Kilijan Mbape imao je odličan turnir u Kataru, koji je okončao kao najbolji strelac Kylian Mbappé had an excellent tournament in Qatar, ending it with the Golden Boot for top scorer
among a rare few. Neymar couldn’t take the pressure with Brazil, nor could Cristiano Ronaldo with Portu- gal, Harry Kane with England... He began demolishing opponents one by one, Mexico, Poland, Australia, the Netherlands, Croatia and, final- ly, France, in a final that wasn’t for the faint-hearted. “I don’t have the right words. It’s simply unbelievable. I knew that God was going to give me the cup, I was sure – it was a big joy for us. I had this big dream for a long time, I want- ed to close my career with a World Cup. I can’t ask for more than this… Thank you so much to my family, to all who support me and also to all who believed in us. We prove once again that Argentinians, when we fight together and united, we are able to achieve what we aim. The merit of this group, which is above indi- viduals, is its strength of all fight- ing for the same dream that was al- so the one of all Argentinians... We did it,” said Messi. A majority of football fans are
now of the opinion that Messi has confirmed his status as the best of all time. And is he better than Marado- na? If you look at trophies won, Mes- si is ahead 40:11. Maradona wasn’t a Spanish champion with Barcelo- na, but he was an Italian champion twice with Napoli. He also never cel- ebrated victory in the Champions Cup, though he won a UEFA Cup title. Unlike Messi, he managed to win a league title in Argentina, with Boca Juniors in 1981. Both of them became junior and senior planetary champions, and while it might seem unbelievable, the great Diego never managed to triumph in South Amer- ica’s Copa América. Argentinians say that Maradona was “bigger than football” and that gold and crystal cups can’t measure up to what he did for the country. Those were difficult years for this South American country, and Diego was their only vent; the man through whom all anger was filtered, but also the joy of the nation. And all that ul- timately consumed El Pibe de Oro, the golden kid. In contrast, Messi had already left Argentina and moved to Barcelona by the age of 14. That meant that he had to work harder, to prove himself a real Argentine like Maradona had been. And, he succeeded! The crown of Qatar is his, and his alone. Leo, enjoy it, you deserve it!
Još jednom smo pokazali da smo mi, Argentinci, kada se borimo zajedno i ujedinjeni, sposobni da postignemo ono što smo zacrtali We prove once again that Argentinians, when we fight together and united, we are able to achieve what we aim
drinks and breathes football. Messi knew that Qatar was his last chance. He is 35 years old, has countless matches under his belt and deep wounds from injuries to his legs, and there’s even been talk of late that he’s no longer as fast as he once was. And Messi without speed is not Messi... He suffered a heavy blow at the very start of the World Cup, with Argentina losing 2:1 against Saudi Arabia. Shock and disbelief! If he could have caught the first flight to Barcelona at the time, he surely would have. But he didn’t; he stayed and took the blows of 50 million Argentines. He didn’t bend the knee, and that ranks him
The Argentine national team became world champions for the third time, and Lionel Messi won his first World Cup title
Champions » Šampioni | 19
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