A Son of the Rock

FIFA World Cup, Final, Lusail Stadium, Doha, 18/12/22.

This certainly provided drama – but not until late in the second half.

In the first and most of the second France were pedestrian wheteher due to suffering from a virus or not, but more likely because Argentina were at them from the start. France barely had a kick in the first half. Then again Argentina were playing not only for themselves and their country but also for Lionel Messi.

Argentina’s penalty looked like one to me, Dembele clipped Di Maria not once but twice. Messi despatched it with ease.

The second goal was a thing of beauty. Messi’s pass to Alvarez delightful and Mac Allister sweeping on to supply Di Maria who scored with what football commentators sometimes call aplomb. The withdrawal of Di Maria changed the game a bit and Argentina began to look like they thought they’d won it.

Then came the real turning point, Otamendi’s failure to hit the ball into row Z leading to a clear penalty. Kylian Mbappe was not going to miss.
France now had their tails up and when Mbappe knocked down the cross a minute later, his marker failed to track him and Mbappe’s finish was brilliant.

Then Messi seemed to have won it for Argentina all over again after another sweeping move cut France open before we had the third penalty of the game and a hat-trick for Mbappe.

Loads of incident but all the tension packed into the last forty minutes of the contest, up to then Argentina were strolling it.

But that shows how a goal can change a game. This would most likely have fizzled out but for Otamendi’s mistake.

The result means no-one can now deny Messi’s footballing stature. He has won everything he could in the game and emulated Diego Maradona as a World Cup winner.

Will we ever see his like again?