Former defender of the Ukrainian national team Bohdan Shershun shared his impressions of the 2022 World Cup final, in which Argentina beat France last Sunday (3:3, 4:2 on penalties).
— The sign of the final was loud: France vs Argentina. Many fans wanted to see this pair of finalists in the main match of the world championship. On which side were your sympathies?
- Supported the Argentina national team. This is due to the fact that in 2001 I played with the youth team of Ukraine in Argentina, in the final part of the World Cup. Our team then left the group, but lost in the 1/8 finals to the Paraguayan team. And the hosts of the tournament, the Argentina national team, eventually became the world champion. Javier Saviola shone in its composition.
First of all, I remember how fans in Argentina love football and their teams. The love for football in Argentina is devoted and boundless. I must say that people in Argentina do not live very richly, there are many poor people there. Personally, I saw how fans support their idols. I remember this and since then I have been supporting the Argentina national team.
- In all likelihood, the factor of Lionel Messi also played an important role?
- Undoubtedly. I really wanted him to become on a par with Maradona. For many years, everyone has been saying that Diego Maradona himself dragged the Argentina national team to the title of world champions, and Lionel Messi is great only in Barcelona, but not in the national team. Now, after this great final, I can say that Messi is the best player in the history of world football.
- Let's go directly to the game. In the first half, the Argentines scored twice, not allowing the French to hit their own goal even once. How did this result happen?
- Let's be honest: the French team completely failed the first half of the match. Of course, the merit in this is the footballers of the Argentina national team. They led the whole game, scoring two goals. Seeing this, the coach of the French national team Didier Deschamps replaced Dembele and Giroud in the 41st minute, who did not play this match in the best way. And in the second half, the Argentines controlled the course of the match. Everything was decided by one player - Kylian Mbappe. It was he who pulled out the match for the French team. It is clear that with the score 2:2, the players of the Argentina national team got scared. The title that they practically had slipped out. We all remember that in the quarter-final, in a similar way, Argentina 2-0 with the Netherlands ended 2-2 in regular time.
But Scaloni's wards have the best goalkeeper in this championship - Emiliano Martinez. First, in the 124th minute, he made a save, perhaps of his whole life, parrying a shot from Colo-Muani, who went one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Well, then he again showed his class in a series of penalty kicks. Martinez is 30 years old and it seems to me that in the summer he will leave Aston Villa for a stronger club.
- What was the most beautiful goal in this match?
— I think this is the second goal of Kylian Mbappe. How he laid down his body and fired a shot into the far corner of the goal. It is impossible not to mention the goal of Di Maria. Here it is simply necessary to note the whole combination of the players of the Argentina national team. In five passes, almost in one touch, they brought the experienced Angel Di Maria to a striking position. The French were rewarded with individual actions of Mbappe, while the Argentines were rewarded with team actions. In this final, we saw all the best.
- Why does Scaloni put the young Julián Alvarez in the attack, and not the experienced Paulo Dybala and Lautaro Martinez, who have proven themselves well in Europe?
— I like Alvarez more. He was good at this world championship. I think that in Manchester City, under Guardiola, Alvarez will play in the first team along with Holland.
- In 90 minutes of the game, the coach of the Argentine national team made only one substitution. Maybe freshness, just not enough for the Argentina national team?
- The South Americans did a lot, they controlled the game. And Deschamps made forced substitutions both in the first half and in the second. He went for broke. It must be admitted that the French revived the attack. The final turned out to be spectacular, just like the fans love.
- This is true. Argentina taught us that leading 2:0 can play 2:2, as in the game with the Netherlands.
- And not only. In the final of the 1986 World Cup, Argentina beat the German national team 2-0, and then conceded two goals into their own net. And only the goal of the famous Burruchaga in the 84th minute allowed the Argentines to become world champions. As we saw and heard, it is not in vain that so many fans of the Argentina national team flew to Qatar. I am sure that many did it with the last money, if only to see all these matches. And what kind of support did they give to their favorites. And now the national team of Argentina is a three-time world champion.
- It is impossible not to note the role of the head coach of the Argentina national team, Lionel Scaloni. He is only 44 years old, and he has already won, as a coach, the South American Championship and the World Championship...
- Undoubtedly, he found a common language with the main player in the team - Lionel Messi. He played with him in the same team at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. They both know each other well. As a result of his work - two titles in two years. Have you seen the crazy tackle from Messi with the score 2:2? This was brilliant.
- Who MVP World Cup - Messi or Mbappe, who became the top scorer of the tournament?
“For me, it’s Lionel Messi. He just pulled his team out of the group first, and then dragged it to the final, and then helped it to triumph. Did you see what Messi did to Europe's most expensive defender, Croatian Guardiol, in the semi-finals? How he inserted his vertebrae and rolled the ball under the blow of Alvarez.
- Did you like the final, in terms of emotions?
- Of course. I have been watching all the world championships since 1998, both in terms of emotions and content, it was the coolest final. Even I shouted during the duel, which I have not seen for a long time (laughs). Well, Messi finally won his main fight, at the age of 35. Yes, God helped him, but he deserved it.