And it's over. Almost 3 hours watching two great teams, la Albiceleste and les Bleus, culminated in Argentina, captained by Lionel Messi, winning, from a 3 all draw, to 4-2 in a penalty shootout, for a total of 7-5. His first World Cup victory and his last, but he did retire then reversed that decision.
I didn't watch it, but read about it courtesy of Google, and it was still thrilling.
Statistically, Argentina were the better team throughout the whole match and they played what I call 'real football': it felt their thinking was "let's score goals and win", whereas the French, typically, were unpredictable and needed stress and/or pressure, verging on desperation, to score: "merde on perd, faut faire quelque chose"* seemed to be their mindset. They had no excuses, Upamecano and Rabiot played and weren't benched because of the mysterious illness running through the team.
After the half-time break, I was temporarily away from the computer and came back, in shock, to see France had two goals: Kylian Mbappé had made his second goal in 90 seconds.
Around the time Olivier Giroud got his yellow card at 90+5', I was bouncing in my chair.
After Messi's brace, which for some reason I thought was a hat-trick (my terminology bank was not functioning), I bet people were furiously looking up what 'brace' meant as I was, when it was used. I watched the highlights on the evil Fifa website, and my God, was that second goal absolutely beautiful. It seemed like "Oh hola, estoy aquí, patea. ... ¡Sí!"**
I have to say, it seems the players' well-being has become more important than before and I sincerely hope it's not because of it being the World Cup and/or a consequence of covid. I remember in 2008 or 2009 asking if anyone in their professional life helped the players make their transiton from retirement to their normal life (because let's face it, it's a minority of the global population who are footballers and even less who are Messi/Mbappé level footballers).
The first goal of the match, which can be important, was made by Argentina. No one would be able to confidently say if it was important unless they watched the whole match. Even now, I don't think it matters. The 'comeback' by France would never have been predictable to the finest detail, even by Mbappé.
Both teams had (legitimate) reasons to win.
Argentina
Messi's age
Messi's first and last World Cup
Messi's the Captain
Personally and professionally, he had everything to play for.
France
Defending Champions
To say they won the Football World Cup 2022 then the Rugby World Cup 2023 would be a phrase. Did I mention they're hosting the rugby?
And the Summer Olympics 2024 has Paris as its host city
That would be like a hat-trick of a phrase.
Before the 90 minutes were up I thought "not penalties", but it was extra time (shows my knowledge of football *eyeroll*). As the game went on, it became more and more of an emotional rollercoaster for the spectators, but what was running through the players' minds must have been on a few levels higher.
The statistics of the game basically tipped from la Albiceleste winning to it being 50/50, although as I said before, Argentina were still better in numbers, shots on target, possession, pass accuracy etc.
At the beginning of the penalty shootout I thought it would be beautiful if Messi got a hat-trick, especially after Mbappé.
I think reading about the match via Google could have been even more 'tense' than watching it because there's likely a slight time lag. When Argentina started scoring their penalties and France starting missing them, after Paulo Dybala, I was sure they would win. After Leandro Paredes, I was just thinking 'Go go go' with the widest grin on my face. And I was happy, even though I wanted Les Bleus to win. Argentina played so hard and so did Messi, he's up there in terms of age and he never left the pitch, as a player and captain.
La Albiceleste so deserved to win and I have nothing against them at all. It was a final of great teams who were both worthy opponents.
Argentina are the only team to win the World Cup three times and now Messi has all the titles and tournament wins a footballer can receive and want. Against Croatia, my reliable Argentinian source said all Argentinians are in love with him and Messi deserves to be happy forever: my response was I thought he was already there. Not only did/has Messi become one of the greatest footballers and most decorated of all time, but FC Barcalona had enough faith in Him to pay for his growth hormone treatment and without it he likely wouldn't have what he had, before winning the World Cup, and what he has now. He's probably really grateful, lucky and humble because he knows he could have not been a great football player, or maybe even a footballer.
As for Mbappé, he has years ahead of him ie two or three more World Cups, maybe even four. And before this World Cup, he already had one win, which was already one more than Messi. He'll be fine. This loss might just make him hungrier for more World Cup wins. He might even become a better player for it.
As a Frenchman, I thought Arsène Wenger would say something publicly to and/or for the French team but when I last looked, nothing. Maybe he's being the ultimate impartial professional, especially as he is working for evil FIFA.
Albiceleste y Messi, FELICITACIONES por ganar la Copa del Mundo. Es tan bien merecido.
* shit, we're losing, we must do something.
** "Oh hello, I am here, kick. ... YES!"
-A.M.
