GOAT busters send Messi, Ronaldo home
Argentine great outdone by rising French star Mbappe in likely final shot at Cup glory
MOSCOW— Lionel Messi: Great club footballer, maybe even the greatest ever, but also a great underachiever on soccer’s biggest stage.
That was the inescapable verdict delivered at the World Cup by the quick feet of a teenager as exciting and full of potential as Messi was himself at the same age. Enter Kylian. Farewell Lionel. Kylian Mbappe scored twice in a 4-3 victory that put France into the quarterfinals and surely spelled the end of the Messi era that spanned four World Cups for Argentina.
Messi promised so much when he, like France’s teenage prodigy, exploded onto the World Cup scene in 2006, scoring one goal and creating another in his debut as a second-half substitute. But unlike the 19-year-old Mbappe, who scored twice Saturday, Messi never delivered goals when they counted most at soccer’s showcase, in the stay-or-gohome knockout games.
France came from behind to beat Argentina in the pulsating round-of-16 match, showing it has mental strength to go with defence-snapping speed and goal-scoring talent. It was Mbappe’s first taste of the unforgiving pressure of the knockout rounds. He thrived. Messi didn’t, again.
This was an eighth World Cup knockout game for Messi, including the final won by Germany in 2014.
Diego Maradona, the 1986 World Cup winner who was in Kazan Arena to witness this loss, also played in eight World Cup knockout games for Argentina. He seared himself into Cup legend by scoring in them.
Four goals in total, in the 1986 World Cup that Argentina won with Maradona as its captain. That’s why Maradona is mentioned in the same breath as Pele, a three-time World Cup winner. And not having feats to match is why Messi will now forever be just below them in the pantheon of football.
The fault was never Messi’s alone. At this World Cup, likely his last shot at the prize at age 31, his Argentina teammates didn’t have the skill, strategies or formation to bring their star into play as his Barcelona club does so effectively. Messi was often isolated, transparent, a bystander against France, visible only because of his luminous green shoes. He was neutralized for long stretches by N’Golo Kante, France’s ballstealing defensive midfielder.
“We tried many different tactics — surround him, create situations for him,” Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli said.
The other school of thought is that Messi also is to blame for never fulfilling Argentina’s high expectations, that he doesn’t care enough, but that is unfair. He certainly seemed to care during Argentina’s haphazard campaign at this World Cup, from the moment he tore off his captain’s armband in frustration after an opening 1-1 groupstage draw with Iceland, where he missed a penalty, to the bitter end on the pitch in Kazan, standing with hands on hips like he was dead inside.
The highlight reel of Messi’s Cup career contains many moments to cherish. Goals against Iran and Bosnia in 2014, but always in group-stage games. A successful penalty kick shootout when he converted from the spot against the Netherlands in the 2014 semifinal. Other moments where he set teammates up to score. Messi did that again against France, with a long pass delivered like a kiss to the head of Sergio Aguero, who directed the ball into the net for Argentina’s ultimately fruitless final goal.
But reel all the way back to the very start of Messi’s Cup career, to the kid who just shy of his 19th birthday and was applauded by super-fan Maradona as he came on for the first time, against Serbia, and what jumps out is not just the speed Messi wielded back then, but also how confident and carefree he seemed. A far cry from the careworn Messi in Russia, but very much like Mbappe now. As the World Cup loses one star, it gave birth to another.