Argentina vs Saudi Arabia is the most watched group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
76th minute. 1:2, Argentina trailed by one point.
The camera captured Argentina coach Scaloni with a somber expression, and he tried many ways but could not alleviate the disadvantage on the field.
35-year-old Messi and 34-year-old Di Maria next to him can no longer catch up with the straight ball, even if they do, they will soon be surrounded by much younger Saudis; Gomez on the left is only a day younger than Di Maria, and Tagliafico behind him is also 30 years old - they can't outrun the Saudis, and they can only rely on technology and will.
In the final 10 minutes of the game, Argentina's life hung in the balance.
Fortunately, Argentina got a well-placed free-kick opportunity.
But Messi stood outside the box, looking at the goal in the distance, but could not find any angle. Saudi midfielder Kanu, who is 1.92 meters tall, has been standing in front of the football, like a black wall.
In the World Cup in Russia, the king Messi, who was ridiculed by the riddles as "born strong", seems to feel the slightest coolness again, and now the Saudi midfielders are like a wall, blocking between the king and the goal in front of him, and possibly, between Messi and the World Cup trophy.
We all know what happened later, the Saudis did not show mercy to the king who said "the last World Cup", and sent him a big defeat.
This upset even triggered an earthquake among the Chinese melon-eating masses, and the heated discussion about "Messi" and "upset" made people suddenly feel that the World Cup was only really coming at this time; Of course, with the upbeat came a series of happy stories such as "gambling dogs on the rooftop" and "the prophetic emperor who became rich overnight".
This screenshot of the chat with a blood loss of 170,000 gambling money spread throughout the community
But this fiascous start really made Messi's journey to realize his dream not go well.
In fact, Ronaldo on the other side also fell into a similar dilemma: shelling his old club, being left the team, a series of incidents of "the only free agent during the World Cup", and public opinion made his surroundings turmoil.
He and Messi are the biggest rivals of their careers, but during the World Cup, they inexplicably "competed" with each other in this awkward way to grab the headlines, perhaps in another sense.
Thinking back to the two sixteen years ago, Ronaldo had just been named in the Premier League Team of the Year; Messi came off the bench in the group stage to score the first World Cup goal, perhaps never thinking they were so far away from the World Cup trophy.
In 2005, Messi won the World Junior Championship top scorer at the age of 18. The following year, he became Barca's right-winger. Barcelona's first man in the world, Xiao Luo, looked at Messi and sighed, "I'm not even the best player in Barca." “
Messi was selected for the Argentina national team in '06, but the team's performance was mediocre. After Argentina returned home after being eliminated by Germany, coach Peckermann was attacked by the Argentine media - they felt that Peckermann was too conservative to boldly appoint Messi and failed to unleash his full ability.
At the same time, Ronaldo adapted to the English scene and showed his killer nature. He tried to attack more goals from the wing, scoring 23 goals for United in a single season, including 17 in the league, the most in the league.
At the '06 World Cup, he wore the number 17 shirt and just turned 21 years old.
In the second round against Iran, veteran captain Figo created a penalty and then ceded the penalty to Cristiano Ronaldo - a scene that became a classic moment in Portuguese football.
Four years later, the World Cup came to South Africa. Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi are no longer young players, but superstars who have won the Ballon d'Or. With the collective retirement of the older generation of stars of the national team, the new generation of superstars has become the pillars and leaders of the team.
However, in South Africa, the two supergiants were muted at the same time.
Ronaldo scored only two goals in seven national team matches before the World Cup in South Africa, and only won the World Cup group stage against the weak North Korea; Messi played 18 games in the entire qualifiers, scoring only four goals, and the last seven games were in a goal drought. If it weren't for Palermo's rain, Argentina wouldn't even have come to South Africa.
Maradona was Argentina's head coach that year
Youth flickered by, and it was only two World Cups. Mero matured after losing South Africa together in his golden years, but before heading to Brazil in 2014, the two faced a bigger problem – injuries.
Ronaldo went to the World Cup in Brazil with a serious leg injury, and before that, it was even reported that he would miss the group stage.
Although he gritted his teeth and persevered, Portugal was not so lucky. In the three group games, the Portuguese actually spent 6 substitutions on the injured departure, and the battalion was full of wounded soldiers.
Not only that, the first game against Germany was a rout, the second round was only a draw with the United States, and Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal against Ghana in the final round, but could not prevent Portugal from finally going out due to goal difference.
Messi's physical condition has worried fans who care about him for a long time.
Since 2013, he has been photographed vomiting on the field several times, whether in official matches or friendly matches. Argentina coach Savilla said it had nothing to do with the body, "It's a mental problem, it's caused by stress. I haven't played in the World Cup, but I can imagine the huge mental pressure before the World Cup..."
During that time, Messi's running distance in the game began to decrease, and there were some "walking" mockers.
But even under such pressure, Messi still scored four goals in the group stage of that World Cup. Argentina won all three games by one goal, and it can be said that Messi almost single-handedly carried the team into the knockout rounds.
Messi also had nausea and gagging in later matches, but luckily, the Argentine team made it all the way to the final defensively. Messi turned into a passer, Higuain is very capable of scoring. However, against Germany, who bloodied Brazil with seven goals in the final, Argentina were unable to reach the goal. And under the magical performance of Goetze, who came off the bench in the 79th minute, Messi also missed the most important opportunity to win the championship.
