Qatar 2022, Messi lives the triumph with the mantle of the emir on the Argentina shirt
There are few moments more magical for a football fan or player than when the captain of the national team who has just won the World Cup final lifts the cup. An iconic moment, which has already happened over 20 times over the past 98 years. A moment reserved only for great players in the history of football. From Franz Beckenbauer to Dino Zoff, from Dunga to Cafù, from Fabio Cannavaro to Didier Deschamps. Obviously to Diego Armando Maradona. And from Sunday 18 December 2022, also a Lionel Messi.
There is however a big difference between how the golden cup was lifted from Messi and all the others before him. The great Argentine champion, deserved hero of the Albiceleste football epic who deservedly earned a third world title 36 years after the last time, was not wearing the colors of her national team. Not only that, at least. Yes, because a few seconds before receiving the world cup from the hands of Gianni Infantino, the disputed president of Fifa, she had to cover them in spite of herself.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamal al-Thani, in fact dressed him in the bisht, a traditional male cloak in the Arab world. The black robe worn was given to him as a “sign of honour” but it really looked like the image of Qatar putting its hat, pardon the cape, on the most important moment of the competition. Yes, because as anyone who loves football as a sport and not as a show knows, the World Cup doesn’t end at the final whistle of the last game.
The ritual of the award ceremony is perhaps indeed the most important and highest moment not only of the competition but also of a footballer’s career. In particular for Messi, who reaches his most important triumph now at the end of his career, and not at the beginning like the opponent defeated yesterday Kylian Mbappé, already champion 4 years ago with his France. Messi suffered to reach the most important success, accepting ungenerous criticisms and meaningless comparisons with the most cumbersome predecessor in the history of football, Maradona.
Imagine what a satisfaction yesterday to get to touch that cup, closing a circle that lasted almost 20 years. A moment that Messi deserved to celebrate freely, expressing his joy spontaneously. But no, that black cloak seemed to many enthusiasts almost like a “rape”. The bisht covered part of Messi’s Argentina shirt, including the national crest, during the ceremony.
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