There is a sense that his Argentinian teammates are invested in not just winning the tournament, but his happiness too
Lionel Messi has the farewell he wished for. Or the stage for it, at least. A well-known failure at international level, on Sunday he will play his sixth major final with Argentina. It will be his 26th World Cup game, more than anyone else ever, another record gathered up; it will also be his last. “To be able to finish my journey in the final makes me happy, and everything I have lived here is lovely,” he said at the end of another night graced by another moment, like a gift given: something to hold when he has gone. Which is four days away now.
Four days. One night. Everyone “knew” that this would be Messi’s last World Cup, the feeling that you might never see him again clinging to every game. He knew that too, which is part of the reason it has played out like this: call it mission, destiny or, just enjoyment. Seize the day, there aren’t many left. And yet, 16 years after his first, as a sub in that 6-0 win against Serbia and Montenegro, hearing it confirmed still hit. Wait, what? The final will be your last? “Yes, it surely will be,” Messi said on Tuesday night, “It’s many years until the next [World Cup] and I don’t think I’ll make it. Finishing this way is nice.”
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