Johannesburg - Messi v Mbappe ...
There are so many intriguing plots and subplots at play in the 2022 Fifa World Cup final, but Lionel Messi’s quest for football immortality versus Kylian Mbappe’s claim to the throne of the world’s new best player is the most dominant of them all.
Messi is regarded by many as the best player the game has ever seen, his name up in lights along with the likes of his countryman and idol Diego Maradona, Pele and Zinedine Zidane.
One thing all those greats have – and Messi doesn’t – is a Fifa World Cup title to their name.
For all his breathtaking brilliance and all his golden trophies with Barcelona, ‘world champion’ is one thing Messi has been unable to call himself in his incredible career.
It is the one thing that clouds his greatness, the fact that, unlike Maradona in Mexico in 1986, he has not been able to single-handedly lead his country to a World Cup title.
Messi has said Sunday’s Fifa World Cup final in Qatar will be his last World Cup match, possibly his last international match ever, so this is it, the last chance to add a golden star to his own personal career coronation.
He’s shown that even at the age of 35 he is still at the height of his powers, his incredible skill in setting up Julian Alvarez’s crucial goal in the semi-final against Croatia proves that there’s still hardly a defender in world football who can shut him down.
Messi’s five goals in Qatar make him the oldest man to score that many in a tournament, and his importance to an Argentinian resurgence after the shock of their opening match loss to Saudi Arabia, is illustrated by the fact that he has scored in all three of Argentina’s knockout matches in Qatar.
He has been there when it mattered most, but of course it’s not all about Messi for the Albiceleste.
Manchester City’s Alvarez is a young star who is Argentina’s futurer, at just 22 he’s now scored four goals in Qatar after his brace against Croatia in the semi-final.
Rodrigo de Paul’s energy down the right will be key too, as will the ingenuity and talent of Enzo Fernandez.
Then there’s France, defending world champions after all, and supremely impressive and well-oiled in Qatar.
Their star man is Mbappe, who has not been afraid to state his clear ambition of taking over from Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the biggest star in world football.
“I always say I dream about everything. I have no limits. It’s a new generation. We have to find someone else, someone new,” Mbappe said before the tournament began when speaking about succeeding Messi and Ronaldo at the very top of the global game.
Mbappe is ready, like Messi he’s scored five goals in Qatar and they will be competing at a team level for the World Cup title and on individual level for the tournament’s golden boot.
France are looking to retain the World Cup title won they in Russia in 2018 and they look in irresistible, wonderful form.
If there’s one team who can rain on Messi and Argentina’s parade it’s the French, and if there’s one player who can snatch their dreams away from them, it’s Mbappe.
I’m backing him and Les Bleus to do just that.
Aaron Mokoena’s Prediction: Argentina 1, France 2
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