Unlike Kempes and Maradona, Argentina's heroes at the 1978 and 1986 World Cups, Leo Messi will have videos from every angle of his most glorious and emotional day. The era of social networks provides the Argentine captain with a practically inexhaustible catalog of images of the World Cup win in Qatar and the dramatic outcome in the final against France.
Montiel's final shot from eleven meters unleashed euphoria and kicked off the Argentine party. Before the shot from the Sevilla winger, Messi asked for divine help looking at the sky, apparently speaking with Maradona, according to what is intuited on his lips, although he could also be remembering his beloved grandmother, to whom he has been dedicating his goals throughout his career.
Later, when the ball lodged in the net, the 10 knelt on the grass, with his arms crossed and an emotional smile. Paredes was the first to embrace Rosario's idol, who was soon covered by other national team players such as Acuña, Otamendi and Lautaro Martínez. Despite reaching the climax of his career, the PSG player's tear ducts contained the moment.
The first minutes after achieving glory were reserved for all the members of the albiceleste, but soon they opened the fan of the party to their loved ones, who came down from the stands to share the moment. Among them, Messi's mother, Celia María Cuccittini, who hugged her son by surprise from behind her and they embraced. His wife, Antonela Rocuzzo, and his children were also able to share a few minutes with Messi on the pitch.
The hugs gave way to the peak moment, the image of all images: the delivery of the World Cup. When picking up the award as the best player of the tournament, Messi advanced the meeting with the trophy, he felt attracted by that much-desired gold, and kissed the cup as if it were his first love. Later, dressed in the Qatari bisht that they endorsed him, he raised the title to heaven and shared it with his companions.
The Argentine ecstasy then spread to the thousands of fans in the stands, some of them already on the pitch to share the historic moment with their heroes. Kun Agüero also participated, already retired and a close friend of 'the flea', who took Messi on his shoulders and walked him, Cup in hand, across the grass along with a large number of fans. A lap of honor very similar to the one carried out by Maradona in the Azteca stadium after the triumph in Mexico 1986.
Now without the Argentine parish, the players transferred the celebration to the mixed zone and to the locker room, where Messi entered euphorically. He climbed on a table to continue jumping and singing while his teammates kept up with him. A conga was also formed and Dibu Martínez, the other hero of the final, jokingly requested a minute of silence for Mbappé, scorer of three goals in the final but ultimately the great defeat.
Once the Lusail stadium was abandoned, the party continued in the streets of Doha, where the organization set up a parade, with an open-top bus, for the new world champions to parade the trophy in front of the rest of the fans who had traveled to Qatar. It was a small appetizer of the historic reception that awaits them upon their arrival in Argentina.
The players are expected to land in Argentina late this Monday, after a stopover in Europe. The two million people who are estimated to have invaded the Avenida 9 de Julio yesterday, around the Obelisk, will fall short when Scaloni's pupils appear, who with Messi as leader will complete the Argentine soccer Olympus along with Maradona and Kempes.
