Fifa.com
Doha becoming a time machine worthy of Back to the Future is surely the only explanation for how Lionel Messi, at 35 and with a niggle in his left hamstring after six games in 21 days, could skip away from one of this FIFA World Cup’s best defenders.
Josko Gvardiol - the 20-year-old man in the mask whose asking price seemingly increased exponentially with every Croatia game, and was hailed as "the world’s best centre-back” by coach Zlatko Dalic - was the victim this time. But it could easily have been Jerome Boateng in 2015 or any number of defenders who’ve been left red-faced by this brilliant little Argentinian.
The run that led to his incredible assist for Julian Alvarez’s second goal was more reminiscent of Messi the teenage prodigy. But the Qatar 2022 version of this all-time great seems to be as good, if not better, than ever.
It was another historic night in the career of Argentina’s star man, another record in a World Cup campaign that already had its entry in the encyclopedia of great individual tournament performances. With his penalty against Dominik Livakovic, a powerful effort that gave the goalkeeper - who had achieved hero status against Japan and Brazil – no chance whatsoever, he surpassed Gabriel Batistuta to become his country’s leading World Cup goalscorer.
He also drew level with Kylian Mbappe at the top of the scorer’s charts for Qatar 2022. Already, just by stepping on the field, he had equalled the German Lothar Matthaus’ total of World Cup appearances: he will take sole possession of that record on Sunday in the final.
At referee Daniele Orsato’s final whistle, Messi sank to his knees in exhaustion and clenched his fists in celebration of everything that had happened and everything still to come.
Eight years on from defeat in the 2014 final, he will have another opportunity to lift the only major trophy he does not have on his honour roll. "It’s not revenge,” he explained in the press conference after the game, "It’s an opportunity, just like I’ve looked for opportunities my whole career. It’s my last World Cup, so to have the chance to say goodbye like this is fantastic”
Qatar 2022 has been a rollercoaster of emotions. The defeat against Saudi Arabia was the culmination of decades of collective and individual frustration for Messi. But after that initial shock, the resurrection began, with throwbacks to some of the greatest successes in Argentina’s history.
Moreover, the wins that Messi has inspired have allowed Argentina to close old wounds: this victory over Croatia, by the reverse of the 3-0 scoreline when the two sides met at Russia 2018, leaves one of the biggest frustrations of Messi’s career buried for good.
Between the 2014 final in the Maracana and the qualification for Sunday’s showpiece, Messi has been the main character in a story that seemed unlikely to have a happy ending. The extra-time loss to Germany, the two Copa America penalty shoot-out defeats to Chile, and the chaotic collapse in Russia 2018 left scars so deep that he almost gave up, as a short-lived retirement from international football in 2016 showed.
But 2021’s Copa America proved to be the beginning of the redemption arc. Once again in the Maracana, the same theatre in which he had gazed through tears at the trophy that seemed set to elude him, Messi led Argentina to victory over Brazil, and cast off the curse that seemed to follow him round.
That victory was the foundation stone for the team that Lionel Scaloni has built, made up of a younger generation for whom Messi is their undisputed leader: "My age makes me feel differently about it, I’m enjoying being in the squad in a completely different way. That’s what it’s all about, picking yourself up and trying again, in every aspect of life. Everyone gets knocked down, but the important thing is to try again and keep fighting for your dreams. I had doubts at times, of course, but thank God I came back to enjoy all this.”
And that is the point: Messi is enjoying himself. He is smiling, all the time, wherever he is, like never before. And that smile is new, even if this rejuvenated Messi’s performance triggered waves of nostalgia in those watching.