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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Source: www.sportingnews.com
