No, Leo Messi did not want to say goodbye to the World Cup. Consolation prizes are not enough for the Argentines and the captain had his mind set on lifting the World Cup again. It is something that not even Diego Armando Maradona achieved, because after the feat of Mexico ’86 came the fiasco of 1990 in Italy. It is what could crown him as the best of the Albiceleste of all time if Spain does not achieve what no one has done in this World Cup: stop the mechanical, almost truck-like heart of a team that clings to that and the greatest talent in history who, at just 39 years old, has been working the miracle of rescuing his country from the wire it has been walking on for more than 40 days.
That is why, one by one, they went to find him, to kiss him. Crying were the veterans Facundo Medina and Otamendi. Lifted by Lo Celso. Hugged in tears Giuliano Simeone. Everyone knows it was their God who made them resurrect as many times as necessary. Lautaro Martínez could not even speak, he could not be in Qatar and dreamed of scoring in this match. “I said it on the bench, that I was going to come out and help the team. Since my dad bought me my first boots, I dream of scoring in a match like this,” he confessed in tears. This team has scored 12 goals in the last 15 minutes or in extra time. A warning that they never give up. Before anyone else, Messi.
The star spent 16 years, the prime of his career, trying to put the third star on the Argentina jersey and he achieved it in Qatar. Now, although a decline is presumed that does not seem to come, he wants to stamp the fourth. For the Malvinas, for Diego, for Leo’s last one. He will face Spain, the football that propelled him and whom he has never faced in official competition. For Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Pedri or Gavi it will be the awaited duel against their reference at La Masía.
Seven fouls in six minutes
The match was a battle that the English did not know how to fight. They thought that Anthony Gordon‘s 1-0 would bury the Argentines, on the field and in the stands. They were very wrong. Wars are not lost in the first skirmish and Scaloni‘s men had it very clear. Seven fouls in the first six minutes. In the first three, the first clash had already occurred, when Anderson revolted against a shove from Enzo Fernández.
The Albiceleste then wanted to play football after having gone wild with a potrero style, and surrounded Pickford. They shot everything they could, with two posts from Mac Allister, turned into an impeccable header. Far from being scared like Tuchel, Scaloni put all the possible gunpowder on the field, starting with Rodrigo De Paul and then with Nico González and Lautaro Martínez. Their national anthem says it: «Crowned with glory we live/or swear to die with glory». The mortality of this team only Spain can test it.
It is the final that the stands wanted, which also fought a special battle. There were no incidents, despite the fact that in some areas of the stadium the fans were mixed. There were flags, as always, but no reference to the Malvinas during the match, perhaps due to the tension. Not even with the Muchachos, which was only sung once in the first half.
What did appear for the first time in the World Cup was a chant that even the players sang on the bus on the way to the stadium. The “You can see it, you can see it, whoever doesn’t jump is English” shook the stands, which vibrated with an Argentine majority. When the flags were unfolded, the Albiceleste throats heated up. The God save the King was not heard in Atlanta. The players sang it loudly and the English background, but the whistles and protests completely overshadowed it. There was no respect and the English also chose to whistle the rival anthem, which was barely heard.
The script of the match was so clear that it was soon confirmed: six fouls in seven minutes. Scaloni knew he was going to war and, from the starting eleven, took De Paul off to bring in Giuliano’s energy. No team wanted to take risks because the English were playing to return to a final they had not reached since 1966 and their opponent the possibility of being the first team to win two World Cups consecutively. Once again, Argentina achieved it.
They celebrated on the field, with drums, the captain being tossed in the air and even Lo Celso picking up and unfolding a banner that said ‘The Malvinas are Argentine‘. Impossible not to continue the party in the locker room, with chants that echoed in the bowels of the Atlanta stadium.
