ARGENTINA VS FRANCE
„ ■ Messi seeks football’s top prize against Mbappe and Les Bleus
>>DOHA: Lionel Messi is hoping to crown his stellar career by leading Argentina to World Cup glory today but Kylian Mbappe’s history-chasing France are standing in his way.
Qatar’s World Cup has been hit by controversy off the pitch but it concludes with the prospect of an electrifying final between two of global football’s powerhouses.
France may need every hour available as able kick-off looms after their camp was struck by illness, forcing a number of players to sit out training and giving coach Didier Deschamps an unwanted headache.
Argentina and France are both aiming to win the trophy for the third time, with Les Bleus returning to the final four years after their triumph in Moscow.
Back-to-back titles would be a monumental achievement for the side coached by Deschamps — the only teams to have done it previously are Italy in the 1930s and Pele’s Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Yet that potential achievement is trumped by Messi’s quest to win the ultimate prize in the game in what is almost certainly his final World Cup match.
The former Barcelona star has won everything going at club level, also claiming the Ballon d’Or seven times, and last year led Argentina to victory in the Copa America.
Messi has been brilliant in his fifth World Cup as the team bounced back from a shock opening loss to Saudi Arabia, while his new sidekick, Julian Alvarez, has scored four times.
“It is exciting to be in the final, but there is still one step to go,” said coach Lionel Scaloni.
Aged 35 and driven by his desire to make up for defeat by Germany in the 2014 final, Messi has scored five goals and produced some sublime assists.
Today’s match is likely to be his last chance to match the achievement of Diego Maradona, who inspired Argentina to victory in Mexico in 1986.
“I am really enjoying myself. I have felt happy throughout this World Cup,” Messi said after Argentina’s 3-0 semi-final win against Croatia.
But will this World Cup be remembered as Messi’s tournament, or will France be top dogs once again?
Les Bleus have returned to the final without ever really hitting top form and they now have to contend with illness in their camp.
Central defenders Raphael Varane and Ibrahima Konate, as well as Kingsley Coman, sat out training on Friday with cold-like symptoms.
Konate replaced Dayot Upamecano in defence for the semi-final against Morocco after he was ruled out by illness, while Adrien Rabiot was also unwell for that game.
The one player they cannot afford to lose is Mbappe, who scored five goals in the team’s first four games but was largely kept quiet in the wins against England and Morocco.
Four years ago, Mbappe became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pele when, aged 19, he helped France beat Croatia 4-2.
Yet the iconic image of that tournament was Mbappe consoling Messi after starring as France beat Argentina in the last 16.
These days they are club colleagues, jostling for the limelight at Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain and now jousting with each other on the greatest stage of all.
Meanwhile, coach Deschamps said yesterday that France were taking “as many precautions as possible” to stop the spread of a virus that is threatening preparations for their World Cup final showdown with Argentina.
“We are trying to take as many precautions as possible, to adapt as necessary and get on with it,” Deschamps said at a press conference.
>>DOHA: Through to their fourth World Cup final in seven editions, France have become accustomed to success on the international stage and central to it all has been Didier Deschamps, a born winner as a player and now an inspirational leader as a coach.
As Les Bleus, who defeated Morocco in the semi-finals, approach today’s showdown with Argentina in Doha, it seems remarkable now that there were serious doubts about this French side coming into the World Cup.
They had disappointed at Euro 2020 and Deschamps was already dealing with an injury crisis before Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema withdrew from the squad on the eve of the tournament.
Yet the circumstances have brought the best out of the France coach, who ripped up his tactical plans and pulled off a masterstroke in turning forward Antoine Griezmann into a midfielder.
Griezmann’s own comments during the competition told a story.
“I owe him everything in my international career. I give everything for the shirt, for France, but also for him,” said the Atletico Madrid star who has arguably been the player of the tournament.
“Every game, every action is like me saying thank you to him. I want to do everything to make him proud of his No.7.”
Deschamps may be derided by some fans who feel his team should play more attractive football.
But Griezmann’s comments revealed something else about Deschamps — that his man-management skills are even more important than tactical nous.
“He likes to talk with his players and know what you are feeling. Every time he gives an order or advice you follow him,” Griezmann said.
That Deschamps is so highly respected and admired by his players is undoubtedly partly down to what he achieved in his own career.
A midfielder once famously dismissed as a “water carrier” by Eric Cantona, he was 24 when he captained Marseille to victory in the 1993 Champions League final.
Later a Champions League winner with Juventus, he skippered France to victory at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 before retiring aged 32.
Les Bleus have not really looked back since those formative triumphs. Over a generation they have become international football’s pre-eminent power.
Deschamps has been the driving force behind that, although following the end of his playing career there was a successful period in club management.
He took Monaco to the 2004 Champions League final aged 35 and led Marseille to a Ligue 1 title before replacing Laurent Blanc as France coach in 2012.
Then France were struggling to rebuild after the disaster of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
A decade on, they are into their third final in the last four major tournaments and also won the Uefa Nations League last year.
So how does he keep doing it?
“It is very difficult to win, especially a World Cup, and it is even harder to win it again,” he told AFP shortly before the tournament.
“You need quality and talent, but those things on their own are not enough. Without the mentality, the right mindset and determination, it is impossible to win at this level.”
Driven on by Deschamps, France are the first World Cup holders to return to the final since Brazil in 1998, as they look to become the first side in 60 years to retain the trophy.
It has certainly been different to 2018, with half of France’s line-up having changed, partly because of injuries to such key players as Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Lucas Hernandez.
In 2018 Deschamps became just the third man to win the trophy as a coach having also done so as a player, following Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and West Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer.
Now he stands one game away from becoming the first coach to lift the World Cup twice in the postwar era.