The flamboyant World Cup that blossomed in the Desert

I suppose it is fitting for arguably the greatest player in the history of football to win the World Cup in arguably the greatest World Cup final there ever was. Everyone who watched the World Cup final on Sunday knew for sure that they were witnessing a classic.  A clash of two stories, and say […]

I suppose it is fitting for arguably the greatest player in the history of football to win the World Cup in arguably the greatest World Cup final there ever was. Everyone who watched the World Cup final on Sunday knew for sure that they were witnessing a classic. 

A clash of two stories, and say what you will, stories shape the world. On one hand a 23-year-old powerhouse, Kylian Mbappe, gunning for his second World Cup having won his first at 19, not as a bit-part player but as a force to reckon with, on the other hand, the great Argentine in his last World Cup match, dreaming to “completing football.” 

The match reflected this battle. For the last two decades, Messi has won everything there is to win in football with a frightening level of consistency that has only been matched by one other player, the great Cristiano Ronaldo. And for the first 80 minutes of that match, it was Messi’s story, a sustained period of dominance that was brilliant to behold. But like the battle, the last 10 minutes (the last few years) were Mbappe’s. Two quick goals to change the tide and threaten the legacy of the Argentine. Extra time was a straight duel between the two that culminated in a penalty win. A fitting end to a great battle. 

In 2017, former Argentine manager, Jorge Sampoli said: “Messi doesn’t owe a world cup to Argentina, football owes a world cup to Messi. He’s the best in history.” 

It has been re-echoed by many. It may have emi lokan vibes about it but it was a sentiment that many footballers, managers, fans and rivals have shared. Even the incomparable Zlatan some weeks back said it was written that Messi would win it. Player after player has said they would love for Messi to win it. Mostly everyone, apart from the Portuguese and his ardent fans. 

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At no time in the history of the beautiful game has one player been burdened by so much expectation as Messi has been. His 17 or 18 years of excellence in football, all the nearly 1,000 goals and his legacy were tacked on to what happens in one month in an Arabian desert city-state. Was it unfair? I think so. If the penalty had gone the way of France, would it mean that Messi wasn’t unqualified to be the greatest, because another Argentine missed a kick, as had happened before? 

Neither Maradona nor Pele, not even Mbappe, had, or will face this pressure (both Pele and Mbappe won the trophy as teenagers, Maradona in his mid-twenties.) It was a long, long way for Messi. In the end, it happened. 

After the win, after Messi, draped in a Bisht, lifted the cup he had dreamed of winning since he was a child, the goalpost was shifted again. By who? Those who have fanned the “GOAT debate” for the last 10 years. First, they argued he is not great because he never won anything with Argentina—because the Under 20 World Cup and the Olympic Gold don’t count. Fine. He won the Copa last year. Not good enough. Won the Finalissmo. ‘The what?’ they said. He has to win the World Cup.  

In Qatar Messi was flourishing, having a phenomenal World Cup and Ronaldo was wilting in the Qatari desert, and it was painful to watch because he was, or perhaps still is, one of the finest players to have played this game. 

I suppose one of the greatest entertainments of this World Cup was that of watching some Ronaldo fans twisting and turning—as Ronaldo used to do in his better playing days—from one pillar to another. They shifted allegiance from one country to another, hoping this or that would stop Messi’s match.  

When destiny had spoken, they reached to Mbappe’s superb ten minutes, his three goals—two of which were from the spot—to proclaim him the greatest, lavishing on him the GOAT title in a patent abuse of that acronym. No questions, Mbappe is a great player already at 24 (turned 24 this week). Anyone who first saw him in the red and white of Monaco when he burst into the scene as a 17-year-old would know he was destined for great things if he didn’t get sidetracked. It is, however, way too early to start mentioning him in the conversation for the Greatest of All Times. Many of those abusing this title have probably never heard of or seen the stellar Marco Van Basten play. They forget too quickly the phenomenal Ronaldo de Lima. Mbappe no doubt is on track. But he has a long way to go. 

Others reached deeper. “What is one World Cup? Pele has three.” Pele indeed has. Pele was a phenomenal player. Those who saw him said so. The clips on YouTube testify to that. The legend around Pele is so great that it is claimed that his short visit to Nigeria in 1969 with his Santos team to play a 2-2 draw with the Super Eagles in Lagos was greeted with a 48-hour ceasefire in the Nigerian-Biafran War. The facts of that ceasefire have been embellished over the years of course, and all Pele, a man who enjoys luxuriating and sometimes enhancing his accomplishments would say in his autobiography was “the Nigerians certainly made sure the Biafrans wouldn’t invade Lagos while we were there.” This same Pele was declared a “National Treasure” by the Brazilian government who prevented his sale to a foreign club. Pele had a fantastic team playing alongside him. His team was so good Pele wasn’t even the captain and it is on record that the Brazil 1970 team is probably the best team the world has seen to this day. Could they have won the World Cup without Pele? Probably yes. 

The same can’t be said of this Argentine team. It was an incredible unit, no doubt, and Angel di Maria was decisive in the final against France as were Enzo Fernandez and Emiliano Martinez. But the weight on Messi’s slender shoulder was simply incredible. 

Maradona had a similar weight, not as much as Messi, obviously but a lot. The kind of Kung Fu tackles Maradona received are just staggering to watch, even now. That these tackles were allowed on a football field was something else. The pitches aren’t as great as they are now but the kind of control Maradona exhibited was just simply caviar. But Maradona had perhaps a decade on top. The rest of his years were tarnished by drugs and scandals. His last international game so happened to be against Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup, after which he was found guilty of doping and kicked out of the World Cup.  

In any case, Sunday confirmed Messi’s place in the pantheon of the greatest. When he sits for dinner with Maradona and Pele, he would be in the right place and his seat might be higher. It depends on what parameters we are looking at. What we can’t deny is that this man has had longevity at the top. Seven Ballon d’Or and probably an eight in the wing.  

Whatever. It has been a great joy watching both Messi and Ronaldo, that incredible prancing Portuguese of skills, hops and feral determination (the determination is still fierce even if mother time has tampered with the skills and flamboyance). It will be a delight to watch Mbappe for many years to come. He might even win another World Cup at 34, like Messi, maybe in Abuja, if Nigeria hosts it. Hey, miracles happen. 

Like it did in Qatar. For a World Cup that was mired in controversy from the moment the hosting rights were awarded to the day the first ball was kicked, it delivered. The talks, the trash talks, the golazos and surprises, the upsets (Germany going out, for instance), Morocco, those lions, chomping on Portugal and making Africa proud. Or the Arab world. Or whatever worlds they identify with and they can identify with several. 

In the end, in the deserts of Qatar, a flamboyant garden of inimitable World Cup memories sprouted. They will be talked about for generations for sure.