FIFA World Cup: Messi one win away from joining the ranks of Pele and Maradona
New Delhi. The epic of football, got defeated on the first step but the spirit of not giving up and the passion to fulfill the dream. The dream that Lionel Messi has been chasing for the last two decades and now at the last stage of his career, only one last magic has to be broken to fulfill it. Messi’s journey from battling growth hormone deficiency (GHD) to becoming one of the world’s greatest footballers at the age of just 11 is a unique tale of passion, tenacity and tenacity, and if he can win the title in Sunday’s final If found, he will become a living legend in the history of football.
If Argentina wins the World Cup by defeating France or Morocco on Sunday, Messi’s name will be included in the list of greatest players like Pele and Diego Maradona. The debate as to who is the greatest between Maradona and Messi will also come to an end. Messi’s every wound of not winning the title for the country will also be healed. Ballon d’Or seven times, European Golden Shoes record six times, record 35 titles with Barcelona, 474 goals in La Liga, 672 goals most for one club (Barcelona), Messi has always been sore about not winning the World Cup . He knows that this is his last chance and he does not want to leave any stone unturned to make it memorable. When Argentina won the World Cup for the last time in 1986, Maradona became God for the country.
Messi was the only one who came close to him, but not winning the World Cup kept fingers pointing at his greatness. The finger was also raised when Germany beat Argentina by a single goal in the 2014 final. Questions also arose when Saudi Arabia registered an unexpected victory over Messi’s team in the very first match of this World Cup. As if that defeat worked as a lifeline for Argentina and Messi. Match by match, both of them improved their performance and they reached the final of football’s biggest summer after defeating the previous runners-up Croatia in a one-sided semi-final.
Messi was also the architect of this victory, who scored the first goal in the 34th minute on a penalty and then played the role of facilitator in both the goals of Julier Alcarez. Messi became the messiah for his countrymen struggling with economic instability and got the whole of Argentina drenched in victory celebrations. Messi’s World Cup journey started in 2006 and till now he has played the maximum 25 matches. Has scored 11 goals, the most for Argentina in World Cup history. Defying age, he has won three ‘Most Valuable Player’ awards after scoring four goals in this World Cup, assisting in two. Born into a football-loving family in Rosario in 1987, when Messi first played football with his brothers in the courtyard of the house, no one would have imagined that one day he would be named among the greatest players in the world.
The Paris Saint-Germain star striker, who has won almost every title for Barcelona, began his club career with Barcelona in 2004 at the age of 17. He won his first Ballon d’Or at the age of 22. Before leaving Barcelona in August 2021, he held almost all club football records. Messi made his World Cup debut in Germany in 2006 in a group match against Serbia and Montenegro, which was witnessed by Maradona. Messi, 18, came on the field as a substitute in the 75th minute. When Argentina won the gold medal in football at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, expectations rose from Messi in the 2010 World Cup. Argentina were defeated by Germany in the quarter-finals and Messi could not score a single goal in five matches. Messi, who single-handedly led the team to the final in Brazil four years later, could not hold back tears as his team lost by a single goal.
Also read: FIFA World Cup: Messi, Alvarez lead Argentina to the final, defeating Croatia 3-0
After this, in the first knockout match in Russia in 2018, France beat Argentina 4. Defeated 3 and two of the three goals were to Messi’s name. In the last four years, this great player had only one dream… to win the World Cup. After the victory in the quarter-finals, Messi himself said, “Diego is watching us from the sky and motivating us to win the World Cup.” Hopefully, he will continue to do so till the last game.” To replicate Maradona’s charisma, Messi has Sunday’s final with Argentina the whole world is waiting for.
