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Journalism of Courage
As Argentina lifted the FIFA World Cup 2022 after a thrilling match against France on penalties, ‘After 36’ is trending on Twitter. ‘After 36’ is a reference to Argentina winning the FIFA World Cup 36 years since their last triumph in 1986 when the great Diego Maradona led his side to victory over West Germany.
Netizens in India compared Messi’s victory as a coronation of sorts to a glittering career in the same way as Sachin Tendulkar lifted the World Cup in 2011 for India in his final tournament at the Wankhede Stadium. India had won the ODI World Cup after a gap of 28 years.
In scenes similar to those witnessed in Mumbai as Sachin was lifted by his teammates and given a lap of honour, Messi, 35, was also picked up by his former teammate Sergio Aguero. Another similarity between the two sportspersons considered the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in their respective sports is their jersey number 10.
Argentina have now won the World Cup for the third time after their victory in 1978 and 1986. Messi had come agonisingly close to winning it in 2014 but fell short as they lost to Germany 1-0 at the Maracana Stadium in Brazil.
The 2022 triumph is a redemption of sorts for Messi who had been facing criticism for a long time for his lack of international trophies after winning everything at the club level.
Messi had also inspired his team to the Copa America in 2021 after a 1-0 over Brazil—his first international trophy. He finished the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar with seven goals and three assists. He also got the Golden Ball award to become only the first player to win it twice after being adjudged to be the best player in the 2014 World Cup.
