and then Diego Martínez amazingly saved a penalty from


substitute Kingsley Coman.

The celebrations of the Argentinian goalkeeper were celebrations like Gol's.

From here it was clear that Argentina would not let it go.

Even Dybala scored his penalty.



The excellent Orléan Tshoumani kicked wide, and Gonzalo Montiel went for the decisive ball that gave Argentina


victory on penalties, their third World Cup after 36 years and Messi the last title he was missing


.

Argentina is the world champion, Lionel Messi is the world champion and one of the most complex, talked about and


exciting journeys in the history of world football, for generations, has come to an end.

After five World Cups, and after 16 years, who is considered


one of the best players in history, finally got the world off his back.



This crazy game was in Qatar last month.

Fast, businesslike, cutting football, but one


that makes the heart beat hard, and get excited in moments that will not be forgotten.

Yes, including one before the trophy lifting in which the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Ibn Tamim dressed Messi in the traditional royal

bisht


, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino bowed


over the Argentine star in the most important, emotional moment of his career.


The Qatari hosting of the tournament was not as bad as many in the West predicted it would be, and positively.



If the Emir of Qatar wanted to congratulate Messi and give him this honorable blessing on the occasion of his World Cup win and in honor


of Qatar's Independence Day, the Emir could have waited or invited Messi to an official ceremony in the palace. The football,


In the World Cups, it is sacred and there are certain ceremonial rules even when you want to make political capital on the status of lifting the trophy.

Here it seemed that they went a little too far outside the rules of the World Cup ceremony.

But on the other hand, this is exactly the nature


of this World Cup.

On the one hand dramatic, fast, sweeping, addictive.

On the other hand, it puts the world of football to the test and is also a deep connection with image goals and maybe even politics that go far beyond the field.

They seem to have gone a bit too far with the traditional attire they dressed Messi.

But who will remember that? (Photo: Reuters)

The 2022 World Cup was a very successful event at the organizational level.

There won't be another World Cup like this.

A small place that hosts


32 national teams, at first with four matches a day in non-stop madness, with a group stage that ends


in drama and crazy sensations, then a knockout stage that takes the drama highs and only doubles them, and at the end


the circle and the biggest question mark in the world of football got a solution - when Lionel Messi and Argentina Finally winning the World Cup.



What would have happened if Argentina had lost?

How would history remember Messi?

How would she


remember Mbappe after such a hat trick and the second World Cup in a row even before the age of 24?

There is no doubt that this great Sunday in Lusail will be remembered in the pages of world football history as a canonical day, which dominated narratives regarding players and the passing of generations in football.



This crazy, most exciting and dramatic World Cup final ever was practically the entire last month in focus


for one game.

Emotion, drama, tension, exiles at crucial moments, old generation against new generation, everything.

So it is true that there were also


elements that did not conform to the rules of the ceremony, but Fernanda from Argentina, and 40 million others like her, are celebrating their


first World Cup after four decades, and this is about their only reason to celebrate in a long time.

  • FIFA World Cup

Tags

  • Argentina national team

  • World Cup 2022

  • Lionel Messi

Source: walla

All news articles on 2022-12-19

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