Lionel Messi found himself surrounded.Tens of thousands of fans looked down on him at MetLife. Billions were watching around the world. And yet he couldn’t look more alone.When the World Cup final ended, the Spain dugout emptied. Substitutes ran on the pitch to celebrate with their teammates. Messi remained by himself, defeated. An Argentine Achilles. As was the case in the game, he could get no space. No sooner did the final whistle blow than they were on Messi like a flash. A high press up by the goal Argentina failed to score in. The cameraman and photographer captured a vacant stare.Dejected, Messi began to sit down. He slipped off the boots Adidas had made special him, a pair called the Last Tango and although noise reverberated around MetLife the music stopped for Messi. His World Cup career apparently over.Messi looks into the distance, his dream of a second World Cup ended (Photo: Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)The physical vocabulary of his last dance was unmistakably Argentine. Since the knockout stages began, the constant threat of separation has loomed over every step Argentina have made. For six weeks there has been a palpable awareness that, well, this might be it. It was the case when Sidny Cabral curled in a stunning equaliser for Cape Verde, as it was when Egypt led 2-0 with 10 minutes to go and the 10-men of Switzerland took Argentina to extra-time. The ocho and gancho steps. Argentina in then out of the World Cup then dramatically back in again. Each time a rehearsal of the last time. A team and its captain always a beat away from losing each other, bound only by finger tips then suddenly back in a clinch.Being present at an Argentina game in Kansas City, Miami, Atlanta and New York was to feel the imminence of Messi’s absence on this stage. The ausencia Carlos Gardel sang a melancholy song about.The first player to reach Messi after the full-time whistle was Ferran Torres. The player he hoped to be. The match winner. Instead of consoling Messi, his Argentine teammates were embroiled in a brawl. Leandro Paredes threw a punch, bringing more indignity to an occasion already besmirched by Enzo Fernandez, whose sending off left a tired team shorthanded as they prepared to play extra-time for a third time this tournament. No fourth star twinkled for Argentina.