Game’s greatest player will not see his legacy sullied by defeat to Spain but his team’s display destroyed the game
Playing on the grandest stage in sport for the last time, Lionel Messi seemed almost certain to provide one last memorable moment in this World Cup final.
Yet as the sun ducked behind the west stand of New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, it became clearer and clearer that Argentina had lost the magic they had carried through this tournament. And as Spain gradually wrested control, one was left to confront reality: Messi, and Argentina, had finally run out of time, having long since given in to their worst instincts in a 1-0 defeat.
This final presented a stark contrast to the Argentina – and Messi – we observed in every other match of the tournament. Almost without exception, La Albiceleste have been the tournament’s most entertaining team, not so much for how they’ve scored their goals but for when they’ve scored them, offering a masterclass in dramatic timing. Twice they were nearly eliminated by badly outmatched opponents, results that only galvanized them.
Finals are frequently forgettable matches that fail to entertain but even by that lowly standard the pacing of things felt dreadful. Spain were suffocating defensively and – after a forgettable first half – finally worked their way into things in the second 45, eventually breaking through in extra time, quite expectedly. Argentina? They became the first team in the near century-long history of the tournament to fail to record a shot in regular time of a World Cup final. Even when handed an additional half an hour, they never threatened.
