A win that sealed Messi-ah status

One of the great stories of our generation was written on Sunday

In life, fairy tales are hard to come by, but Lionel Messi may have just had his. One of the great stories of our generation. A tale of a player who had won everything on offer bar one. He was among the pantheon of greats but forced to listen to stage whispers that he had never won the 'big one'. At 35, he would walk into his fifth World Cup but lose to Saudi Arabia in the opener before he and his Argentina teammates grew as the tournament progressed, would navigate the treacherous waters to win the trophy in perhaps the greatest final in the history of the game. One that went down to the final kick. That, he is an Argentine made it all the sweeter.

To be Argentina, a country that has romanticised football, is to be in a constant battle between playing with innovation or pragmatism -- of La Nuestra or anti-futbol. They showed both on Sunday, the skills and dominance in a garnish of dirty, physical, aggressive, fighting football. To be Argentina is to suffer. Thrice it looked like they had done enough to win, only for Kylian Mbappe to inspire an insipid France, struggling perhaps with a virus breakout in their camp, back into the game. To be Argentina is to yearn to be atop the football world, for this is how they measure themselves against the world.

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Through the past month, there were many headlines -- of the rightful criticism of Qatar’s human rights violations, of the western world's "righteous" stand in the cultural and political war that underlines major tournaments, of Morocco’s historic semi-final run, of Asian teams' improving standards, and of the loosening of a 20-year European hold on the trophy. There will be questions about the legacy of a tournament that was expected to accelerate Qatar's move toward modernity. However, for the majority, this will be remembered as the Messi World Cup, just like the 1986 one is remembered as Maradona’s. Not because he single-handedly led Argentina to the title like El Diego. Messi needed his teammates. He needed Emiliano Martinez to make a last-ditch save and be his authentic self in penalty shootouts. He needed Angel Di Maria to score in the final, Julian Alvarez to run at defences, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez and Alexis Mac Allister to be his legs so that he could be himself. Yes, Messi finished with six goals and the Golden Ball, yet he didn't drag this team up, he rose because of them. But Argentina, in their first World Cup without Maradona’s presence either as player, coach or fan in four decades, found, and truly embraced, their new messiah.