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sports Monday 19 deceMber 2022
Messi wins World Cup to push claim to be soccer's GOAT

By JAMES ROBSON sport's biggest prize has
AP Soccer Writer always counted against
LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — After him when measuring his
finally winning the World achievements against Pele
Cup, Lionel Messi made his and Maradona. The same
strongest case yet to be goes for Ronaldo.
considered soccer's great- Messi is a seven-time winner
est player of all time. of the Ballon d'Or award for
It will never be possible to the best player in the world
say definitively, though, and lifted club soccer's big-
even after Argentina's 4-2 gest prize, the Champions
penalty shootout victory League trophy, on four oc-
over France on Sunday in casions. He ended his wait
the final at Lusail Stadium. for a first major trophy with
Messi has been his coun- his country at last year's
try's inspiration throughout Copa America.
the tournament in Qatar Yes, he was part of the Ar-
and scored twice in the gentina team that lost to
game that finished 3-3 Germany 1-0 in the 2014
through extra time. final, but the magic he pro-
"It's just crazy that it be- duced game in, game out
came a reality this way," during his peak years for
Messi said. "I craved for Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the trophy after winning the World Cup final soccer match between Barcelona never seemed
this so much. I knew God Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Argentina won to translate when wearing
would bring this gift to me. 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended tied 3-3. the blue and white stripes
I had the feeling that this Associated Press of his country.q
was the one."
Kylian Mbappe certainly
made Messi work for a
golden trophy that had
eluded him throughout his
storied career.
The France forward scored
a hat trick as the defend-
ing champions came back
from 2-0 down and then
evened the match again
after Messi made it 3-2 in
extra time.
But this was Messi's night
and Messi's World Cup.
"It took so long, but here it
is," Messi said. "We suffered
a lot, but we managed to
do it."
For some, no one will ever
surpass Pele, who won the
World Cup three times with
Brazil.
Even in Messi's homeland
of Argentina, Diego Mara-
dona remains, for many,
the country's ultimate soc-
cer icon after captaining
the national team to the
1986 World Cup title.
And for the past 15 years
or so, Messi has had a per-
sonal rivalry with Cristiano
Ronaldo just to establish
himself as the finest player
of his generation.
Competition is fierce when
it comes to determining
the greatest of all time, or
the GOAT, as it has come
to be known.
It can come down to the
smallest of margins that
separate players of such
brilliance.
Messi's failure to win the