Tearful Messi lifts FIFA World Cup for retirement

Emmanuel Ukudolo l Sunday, December 18, 2022

 

DOHA, Qatar – What a classic world cup, what a triller, are phrases that can be employed to described the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup encounter between Argentina and defending champion, France at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

It was  one of the best classic to characterize any world cup final, giving  the 88, 966 fans  mixed feelings, mixed reactions in a tension soaked encounter;  with Argentina taking the lead all the time, with France meeting up with the challenge by way of equalizer, ending the crucial encounter 3-3 after 120 minutes.

Argentina however got the winner on penalty 4-2. Signs that Argentina will win the final became evident in the way and manner that the team approached the game.

Argentina went into the lead in the 23^rd minutes when Lionel Messi scored through a penalty. Di Maria made it 2-0 for Argentina thirteen minutes later and held on till half time.

Argentina came into the second half  a little bit relaxed. France capitalized on it, mounted pressure on Argentina leading to the award of penalty which Mbappe  easily converted to keep hope alive in the 80^th minutes.

Mbappe made it 2-2 for France one minutes later when he connected a beautiful pass from Thuram, this development threw the very docile supporters of France into an unparalleled frenzy, pushing the encounter into extra time.

But France’s celebration was caught short when Messi put Argentina into the lead in the 108 minutes. Mbappe equalized for his team 10 minutes later at exactly 118 minutes to push the encounter into penalty shots that Argentina won  4-2. It is indeed a classic encounter that forced FIFA  President to stand up and applaud the team.