So England are out and I was glad to be working over the semi-finals as I could bear to watch them. Now they’re out of the way and all that remains of this crazy winter World cup is the final showdown.
We have had Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, Tunisia beat France and Spain destroy Costa Rica 7-0, then fail to top their group. Then of course we have had Morocco.
I will come back to all that in a World Cup Retrospective though as at the end of all of that the final showdown is between 2 teams both with their own shot at history.
In the light blue corner we have Argentina, looking to secure their first world title since 1986. As then they now have a talisman who has inspired them along the route to the final, back in ’86 it was Maradona and his ‘hand of god’ but these days their glorious leader is the greatest player of the modern era, Lionel Messi.
This magician on the ball has driven his team to the brink of victory having masterminded an unlikely turnaround from their opening humiliation at Saudi hands. He has been instrumental in this Argentina team for years and has won every other trophy going, now just one is missing.
At the ripe old age of 35 this is likely to be Messi’s final World Cup and I for one would love to see him cap off his international career by securing the greatest prize of all.
In the dark blue corner, are the defending champions and England’s conquerors France. The holders only loss so far this tournament was a 1-0 reverse against Tunisia in their final group game, with a largely 2nd string team. Their first team includes brilliant talents including, Antionne Griezmann, (international top goal scorer) Olivier Giroud and the irrepressible Kylian Mbappe, who inspired them to victory 4 years ago in Russia. All of whom will be looking to defend the title they won.
It is that victory in 2018 that gives Les Blues a shot at history on 2 counts.
Count the first is the chance to become the first team to retain the title in 60 years, since a Pele inspired Brazil defended their title at the 1962 World Cup in Chile. Yes the wait for this feat to be repeated really is longer than England’s wait to return to the top. Brazil changed their manager between these victories which leaves open the second count.
Count the second is a personal shot at history for their manager Didier Deschamps. He is aiming to become the first manager to lead a nation to back to back World Cup Final victories since Vittoria Pozzo achieved this incredible feat with his Italian team of the 1930’s.
Pozzo won back to back World Cups with Italy in 1934 and 1938, by beating Czechoslovakia and Hungary respectively, now Deschamps will be aiming to emulate his success from the other side of the alps. The first of these victories came against Croatia in the European surroundings of Moscow, but if he is to emulate Pozzo he will have to do so against Argentina in the unfamiliar and distinctly non-European climes of Qatar. Climes with which his opponents are exponentially more used too.
I expect to see a tight and highly contested festival of football in Lusail on Sunday, with neither team just sitting back and hoping to nab a winner against the run of play. The reason for this is that not only are both teams going for history, but they also each have 2 players within touching distance of the Golden Boot. Messi and Mbappe are the front runners for that honour, with 5 a piece, with Julian Alvarez and Giroud lurking just 1 goal behind.
Whoever comes out on top will complete their nation’s hat-trick of World Cup victories and if I had to back one team to complete that hat-trick it would be France. Not only do they have more individual talents than La Albiceleste, but they also have the teamwork ethic needed to stifle the glorious individual genius that Messi provides. Plus it would mean that England only lost to the eventual winners on their way to writing history.
The Football tourist 