In the end, in the German's call for the title, a group photo of Messi so close to the Hercules Cup but full of regret was left.
At the time of the World Cup in Russia, Ronaldo was 33 years old and Messi was 31 years old.
But at this time, Ronaldo dedicated his highlight of the World Cup - in the group stage of the "Double Tooth War", he scored a hat-trick.
The first two goals helped the team take the lead, and the third goal was the classic free-kick - calmly standing in front of the ball in the final moments of the team's desperate situation, running and volleying, an iconic elevator ball, rounding 1.9m Busquets and Pique and goalkeeper David De Gea could only look at the ball with exclamation.
I think the fans will remember this expression
Facing Morocco in the second round, Ronaldo once again used a corner kick to score the winning goal; However, after qualifying from the group, they met Uruguay and unfortunately lost to Edinson Cavani, who scored twice in that game;
Coincidentally, on the same night, Messi and Argentina met the champions of the year, France. However, even if Messi sent two assists, it is really no match for Mbappe's bottomless youthful vitality.
On the day Argentina and Portugal were both eliminated, CCTV football commentator He Wei asked a question: "What kind of performance will the next World Cup 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo and 35-year-old Messi perform?" ”
Fans know that the elderly "peerless double pride" may not be able to play in Qatar at the same time. And the facts seem to be moving towards this result -
On August 8, 2021, Messi held a farewell Barca press conference, ending his playing career at Camp Nou.
After the transfer to Grand Paris, the former ball king cut off his long hair and sat on the bench.
Fortunately, Messi, whose physical fitness is declining day by day and is no longer flexible, has also exchanged time for leadership temperament and team strength. Leading Argentina in the Copa America finally lifted the trophy that he had missed repeatedly.
A month after Messi won the trophy, Cristiano Ronaldo moved to his old club Manchester United, and he did not know at the time that the story that greeted him was not a happy ending for the wanderer's homecoming.
Cristiano Ronaldo was put on the bench by the manager during the game and did not play until the last minute of the game.
Since then, Ronaldo and the team have forged a bond, shouting and arguing for many rounds. Just before the opening of the World Cup in Qatar, there was also a break between the two that can be called the biggest melon in the sports industry this year - Cristiano Ronaldo fiercely bombarded his old club, and even complained to Manchester United's teammates and coaching staff, and Manchester United's response was also very decisive, "There is no need to return to the team after the World Cup."
But compared to Messi's salary cut can not stay in the team, Cristiano Ronaldo was put on the bench by Manchester United, the reality that makes it more difficult for the two to accept is that the two people who have dominated the football world in the past decade have finally had to face a cliff-like decline in statistics.
So the voices of singing are endless, when the years take away the sharpness of the youth, the past unruly and praised, are regarded as praise and praise.
In this way, the time slowly came to November 2022, the Qatar World Cup was also staged as scheduled, and we will still see Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi on this stage.
But this time, everyone had a hunch that maybe it was really "Ragnarok".
However, with Lionel Messi, unbeaten 35-game Argentina upset their first match, and Cristiano Ronaldo may not even play in Portugal, it seems that their final World Cup journey cannot be played out as "perfect" as fans imagine.
It is true that competitive sports are cruel, and there are too many regrets and unpredictability in the real world – just like probably no one expected Argentina to lose; However, in FIFA23, players have the opportunity to change this regret, operate their favorite team to overcome difficulties, hold the Hercules Cup, and preview the dream World Cup process.
In FIFA23, players can play in the recreated FIFA World Cup 2022 from 32 qualified national teams to participate in all events, from the opening match to the Grand Final:
Just like the upcoming real event, players will experience the real competition process from the group stage to the grand final; And in addition to the unique mode of simulating the World Cup schedule "realistically" based on real-time match data, the "FIFA World Cup Start" mode allows players to choose a single match at any stage of this World Cup to simulate.
FIFA23 features offline and online tournaments that allow players to compete with their friends, computer AI and online players for the ultimate Hercules trophy, starting from the group stage and knockout stage and playing all the way to the finals.
In the game, players can also use official teams, players and jerseys to match the real stadium and atmosphere of the FIFA World Cup to experience the charm of the World Cup in all aspects. In addition, the voice pack of the "World Cup Mode" in the game will especially explain Messi and Ronaldo before and during the game, so that players can have a better and more immersive experience.
What's different from previous FIFA titles is that the "New Instant Experience" will be updated based on group stages and knockout rounds, allowing players to truly grasp the real schedule and lineup of each match. In addition, in the "YOUR FIFA WORLD CUP" mode opened during the World Cup, players can manipulate the team to "change their lives" at any point in the real game schedule, thereby rewriting history——
Let the unchangeable things and unchangeable regrets be reversed at this moment, this is the unique charm of video games.
Having said that, in fact, in the game, we can also see the embodiment of Mero's gradual decline - whether it is physical data or ratings, it is far less dazzling than those years.
However, they may not be in the best form of their careers, but thankfully, Portugal and Argentina, while not at the top of the squad, are more balanced than they have ever been.
Maybe in this World Cup, someone will finally get their wish, or they will regret it like previous editions; But whatever the outcome, I think we can do the same as FIFA23, which is to enjoy, document and witness the final World Cup journey of the two stars of the Meiro generation.