Last dance saloon
DRINK IN THIS FINAL GLIMPSE OF GREATS
FOR some of the true greats of the game it will be their final stand – one last dance on the biggest stage of all.
How long these respective goodbyes last depend on a host of things, including how the superstars perform themselves along with their teams, and whatever fate has left in store for them.
Perhaps someone like Lionel Messi would laugh at the prospect of being behest to the footballing Gods – because he’s regarded as one of them himself after all.
Or maybe someone like Cristiano Ronaldo will blame everyone but himself should Portugal not grant him the sort of farewell he will undoubtedly think his genius deserves.
But whatever happens at the World Cup in Qatar, we know it will be the last one these two modern icons get to grace.
It feels like the duo deserve a much more appropriate place than the Middle East in which to embark on their final footballing fling of any significance.
But this shouldn’t come close to stopping people from tuning in to watch the biggest sporting event in history and greatest show on turf.
Messi and Ronaldo have defined an entire generation of football – and the sport has been privileged to host them in tandem.
And while these two will steal the headlines once again, the duo are part of an all-star cast of venerable veterans so impressive it could well provide the greatest encore in sporting history.
This will also be the first and last World Cup for Gareth Bale (inset), British football’s greatest-ever export and a serial winner with Real Madrid.
The same can also be said of Neymar, who will be 34 when the next finals take place and already suggested this will be his swansong.
Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema will not be at another World Cup after this one. Neither will such greats as Luka Modric, Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Busquets or Manuel Neuer. Busquets and Neuer have both won a World Cup, Modric led Croatia to the last final in Moscow and Suarez and Lewandowski have won more medals than most players dream about. They have all stood out in a generation of stand-out stars. Cherish seeing them in action at the same time, one last time. They might not still be the same influencers on the pitch, but remember the ones they used to be.
You just don’t know how long it might be before a generation of talent like this one is going to come around again.