Messi-Mbappé, to you.
The act Qatar 2022 Final he has finally arrived and confronts the two greatest players of the moment (CR7 will forgive us…), ready to do anything to conquer the World Cup.
The paradox is that the Frenchman, who will turn 24 on 20 December, has already won it in Russia in 2018, while the Argentine, who will turn 35 in June, has never succeeded yet.
In many, as ironically pointed out by The fields in the press conference, they hope that this is the right time, but in football, as we know, 11 players win and here France seems to have something more.
The only certainty is that in Doha it will be an absolute show, with a grand final worthy of history and expectations.
Argentina – France (16 pm, Rai Uno)
Reduce Argentina-France comparing Messi and Mbappé alone is certainly superficial, but it is clear how the teams in question are identified above all with their own stars, also protagonists of a great World Cup.
Not by chance both Leo and Kylian are top scoreri with 5 goals and tonight, among other things, this trophy will also be played: nothing compared to the World Cup, but knowing them, it's presumable to think that they want to conquer everything possible.
Argentina and France have come so far deservedly, albeit with very different paths: Selecciòn's tortuous one, which began with a defeat against Saudi Arabia which seemed the prelude to a sensational flop, Les Bleus' triumphal one, marred only by the irrelevant KO with Tunisia once qualification obtained.
But then the roads aligned and both Scaloni and Deschamps made a clear run, showing the world that they deserved the final event.
Messi – Mbappé: winner takes all
THEincidence of Messi and Mbappé was very strong and not only for the goals: in addition to those (5 each), in fact, there are also assists (3 to 2), but above all the centrality in the respective tactical systems which makes them absolutely indispensable.
THEArgentina, in this, denotes a more addiction, also because without its number 10, it probably wouldn't have gotten this far, the France instead, despite the many injuries (Benzema and Pogba above all), has more solutions and managed to win even when Mbappé ran out, but without his crazy acceleration (35km/h!) he would certainly create fewer chances.
The duel teases a lot and not only for the World Cup: the feeling, in fact, is that today the present and future of football challenge each other, all under the eyes of a radiant Al-Khelaifi, very happy to have them both at PSG.
About vince you take the World Cup and, almost certainly, the next Ballon d'Or: for Messi it would be the eighth, for Mbappé the first (but he, unlike his colleague, has already won a World Cup).
Argentina, Scaloni: "I hope Messi says goodbye by winning the Cup"
Serene eve for Argentina, charged to a thousand by the presence of 50 fans and by the hunger for the World Cup, given that the trophy has been missing for 36 years.
“Did Messi say it will be his last match at the World Cup? So I hope he wins and then salutes by raising the Cup – underlined the head coach Scaloni -. It would be magnificent, and even more beautiful to think that we could savor this moment with him. For him it would be the best possible stage to say goodbye. However it will be Argentina-France and not Messi against Mbappé, the match could be decided by other players. But I see Messi clearly and I hope he is the one to be decisive…”.
Deschamps between controversy and virus: "Benzema isn't coming back, we'll do our best"
Climate much more disturbed instead at home France, where Deschamps had to deal with a annoying virus (Varane and Konaté are in doubt) and with the Benzema case, recovered but not called up despite being technically available.
The Ballon d'Or in office did not take it very well, so much so that he refused Macron's invitation (accepted instead by Pogba and Kanté).
"If I didn't answer you, you would say that the question irritates me, so I say that asking certain questions is perhaps a lack of respect - he the French coach argued -. I also lost Lucas Hernandez and my group here is 24, if there are players, or former or injured greats who have been invited, I'm not interested. The virus? I won't go into detail, but we make sure to take as many precautions as possible to adjust, to deal with it, without going overboard, one way or the other. It's obviously an unpleasant situation, if it didn't exist it would have been better, but we manage it in the best possible way."
Argentina – France, the formations
At the level of formationsIn short, it's betterArgentina, who was able to prepare the match without the hitches of his rivals, so much so that Scaloni also has doubts about the form.
In the end he should opt for a 4-4-2 with Emiliano Martinez in goal, Molina, Romero, Otamendi and Acuna in defence, De Paul, Paredes, Fernandez and Mac Allister in midfield, Messi and Alvarez in attack, but the hypothesis 3-5-2 with Paredes on the bench and Lisandro Martinez in his place.
La France instead he evaluates the conditions of Varane and Konaté hour by hour (both should make it), in the meantime, however, he rejoices over the return of Rabiot and Upamecano, both out in the semifinal against Morocco. Deschamps will thus rely on a 4-2-3-1 with Lloris between the posts, Koundé, Varane, Upamecano and Theo Hernandez in the back, Tchouameni and Rabiot in the midfield, Dembelé, Griezmann and Mbappé behind the lone striker Giroud.
