The situation
In the dark night of Qatar, on the shores of the Persian Gulf, the sky opened up for Argentina and for Messi, history wrote the final chapter, the one that allows the 10 to surpass himself and the rest, his legend and all the previous ones . Wherever he is, Maradona gave him the scepter, the gift he was missing, the title that God cost him and help him win against another colossus, Mbappé. It was a final to remember, a match that goes down in history for its outcome and its knot, for having allowed us to witness a battle between two giants, the one who never resisted dying and who costs more than anyone else to kill. One of the World Cup matches, decided on penalties with a great Dibu Martínez and after an agonizing, wonderful extension. The final had everything. Scaloni understood it better from the start and Deschamps later. The appearance of Di María on the left blew up the start. Not only was it a novelty in the eleven, but it also changed bands compared to usual and burned the French. Knowing that Dembélé does not help in defense, the Argentine coach found with him the key to open the French defense. Enzo Fernández, huge, and Messi, who also wanted a party inside, combined with a natural tendency to lead the plays to the same band, the left. In those, in one of the few times in which Dembélé came down to the aid of Koundé, Di María faced him, stepped on the area and fell to the ground before the clumsiness of the culé winger from behind. Seeing the repetition, it did not seem like excessively clear contact on the sparkling legs of the Argentine winger, but the referee awarded a penalty more for Dembélé’s negligence than for any other reason. Messi, with his way of launching them so slowly in this World Cup, took advantage of the concession and put Argentina ahead. France, unrecognizable, found no remedy for its ills. The Argentine dominance continued and was accompanied by a sensational second goal. A labyrinth near the band turned Argentina into a counterattack clinic to draw a flag goal. Mac Allister combined with Messi, capable of opening the seas with a touch, Julián saw the midfielder running again and he put Di María on a tray, who came from behind with the encouragement of an entire country pushing him. It was not easy to imagine such a broad exercise in football superiority in a final, but it happened. In fact, he forced Deschamps to change cards before the break. He withdrew the wandering Dembélé and Giroud, angry, to give entry to Thuram and Kolo Muani . Mbappé went to the center and the French coach accepted his clumsiness in the initial approach, or at least the success of Scaloni with Di María.
Change of players and scenery
France came to dominate, innocent, and when Di María’s batteries ran out, Acuña appeared to continue insisting there. Deschamps burned his ships in view of the fact that the Argentines saw themselves lifting the cup with too much time ahead and little strength in their legs. Camavinga entered as a left-back and Griezmann left, unprecedentedly, in a team with no other ideas than trying to convince Mbappé of the comeback. But in a World Cup where everything is unpredictable, meaningless, wonderful, the future of the final was yet to be written. Kylian Mbappé took care of it. Deschamps’ changes and the Argentine physical downturn were a blessing for the French gazelle. It all started with an error by Otamendi, confident, who lost the bag to Kolo Muani. The center-back ended up knocking down the tall forward and the penalty was scored by the French star.
