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Story Of A Man Who Became A God

- Monil Kaneria

There is no possible way in which any words can do justice to what we have witnessed. So, without trying too hard let's get straight to the point, Lionel Messi and Argentina lifted the FIFA World Cup 2022 yesterday on Dec 18, 2022. What does that even mean? How hard is it to understand? Why after over 24 hours since that moment am I still not able to process what I just saw? There are so many emotions flowing through my veins that it is hard to tell if any of this is even real. To understand it all, let’s take a step back.

July 13th, 2014. It was supposed to be one of the most important days in sporting history. It was the FIFA World Cup 2014 final in the historic Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Argentina took on Germany, a team that had just demolished the hosts Brazil 7-1 in the semifinals. They had somehow managed to turn that clash of the titans into a one-sided massacre. But there was still hope, not because Argentina were as good as Germany, but only because they had Messi. One man carrying the hopes of an entire nation. One man who deserved it more than anyone else. This was a day when the king was finally supposed to get his crown. But both God and Götze had other ideas. With a full stretch finish in the 113th minute of extra time, Mario Götze of Germany finally broke the deadlock, and it was 1-0 to Germany. At that moment the world stood still. No one except the Germans wanted to believe what they had just witnessed. How was it possible? How after coming that close, had Messi lost the world cup? As a lifelong FC Barcelona fan, the only thing I ever wanted was to see Messi lift the world cup and I remember not being able to move when I heard the final whistle. Messi gave everything for his team. He won the golden ball (given to the best player in the tournament) but it still wasn’t enough.

You would think this was the lowest of all lows. It could not get any worse, but boy it got worse. Argentina, still in shock from the 2014 WC final loss, went on to lose two back-to-back Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016. Both against Chile. Both games ended 0-0. Both games were lost on penalties. At this point me and all the other Messi fans around the world felt the same thing. Not grief, not anger, not anguish, but acceptance. Acceptance of the fact that this is how it was supposed to be, that Messi will remain a king without a crown.And while the world was coming to terms with this fact, a sudden news shocked everyone. Messi announced after the 2016 Copa America final loss that he was retiring from the Argentina national team. He blamed himself for the heartbreaks that the Argentine people had to go through. People around the world were united in making petitions after petitions to change his mind. Pleading him to keep fighting. He could not stay away after the love he had received and soon decided to come back. But now things were getting worse, and Argentina were on the cusp of missing out on the 2018 WC in Russia. They needed to win their last qualification game against Ecuador. Once again, the entire world was looking at Messi to be the savior, and that he was. Scoring a sensational hattrick he took his side to the WC yet again. It was another chance, but this time hope was very little. With a largely unchanged Argentina squad having lost all morale in losing those 3 finals, they fell to the eventual champions France in a thrilling 4-3 defeat in the round of 16.

After this defeat the manager Jorge Sampaoli was sacked, and his young assistant Lionel Scaloni was named the temporary coach until June of 2019 when the Copa America was to take place. Not many people were happy with this decision. Everyone expected a team like Argentina to appoint a world class manager and not some random assistant coach who had no experience at the top level. But Scaloni was not as terrible as people thought he would be. In the 2019 Copa America, he led Argentina to a third-place finish which was the best they could have asked for given the condition of their team and the fact that Brazil seemed unbeatable. After that performance the AFA decided to give Scaloni the permanent job as the head coach. People were not convinced with this move, but Scaloni was determined to prove them wrong.

In 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world and Football like every other aspect of life was impacted by it. The 2020 Copa America that was supposed to be held in Columbia and Argentina was postponed by a year and moved to Brazil. Scaloni took advantage of this extra year and rebuilt the Argentina squad. Nurturing it with a mix of youth and experience. It felt like after all these years, Argentina finally had a squad worthy of Messi. They went into the 2021 Copa America with booming confidence and defeated the hosts Brazil in the final at Maracanã Stadium, the same place where they had lost the WC final six years ago. Scaloni had proved everyone wrong, and it felt like a full circle. Every football fan exhaled in relief that Messi had finally won a trophy with Argentina. The losses in those three finals between 2014 and 2016 now felt a bit less painful. Then in June of 2022, Argentina went on to win the Finalissima Trophy, a one match competition between the European and the South American champions. It was a comfortable 3-0 victory against Italy.

Now we finally reach the last chapter of this journey, the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Argentina, currently on a 36-game unbeaten run, come to the WC as one of the favorites alongside their eternal rivals Brazil. It was Messi’s 5th and last world cup. Was this the last dance? No one knew and everyone was scared to believe. I wouldn't blame them, anyone who had seen so many heart breaks would be a bit skeptical. Also, to add on that, other teams like Brazil, France, and Portugal were far superior on paper. Then came the first matchday of the world cup. In a scenario that no one had imagined in their wildest dreams, Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina 2 goals to 1. It was the biggest upset in the history of FIFA world cups. Just like that the two-and-a-half-year-old 36 game unbeaten run had come to an end. Sudden realization struck every fan, this was going to be another one in a long list of disappointments. No way this team was going to recover in time from the shock that they had just received. But the team believed in themselves. One step at a time, one win at a time in a crazy world cup where upsets had become the norm and teams like Brazil, Portugal, Germany and Spain were all knocked out; they eventually reached the final again. This time facing the defending champions, France. This was it, one game, one man and an eternity of glory. At the start of the game, Argentina completely dominated France. Scoring 2 goals in the first half, one from Messi and one from Di Maria, Argentina were cruising to victory. And then in a turn of events that no one could predict, Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in the 80th and 81st minutes for France bringing the game back to a level playing field. Argentine supporters were silenced. The game went into extra time where both teams tried their best to score and eventually in a very scrapy way Messi finally scored making it 3-2. The joy was just momentary as France got another penalty that Mbappe took with ease making it a hattrick in a world cup final for him. The score was level again at 3-3 and neither team was going to let the other win. A mammoth save from Argentine goalkeeper Emi Martinez in the last minute of extra time saved Argentina and took the game to penalties. Argentina had won a game on penalties in this tournament, France never had a chance to go to penalties. Both Mbappe and Messi scored the first penalties for their respective teams. But this was the situation that Emi Martinez lived for. With his incredible confidence and scary personality, he forced the French players into making mistakes and missing the next two penalties. The Argentines scored the next three and went on to win the game 4-2 on penalties.

It was done. The dream of a little boy from Rosario, Argentina that had transcended himself and had become a dream of billions around the world was finally achieved. Eight years after the heartbreak in Brazil, Lionel Messi was finally a world cup champion. He led his team from the front. He won the WC golden ball for the best player of the tournament again; but this time…HE WANTED IT!

It was written in the stars and surely somewhere among those stars, a certain Diego Maradona was smiling down seeing his own reflection in the eyes of a man who had joined him as an eternal great.

Coming back to the present, after a day of reflection I admit that I am still struggling to believe that any of this is even real. A dream ten years in making, something that took almost half my lifetime, has finally come true. And for it to happen in such a way is incomprehensible. No story men will ever write can come close to this story that fate wrote for this little man from Argentina.

There is a reason why we call this “The Beautiful Game”, it's because every time we think that it has peaked, some miracle proves us wrong. People thought Pele was the peak of football, then we got Maradona. People thought Maradona was the peak of football, then we got Messi. So I will never stop believing. Believing that this is still not the end. The future will bring another gem who will perhaps exceed anyone who came before. I do not know who that will be, all I know is Si Dios existe, entonces ama el fútbol.