Messi was born in 1987, a year after what can only be described as Diego Armando Maradona’s World Cup. Messi faced his first World Cup heartache as a teenager in 2006, when Argentina were knocked out by Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals. Messi would take back his retirement in time to drag Argentina to the 2018 World Cup. The sun would rise again tomorrow but it would rise to find Messi’s World Cup dream forever shattered. Di María had won the U20 World Cup alongside Messi in 2005 and here they both were, 17 long years later, scoring in the World Cup final and lifting the real thing together.

Source: The Express Tribune December 25, 2022 11:18 UTC