By : Gordon D’Costa
Argentina’s star Lionel Messi has come alive and kicking and he has rekindled his, and the country’s hopes of winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. After their shock 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in the opening Group-C match at the Lusail Stadium last week, Messi and Argentina were under tremendous pressure ahead of their crucial game against Mexico. The mercurial Messi came up with the right answers, as he scored the opening goal and inspired Argentina to a 2-0 victory, which helped them stay alive in the competition.
The 35-year-old legend, considered one the greatest football players, is approaching the twilight of his illustrious international career, and probably playing one final time in FIFA’s showpiece tournament. The Argentine captain playing his fifth World Cup would certainly want to finish with a final hurrah and also give Argentina their third title after 36 years. Argentina had won the coveted trophy twice in 1998 and 1986, the last time under the captaincy of legendary Diego Maradona, the greatest footballer in the history of world football. Messi’s best finish was in 2014, when Argentina reached the final, but stumbled at the last hurdle, losing to Germany 1-0 after extra-time.
Often many football enthusiasts have drawn similarities between Maradona and Messi. Certainly, they both are geniuses, but in their own eras. Their left-footed style of play and excellent ball control, superb dribbling skills and their goal-scoring abilities are the only common factors they share.
Maradona made his full international debut at age 16, against Hungary in February 1977. But Argentine coach César Luis Menotti did not consider Maradona, then 17 years, for the 1978 World Cup at home as he felt that he was still too young to play on the big stage. He played his first World Cup tournament in 1982 in Spain and then went on to win the crown in 1986 in Mexico. He also played in the 1990 tournament in Italy and in the USA in 1994.
The stocky striker, a bundle of energy earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals during his international career.
Messi earned his debut with the senior team in 2005. The skillful playmaker and lethal striker scored his first international goal a year later in his sixth appearance for his country against Croatia. He became the youngest Argentine to play and score in the World Cup.
Messi took over the captaincy of the Argentine team in 2011 and led them to three successive finals, including the 2014 World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball. He retired from the sport in 2016, but returned to take Argentina to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and the team finished third. At the start of the 2022 World Cup Messi played 19 times for the country across four World Cups and had scored six goals.
The former Barcelona FC and now Paris Saint-Germain superstar Messi has clinched almost every silverware on offer for his clubs and awards and last year finally landed the Copa America trophy defeating Brazil 1-0 in the final.
Now is the time for Messi to rise to occasion and turn on the magic so that he can sign off with a flourish by finally winning the FIFA World Cup which would put him on par with his countryman Maradona, who almost single-handedly won it for Argentina, in 1986.