The World Cup has entered the final stage of competition for the championship, and the emotions of fans around the world have been aroused. Even many people who did not watch football were brought by their friends to watch the World Cup finals.
Of course, in addition to the finals, there are also third and fourth place finals to determine a third runner-up. However, except for the foreign countries involved, no one cares much about who is the third runner-up. What everyone cares about is who wins the championship.
Is it France, which is a combination of old, middle and youth, with strong troops, or is it the Pampas Eagles, which is composed of a group of famous veterans led by Messi and Velarde.
On July 14, the third and fourth place finals were held first. With Meunier and Hazard scoring a goal each in the first and second half, Belgium defeated England 2-0 and won the third place in this World Cup. This was also the first time in the history of the Belgian national team. best record.
Next, is the World Cup final, which is the most watched event in the world. It is also the most watched single sports game in the world, bar none.
This popularity is reflected in the fact that even ordinary viewers who never watch football, even girls, will watch the live broadcast. Post bars, forums, videos, Moments, and various platforms are full of discussions and prospects for the World Cup finals.
The next day, the final day, the game started in the afternoon, close to evening, but many fans were already waiting to start gathering from their homes, hotels, and hotels to the Luzhniki Stadium where the final was located.
As the game approached, the stadium was already packed, and no one wanted to miss the biggest event in sports that happens every four years. Moreover, France and Argentina are both world-class giants. Messi, Velarde, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud, Di Maria, Aguero, Pogba, etc. are all world-class stars. .
Regardless of the strength of both sides or the star lineup, this game is full of gold, and no one is a dark horse.
Although everyone is more optimistic about the goal-scoring Velarde and Messi leading Argentina to win the championship, France does not have no chance at all. If Pogba, Kante, Griezmann, Mbappe and others perform well, France is also capable of overthrowing Argentina, just like Manchester City overturned Liverpool in the first half of the Premier League season.
At 18:00 pm local time in Moscow on July 15, with the referee's whistle, the 2018 World Cup final between France and Argentina officially started at the Luzhniki Stadium, which had more than 80,000 seats in Moscow, the capital of Russia.
Argentina sent goalkeeper No. 1 Caballero, defenders No. 3 Tagliafico, No. 16 Rojo, No. 17 Otamendi, and No. 18 Salvio, and midfielders No. 5 Biglia and No. 6. Alan Willard, No. 14 Mascherano, forwards No. 11 Di Maria, No. 19 Aguero, and No. 10 Messi.
The French team sent goalkeeper No. 1 Lori, defenders No. 21 Lucas, No. 5 Umtiti, No. 4 Varane, and No. 2 Pavard, and double midfielders No. 14 Matuidi and No. 13 Kante. , offensive midfielder No. 7 Griezmann, No. 6 Pogba, No. 10 Mbappe, and lone forward No. 9 Giroud.
After the game started, both sides were a little cautious and did not dare to attack rashly. After all, both sides are very strong and no one dares to be careless. Besides, this is still the finals, there is no room for failure.
After about ten minutes of testing, the players from both sides gradually entered the state and began to attack. Argentina itself plays a 433 offensive formation, and with Velarde sitting in the backcourt, Messi, Di Maria, Aguero and others are more confident about the defense of their own backcourt, so they start to boldly play in the frontcourt. Attack with the ball.
The French team itself plays a 4231 defensive counterattack formation, and is concerned about the offensive power of Velarde and Messi, so it adopts a strategy of solid defense first, and then attacking forward after getting the ball.
In the 21st minute, Argentina launched its first threatening attack. Unfortunately, Messi tried to pass the ball to Aguero after passing Kante, but Varane saw through the passing intention and intercepted the ball before Aguero.
If the ball had not been intercepted halfway by Varane, it would have been possible for Aguero to get the ball and pose a threat.
The French team took advantage of this opportunity to steal the ball and launched a counterattack, but failed to pose a threat. Mbappe tried to break through Velarde with speed, but Velarde turned around and chased back and poked the ball away.
In terms of speed, neither Mbappe nor Bale can compete with the full-rated Velarde, although they are considered fast horses in their respective leagues.
Both sides began to strengthen their attacks, with Argentina occupying the advantage in ball possession. Wave after wave of attacks put the French team's defense under tremendous pressure.
But the prospect of the championship inspired the French. On the back line, Kante, Matuidi, Varane and Umtiti all worked very hard, making up for their lack of defensive strength with tireless running. At the same time, Pogo and Griezmann also continued to return to defense, participating in defense and interference to make up for the lack of defensive strength.
However, in Argentina, not only Villard and Messi can pass, but Di Maria and Aguero can also pass. When Velarde and Messi attracted a lot of defensive attention, Di Maria and Aguero got their chance.
In the 31st minute, Argentina took the lead in breaking the deadlock. Velarde, who launched the attack, first passed Pogba in the midfield, then hit the wall with Messi to pass Kante, and then faced Matuidi. He intercepted and passed the ball to Di Maria's running route on the left.
The cooperation between Villard and Messi in the middle has attracted a lot of attention from the French team's defense. His distribution of the ball this time was a bit unexpected. The French team failed to plug the loophole in time, and Di Maria easily received the ball to Villa. Germany's pass.
Later, full-back Pavar stepped forward to intercept Di Maria, but Di Maria used his speed and skills to break through. Finally, he made a ground ball about 10 meters from the bottom line and sent the ball to the front of the penalty area. .
Aguero burst out from the crowd, jumped in front of defender Varane and shot the ball in the direction of the goal.
The ball was so close that Lori didn't have time to pounce, but luckily, his outstretched foot blocked Aguero's front-foot shot.
The ball was blocked.
Just when the Frenchman wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, he saw that the ball blocked by Lori flew right in front of Messi who rushed into the back of the small penalty area.
In an awkward position, Messi squatted down and just used his forehead to knock the ball into the goal.
Countless Argentines at the venue and in front of the television broke into huge cheers and screams.
This was not only a lead for Argentina, but also a goal for Messi.
Before Velarde appeared, Messi's club honors and personal honors had actually reached their peak. If Argentina won the World Cup in 2014, there would be no doubt that Messi would become the champion. Unfortunately, the World Cup final was won by the German team. Messi was kicked by Mario Gotze's volley and his dream of becoming the world champion was shattered.
In the current Argentina team, anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is Velarde who has made a greater contribution. Whether from an offensive or defensive perspective, Velarde's role is much greater than Messi's. Therefore, even if Argentina wins the championship, many people may think that Messi's contribution is not as great as that of Velarde.
Fortunately, Messi himself has sufficient qualifications, and he was the first to open the scoring in this final. After Argentina wins the championship, Messi, as the captain and spiritual leader, will have much less pressure from public opinion to win the championship. As for Willard, you can wait until the next term.
