Argentina have a 2-0 lead against France in the World Cup final after goals by Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria.
Messi scored on a 23rd-minute penalty kick after a foul on Di Maria. Thirteen minutes later Di Maria finished off a flowing team move involving a deft flick from Messi.
It was Messi’s 12th World Cup goal. Messi is making a record 26th appearance at the World Cup, breaking a tie with Germany great Lothar Matthäus.
Messi’s matches have been spread over five World Cups, starting in 2006.
Like France, Argentina are seeking a third World Cup title — after 1978 and 1986 — to move into outright fourth place in the all-time list. It would end a 36-year wait for football’s biggest prize, since Maradona’s string of virtuoso performances in Mexico in 1986.
That made Maradona forever a hero in Argentina and an icon around the football world. Messi now appears to be at that level.
Messi has evoked comparisons with Maradona in the way he has pushed Argentina to the final, scoring six goals, thrilling his team’s legion of fans, who have poured into Qatar throughout the World Cup in numbers only really matched by those from Morocco.
Source: United News of Bangladesh