THEY think it’s all over . . . and it soon will be!
The Qatar 2022 finals, which have produced more drama, excitement and upsets than any World Cup in living memory, will come to an end when Argentina take on France in the Lusail Stadium tomorrow afternoon in front of a crowd of 90,000 and a television audience of hundreds of millions.
It promises to be an epic denouement to what has been an outstanding tournament. Can Lionel Messi underline his status as one of the greatest, even the greatest, footballers of all-time by leading the South Americans to victory? Or will Kylian Mbappe further enhance to his own reputation by inspiring their European rivals to a second successive title?
It will be engrossing viewing. The vast majority of the 68 games which have taken place to date certainly have been. This World Cup has been blighted by controversy off the park since FIFA took the extraordinary decision to award it to a gas-rich Gulf state without a strong football culture back in 2010. But on the pitch it has delivered and then some.
So who has been the stand-out player? Which team has performed the best? What manager deserves the most credit for his country’s displays? Which game couldn’t be topped? Which nation disappointed most? What was the saddest sight? And who let themselves down the worst with their shameful conduct? Here are The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Qatar 2022.
TOP, TOP PLAYER
Two words. Lionel. Messi. At 35, the Paris Saint-Germain forward is past his best and approaching the end of his stellar career. But he has shown that class is permanent in the Middle East. The statistics show that nobody has scored more goals (five) or provided more assists (three) the Barcelona legend. The intelligence and technique of his all-round play have been a joy to behold.
Would Argentina have gone all the way without their talismanic captain? They have several exceptional talents in Julian Alvarez, Alex Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Otamendi and are by no means a one-man team. But Messi is their heartbeat.
Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and Mbappe have been superb for France. But Messi should pick up the Golden Ball award that is given to the eminent player after the final whistle tomorrow regardless of the outcome.
TOP, TOP TEAM
It has to be Morocco. The Atlas Lions were 200-1 outsiders to win the World Cup before the tournament got underway last month. But they topped Group F after drawing with Croatia and defeating Belgium and Canada and didn’t stop there. Spain were beaten on penalties in the last 16 and Portugal knocked out in the quarter-finals before they lost to France in the semis. Becoming the first African and Arab team to reach the last four was an incredible accomplishment.
TOP, TOP MANAGER
Didier Deschamps of France is 90 minutes away from becoming only the second man to win back-to-back World Cups after Vittorio Pozzo of Italy. Graham Arnold and Hajime Moriyasu deserve credit for leading Australia and Japan out of the group stages respectively. But Walid Regragui of Morocco has been one of the stories of these finals.
He only took charge at the end of August after Vahid Halihodzic was controversially sacked and had his first game in September. His appointment was criticised and he was even given the nickname “Mr Avocado Head”. But Morocco have never known such salad days.
TOP, TOP GAME
Oh, where to start. Everyone will have a different opinion on this one. You pick a dozen or more. But seeing Saudi Arabia come from behind to humble the mighty Argentina in their first Group C match in the Lusail Stadium last month front of a raucous crowd of 90,000 that was full of their fellow Arabs was unforgettable.
BIGGEST FLOPS
Take your pick from Belgium, Denmark of Germany. All of them were tipped as potential World Cup winners, all of them failed to reach the knockout rounds.
SADDEST SIGHT
Seeing Luca Modric substituted during Croatia’s semi-final defeat to Argentina would have brought a tear to a glass eye. The 161-times capped 37-year-old is one of the greatest players of his or any other generation. His manager Zlato Dalic is hopeful the midfield magician will not retire from international football after Qatar 2022. But it will surely be his last major tournament.
SHAME GAME
Senior FIFA executives will doubtless be slapping each other on the backs and congratulating themselves on the success of Qatar 2022 in their corporate hospitality suites at the Lusail Stadium tomorrow. To be fair to them, they were not the ones who decided to award the tournament to the oil-rich country with an appalling human rights record back in 2010.
But world football’s governing body still let themselves down badly by ruling that the captains of several European nations should be yellow carded for wearing “One Love” armbands in their opening games last month. It hardly helped to repair the reputation of a badly discredited organisation. They must do better.
