In his latest column for The Sporting News, former England ace and Premier League star Jay Bothroyd reflects on the World Cup final, and the end of the Messi vs Ronaldo GOAT debate.
That was the greatest World Cup final ever, certainly in my lifetime.
Argentina were absolutely fantastic, their game-plan worked perfectly for 70 minutes. But it was one of those situations where it always felt like if France got one, they'd probably get two. France coach Didier Deschamps brought on a lot of young players from the bench and that energy re-ignited them.
It's exactly what his team did for the previous two games. They didn't play particularly well but they nicked a goal and then took the upper hand for those final 10 minutes of normal time.
What I really liked about the final was that the players who were supposed to turn up really did. Kylian Mbappe didn't have the best game but he had a great 10 minutes and he took pressure penalties. That's what top players can do, even when they're not on top of their game. He found a way to be effective.
Mbappe is going to continue having an illustrious career, but there can be no doubt over the GOAT anymore. I love Ronaldo — R9, Il Fenomeno — purely for the fact that he could do everything and was a striker as well. There's a little bit of emotional bias but, for me, it was always Lionel Messi.
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Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo was never an argument in my book. Messi is one of those players with God-given talent. That's no disrespect to Ronaldo, who has worked so hard to make the most of his body and himself to be as effective as he has for all these years. He's an unbelievable goalscorer and he's very, very successful.
But when you look at Messi, everyone would love to play with him. I've never read, seen or heard anyone say they haven't enjoyed it. But you have heard people say that Ronaldo's greedy, selfish and is all about him.
That's why he's been so successful, but I think we're starting to see now the kind of person that Ronaldo is. It doesn't look good for him — he's tarnished his legacy by doing these interviews and by speaking about his teammates in a negative way. That doesn't look good.
As much as we talk about Messi's greatness on the pitch, the way he carries himself off the pitch is second to none. You never hear him saying, "I'm the best". You hear Ronaldo say that. The best sportspeople in the world don't need to say, "I’m the best" because everyone else says it for them.
Ever since Messi became a regular in the Barcelona team he’s been pivotal in every season, in every competition. He turns up in all the big games, he scores goals and assists. His overall contributions to his teams has been nothing short of great.
Everyone says Ronaldo has been the best goalscorer but he's played two or three years longer. When you look at Messi's goal ratio and goal involvements, it's better than Ronaldo. That tells me he's the better overall player, more refined and unselfish. He makes the right passes and the right decision and has done that his whole career.
For anyone that really knows football, who is a connoisseur and really watches the game week-in, week-out, there's not even a conversation about Messi and Ronaldo.
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As much as Messi was amazing in the final, we have to talk about Angel Di Maria coming back after two games out and looking so sharp. He made a massive difference on the left — he stretched France and had situations where he was one-on-one that he was able to exploit as a left-footed player.
There were heroes all over the place for Argentina. Enzo Fernandez, Alexis MacAllister and Emi Martinez were all so good and there might be some big transfers coming up for them.
Martinez's save in the final seconds was something else and I don't mind his antics in the shootout at all. If you can get a slight edge on a player, you're going to do it. It's about sportsmanship, but ultimately it's about winning. If you can get a slight edge over your opponent and make them doubt themselves, do it by all means.
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Cristian Romero is a striker's nightmare. He's so physical but is good on the ball and has a calmness about him. He reminds me of the great former Inter Milan and Colombia defender Ivan Cordoba, who I played against when I was in Serie A.
Cordoba was similar with that South American style. He wasn't that tall but he was so aggressive, he'd come through the back of you all the time. You didn't enjoy playing against him — you'd be dreading the weekend you were playing Cordoba. Every time the ball was coming, I knew he was going to try and come through me and win it. Romero's just like that and had a fantastic World Cup.
Still, it all comes back to one man. From the beginning of the tournament, if England couldn’t do it, I wanted Lionel Messi to win that World Cup. He's won everything now. He's solidified the GOAT status, even though that was probably already the case.
READ: MESSI & RONALDO: DESTINATION MUNDIAL | THE FULL SERIES
