Lionel Messi's World Cup could have the perfect ending despite Argentina getting off to the worst possible start, when the captain was forced to slam his teammates after they were beaten by Saudi Arabia.
The Paris Saint-Germain star has long been his country's leading light and throughout the tournament in Qatar, Messi has had to step up. He is aiming to win the World Cup for the first time whilst Argentina have not tasted global success since 1986. Their loss to Saudi Arabia, almost a month ago, left them with little margin for error.
The Middle Eastern nation, ranked outside the world's top 50, were able to overturn a 1-0 deficit to shatter Argentina's unbeaten run that had spanned more than 30 games. Messi is often seen as a quiet leader, excelling through example rather than words, but showed a ruthless side during the Saudi loss.
Pablo Zabaleta, a former team-mate and long-time friend, told ESPN : "I have seen Messi showing his leadership qualities after the shock defeat against Saudi Arabia, playing with huge personality and a bit of anger and carrying the Argentina team. He knows this is probably his last chance to win a World Cup. This is something positive and I love to see it. The rest of the players fight for the Argentina shirt but also for Messi."
Messi has scored in all three of Argentina's knockout games ahead of the final. His team-mates have excelled defensively, which has allowed the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner to conserve himself when his team are out of possession, thus allowing him to produce in the final third.
The forward's different side was also on show during the quarter-final win over Netherlands. Argentina won on penalties to make the last four, with Messi confronting Louis van Gaal at full-time after the former Manchester United boss had made comments about him and his side.
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Mauricio Pochettino has praised the way in which Messi is conducting himself. "He knows exactly how he needs to behave, not only on the pitch but off it as well," he wrote of his fellow Argentine in The Athletic. "And I think that leadership he is showing is why people finally believe this could be the time when the World Cup comes back to Argentina.
"You can see it in how he manages the game, how he talks with the referees, with Lionel Scaloni, even with the opponents. After the quarter-final against the Netherlands, when Argentina won on penalties, I heard some people comparing Messi’s leadership with the leadership that Maradona used to show."
