Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal colliding in World Cup final is glimpse of soccers present, future
For nearly two decades, the sport of soccer has belonged to Lionel Messi.Sunday’s World Cup final may finally introduce the player many believe could one day inherit his throne.Argentina vs.
Spain is bigger than a meeting of the tournament’s two best teams.It is a collision between soccer’s greatest living legend and its brightest young star, with 39-year-old Messi chasing one final masterpiece while a 19-year-old Lamine Yamal attempts to write the opening chapter of a career already bursting with impossible expectations.The World Cup final will mark the first time the two players have ever competed against each other on the pitch, but their connection goes back much further.Nineteen years ago, a 20-year-old Messi cradled an infant Yamal during a UNICEF charity photo shoot at Camp Nou.
Neither could have imagined that one day they would stand on opposite sides of the biggest match the sport has to offer.“The first time I saw it, I thought it was AI and that it wasn’t even real,” Spain’s Mikel Merino admitted Friday.Not since Voldemort’s encounter with “the boy who lived” in Harry Potter have we seen an infant’s arc this dramatic.Now the photograph has become the backdrop to a final that feels less like coincidence and more like destiny.Yet sentiment will disappear the moment the opening whistle blows.Messi arrives at the final with nothing left to prove and everything left to accomplish.
He’s already regarded as the greatest soccer player in history and owns virtually every trophy and individual honor the sport can offer.Sunday’s match will be his third World Cup final and in all likelihood, his final appearance for Argentina.
He’s also chasing history as Argentina can become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend a World Cup title.Even at 39, Messi dictates games in ways statistics can only partially explain.He leads all players in the tournament with eight goals and four assists, but his greatest weapon is his...