In 1978 it was Videla with his dark status. In 1986 it was Maradona with a bright team of Valdano, stubborn Brown, Burusaga, Olarticochea. In 2022 it’s his turn Leo Messi break her curse Argentine36 years later, and for the third time to become world champion in one final which deserves to be one of the best in history.

And if in 1990 Bremen’s cold penalty “stole” the joy, then more recently another cold penalty won by Di Maria and executed by Messi should have paved the way for a coronation against an inexplicably mesmerized France like Brazil. faced by the Tricolors in the 1998 final.

How many farcical coincidences life throws up. Argentina, of course, did not win the trophy out of… mischief. It was the team that reached the final with shining eyes of the players. They have shown that they want the final more than their colorful rivals. In the first half, they hit 9 times in the opponent’s zone, of which they had 9 finals to zero France. One of the reasons why Deschamps sent Giroud and Dembele to the bench literally from the 40th minute.

From 2-0 before the team returns to the World Cup final, only West Germany has done it twice. In 1954 when they lost to Hungary with goals from Puskas and Sibor, and in 1986 when Argentina took the lead with goals from Brown and Valdano. France has been successful.

Deschamps’ team tried to regain possession of the ball in the second half, but never managed to threaten. Argentina reached the final on a vow to “eat iron”, and when Messi himself was actively involved in the defensive game of his team, everything showed that the “tricolors” were unlikely to win anything in the match. Before Mbappe’s first goal, France had no real chance to score, and that says a lot.

In the 71st minute, Deschamps “thrown” both Griezmann and Hernandez out of the match, turning the system into a 4-2-4. With an empty rampart, it seemed like a joke that France would achieve everything.

Unless Argentina made a big mistake. And Otamendi did it in the 79th minute, when he knocked down Kolo Muani in the penalty area with a clumsy markup. Mbappe reduced the score to 2-1 in the 80th minute, and two minutes later, in the midst of a pandemonium, the same player equalized 2-2.

In extra time, France needed the likes of Griezmann or Giroud, Argentina took center stage in a risky 4-2-4 formation and scored the third goal with Messi. But Mbappé was all of France. With a hat-trick like Hurst’s on July 30, 1966, he sent his team to a penalty shoot-out. With a penalty … on penalties.

Football has once again demonstrated that nothing ends before the final whistle, but also that the most rational coach, the most stubborn team, the team that wants it the most will reach the source. Even through a penalty shootout. The French on Sunday night showed that they have no clarity of mind (this was proved by Mooney’s missed four-pointer in extra time). And it was impossible for Kylian Mbappe to take all the penalties.

France deservedly reached the final, but judging by what happened in the match, Argentina deserved the trophy. He lifted it for the third time to lower the curtain on the first Winter World Championships. Lionel Messi got what he deserved. It would be unfair to end a career without a World Cup. As for Mbappe? With one already in his…pocket, he can hope for the future. After all, he is only 24 years old.

PS: Because the penalty sounds different every time: There is no such player who, in a tenth of a second before the ball touches, will decide who will send it. So, there is no player who, at the moment of execution, will wait for where the goalkeeper will move, because there is simply no player who executes and does not look at the ball.

There are two types of execution that players usually follow: Strong execution, in which the executing player aims to hit the target (usually high), regardless of what the goalkeeper will do. There is also a body language execution where the executioner tries to use the way he positioned his body before touching the ball to deceive the goalkeeper as to what he was aiming for. He sends the ball to the opposite corner or the middle of the goal, even if his body is “pointing” elsewhere. A typical case is the execution of increased danger, the execution of the “panenka”.