While Messi is looking to lift his first World Cup, France are looking to retain the title they won in 2018
Chandigarh: The uncanny resemblance between the SBI passbook and Argentina’s national flag has triggered a huge social media storm among , Indian fans, who now seem to be rooting for Argentina and Messi with redoubled enthusiasm and excitement
Microblogging platform Twitter users are drawing parallels between FIFA World Cup finalist Argentina and India’s public sector bank SBI.
Netizens are sharing SBI passbook owing to its resemblance with national flag of Argentina. They are also calling the resemblance as reason of Indian football lovers to support the country. Moreover their love for Messi also remain a paramount reason to support the team.
Social media users have been hailing Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez ever since Argentina clinched its way for the FIFA finals after defeating Croatia. Argentina is the first team to reach the finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Sports commentator Manish Bhasin called the match as absolute joy. He shared his picture from the FIFA World Cup 2022 venue in Qatar and wrote, “An absolute joy to watch a genius at work. Messi was mesmerising and Julian Alvarez scored one of the best individual goals of the World Cup so far.”
Messi saves his best for last in Qatar
Messi’s match statistics speak for themselves: six starts, five goals, three assists en route to Sunday’s final against France
Argentina’s little genius Lionel Messi has saved the potentially most magical script for his last World Cup – with one line left to write.
With immense pressure on him to match the late great Diego Maradona and send the trophy back to Buenos Aires, Messi has lit up the Qatar tournament while others superstars like Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo – have fallen by the wayside and gone home.
From Argentina’s opening game until their semi-final win over Croatia, Messi has been the tournament’s out-and-out star.
His match statistics speak for themselves. Smashing so many records it is hard to keep track, Messi has beaten Maradona’s tally of World Cup goals and appearances for Argentina, and on Sunday will jump ahead of Lothar Matthaeus’ joint record 25-match appearances at the tournament.
Beyond the dazzling data, however, it has been Messi’s mesmerizing motion, and joyous celebrations, that have electrified football fans around the world.
Spending large passages of play at walking pace and barely bothering to defend at times, Messi has waited for his moments, employing with deadly effect his low centre-of-gravity, stunning change of pace and electrifying runs with ball glued to feet.
British sports writer Jonathan Wilson says Messi is “a sprite floating on the periphery of the game until the moment is right. You can mark a man; much harder to mark a ghost.”
After a shock opening upset by Saudi Arabia, it was Messi who rallied the team: five wins followed. His best goal was an extraordinary low strike from outside the box against Mexico.
His match statistics speak for themselves. Smashing so many records it is hard to keep track, Messi has beaten Maradona’s tally of World Cup goals and appearances for Argentina, and on Sunday will jump ahead of Lothar Matthaeus’ joint record 25-match appearances at the tournament.
And pundits are still shaking their heads over his pinpoint pass to Nahuel Molina for Argentina’s first goal against the Netherlands in the quarter-final.
“The game against Holland was when his ‘inner Maradona’ finally came out. They are one. They are eternal. They are Argentina!” said one ecstatic fan Jorge Castellanos, who was at the game with a flag depicting both men arm-in-arm.
Despite such adulation, everyone knows that true immortal parity with Maradona – at least in the biggest sporting tournament on earth – does still hinge on beating the French.
Many non-Argentines have long had Argentina as their second team, hoping Messi will win the World Cup if their own nation cannot to complete what would be a beautiful story.
Thanks Captain!
Messi left Argentina at 13 to join Barcelona’s youth setup.
Despite worries that he was too small, the new boy shone in the junior ranks before coach Frank Rijkaard gave him a senior debut at the age of 16 in a friendly against Porto in 2003.
Messi went on to become Barcelona’s all-time top scorer and appearance maker with 672 goals in 778 games.
In one season, 2011-12, he smashed La Liga’s scoring record with 50 goals. In total, he won 35 trophies with Barcelona, including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies, before moving to Paris St Germain last year.
Along the way, he won the Ballon d’Or a record seven times and FIFA Player of the Year six.
For Argentina, he is the all-time top scorer and led his nation to Copa America glory last year after a 28-year trophy drought including a string of heartbreaking finals defeats.
All that is missing in the Messi story is a World Cup.
Argentine journalist Sofia Martinez Mateos summed up the mood when she ended an interview with Messi this week not with a question but with a speech on behalf of the nation.
“The final is coming and of course we all want to win, but I want to tell you that whatever the result, there is something no-one can ever take from you,” she told a visibly moved Messi.
“You have entered the heart of every Argentine. Honestly, there’s not a kid without your shirt. You have marked all our lives… Carry it in your heart because that is more important than a World Cup and you’ve already won that, thanks Captain.”
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