For billions of football fans around the world, 2022 was full of kicks.
What a year it was for football. Both avid soccer fans and those who follow the game sporadically will remember 2022 as the year that Argentina’s Lionel Messi finally “completed football”.
With a number of club trophies and myriad individual records already under his belt, the diminutive magician had one last magic trick up his sleeve as the eyes of the world fell upon an unorthodox soccer World Cup in Qatar.
At the ripe old football age of 35, Messi’s World Cup efforts were effortless and effervescent. He showed his class in scoring seven goals (one less than tournament top scorer Kylian Mbappé), providing three assists and delivering a number of inspirational speeches as skipper.
Messi, as opposed to arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, has come across as a calm and shy man. That was until a video of him delivering a speech before the 2020 Copa America final against Brazil surfaced.
“Before the start of every match he (Messi) spoke. But this speech was different, he lost his mind,” says long-time teammate Ángel Di María in the viral video clip.
Lionel Messi’s speech before the final of the Copa America vs Brazil.
Are there still people who question his leadership?
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Juani Jimena (@JimenaJuani) November 2, 2022
“We had an objective and we’re one step away from achieving it. The best thing about it is that it’s in our hands,” he said to teammates in the dressing-room huddle.
“So, we’re going to go out there and lift the trophy, we’re going to take it home to Argentina and enjoy it with our family, friends and everyone else [who] has always supported Argentina.”
The Argentinians did just that in a 1-0 win. It was Messi’s first major international trophy and matched Ronaldo’s triumph at Euro 2016.
The locker-room talk before Argentina’s clash with France in Qatar last week probably went along similar lines – as Messi knew, it was likely to be his last chance to add a World Cup to all the other accolades he has garnered in a storied career.
The World Cup win, Argentina’s third, saw Messi emerge from the shadow of his late countryman Diego Maradona and take his place as one of the greatest athletes.
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