The world wants Messi to win the World Cup, France want to play spoilsport

Is Lionel Messi’s hamstring injury serious? There are murmurs about it with just two days to go before the final, and they grew louder after Messi’s absence from training on Thursday evening.

Only the first 15 minutes of Argentina’s team training at the Qatar University ground was open for the media. Did Messi join training after the reporters left the venue? Some are saying he visited the ground once, while the others are saying that Messi didn’t step foot on the field that day and instead spent some time in the gym.

There is no way to tell whether or not he trained with the team the following day. That day, Argentina’s training happened behind closed doors.

There is no doubt that Messi is in some discomfort. But it’s most probably not serious enough to put Messi’s participation in the final in doubt. Also, there should be no doubt that even if Messi isn’t completely fit, there is no way that he will miss this match.

For the last two days, the World Cup is counting down the days to the final. Everyone is waiting for the clock to strike 6:00pm (9:00pm Bangladesh Standard Time) on 18 December. The melancholic tune marking the end of the festival is everywhere in Doha.

The FIFA threw a swanky party for the media at the Qetaifan island at the outskirts of Doha on Thursday night, which almost felt like the closing ceremony of the World Cup. There was music and acrobatics on the stage and also the option to consume alcohol to ones heart’s content. There was also discussion whether anything similar has ever happened before in a World Cup.

Following that, on Friday noon, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced at a press conference that the Qatar World Cup has been the ‘greatest World Cup in history’.

However, this has almost become the norm in World Cups and in Olympics that the FIFA president or the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will declare the latest editions of the tournament as the best ever.

And Infantino was certain to give the Qatar edition this special stamp. Even before the tournament, the FIFA president had declared ‘war’ on Europe in support of the World Cup in Qatar.

There is, however, another match before the final. Apart from FIFA, everyone else agrees that this is the most pointless match in the World Cup. In that ‘pointless match’, Croatia and Morocco will take the field in a bid to become the second runners-up.

Before this game, as is the norm, a press conference was held. Only journalists of those two countries were present at the press conference. Compared to that, the gathering of journalists at the press conference at the Al Saad Stadium in the evening was much more multinational. The media centre was full to the brim, packed with reporters.

French players Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele came one after the other and spoke at the press conference. After that, the journalists also got to see the first 15 minutes of the France team’s training.

Muani had scored with his first touch in the semifinal against Morocco after coming on as a substitute. His arrival into the French team is also quite recent. But there is no telling that from the way he spoke. He was asked about Argentina, their opponents in the final. He answered with the stereotypical, “They are a big, big team. Every player in their team is dangerous” etc. He didn’t even utter Messi’s name.

So, the following question was asked explicitly about Messi, “You will be playing against Messi. How does it feel?” Muani, with a blank expression, replied, “Messi doesn’t scare me. I’ve already faced him.”

It was expected that Dembele’s case would be a bit different. He has played side-by-side with Messi in Barcelona for a long time. Dembele spoke in detail on how Messi helped him when he joined Barcelona at the age of 20. This winger is as mesmerised by the on-field Messi as he is by the off-field one.

“Other than France, the entire world wants to see Messi lift the World Cup. What do you have to say about that?’ Dembele was asked. With a smile he answered, “I think everyone wants to win the World Cup. It is true Messi has not had that trophy but we are here to represent our country and I hope it will be a really big game and I hope it is France that win.”

Other than dissecting the Argentina team, France coach Didier Deschamps is having to worry about some extra problems in the French camp. ‘Camel flu’ has infiltrated the French camp, many players of the team are currently in isolation.

The player that fell sick first, Adrien Rabiot, has already recovered. He also trained with the team. But five players- Varane, Tchouameni, Coman, Konate and Hernandez- couldn’t train as they were down with the flu.

Deschamp must be as irritated by the discussions regarding Karim Benzema as he is by ‘camel flu’. He sent the Ballon D’Or winner home after he suffered an injury while training in Qatar before the World Cup. Benzema now has recovered under the supervision of Real Madrid’s medical team and has already returned to the field.

Rumours started swirling that Benzema is being flown in to play the final. France can do so if they want, as Benzema is one of their registered players for the World Cup. If France wins the World Cup, he will get a winner’s medal even without being in Qatar.

The pictures of all French players in the World Cup are plastered on a wall in the media centre adjacent to their training ground. There is also a rumour that France’s president Emmanuel Macron will bring the French players who missed out from this World Cup owning to injuries with him to see the final. Supposedly, Benzema is also a part of that group.

So, if Benzema indeed comes to Qatar, will he sit with the president or at the France team’s dressing room? Dembele had a straight up answer to this question, “I have no idea whether Benzema is coming back or not.”

*This report appeared in the print edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashfaq-Ul-Alam Niloy