You might have forgiven Erling Haaland for switching TV stations when Argentina and France met for what was a show-stopping 120 minutes with a penalty shootout encore.
It was the most thrilling football match imaginable. Lionel Messi finally got his hands on the World Cup and scored twice along the way, dragging the South Americans to victory despite PSG sensation Kylian Mbappe becoming the first player since Sir Geoff Hurst to grab himself a hat-trick in the biggest game on the planet.
For now scant consolation, but for his career a remarkable achievement. However, while elite names got together to showcase their talent in Qatar, there was one glaring absentee in Haaland.
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City won the goalscoring lottery this summer when signing the Norway striker from Borussia Dortmund and many could argue that he has already repaid that £51million with 23 goals from 18 games in all competitions. Staggeringly, the 22-year-old should get even better and City already have the perfect foil for him to do so.
By contrast to Haaland, fellow summer arrival Julian Alvarez - whose deal was actually completed a year ago - was made to play back-up in the first half of this season. However, on the biggest stage, he burst into life and had it not been for his introduction, then Messi might not have achieved his last-standing dream.
Alvarez worked his socks off for the team and, particularly, his iconic captain who is now odds-on favourite to pick up a record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or next year. Haaland and Mbappe will have their chance in the coming years, but for now "veteran" Messi will seemingly have one last hurrah before passing over that particular baton.
Not so much a dwindling force, Messi has remodelled his game in recent seasons and the attributes Alvarez brings to the table proved to be the perfect catalyst for him. It has also left City manager Pep Guardiola with a simple call to make whenever Alvarez jets back from his Buenos Aires celebrations!
After playing second fiddle to Haaland, so far this season, the prospect of those two is a fearsome one for Premier League defenders at other clubs and maybe one or two on the City training ground. But while that decision might need Guardiola to rethink his tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation, those involved have been given advice on how the partnership should work from all-time leading Premier League goalscorer Alan Shearer.
Among countless others, he waxed lyrical about Alvarez for his performances in Qatar and, with City being able to partner him with Haaland moving forward, it might be for their rivals. While analysing their semi-final on BBC Sport, pundit Shearer said: "The understanding that these two [Messi and Alvarez] have...
"Bearing in mind that Alvarez didn't start that first game. He's having a great tournament.
"His understanding of when and how to run [is impressive] and he gets the penalty as we know. It's him [Alvarez] that's in and around him [Messi], it's him that understands his game and it's Alvarez that's doing so much of Messi's running. What a partnership they've been."
Haaland would not need his running doing, as such, while, with all due respect to Argentina, the players Guardiola has at his disposal are on another level still. It adds up to even more eye-catching numbers for the Norway forward as he prepares for this welcome return to domestic action.
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