Messi has final chance to complete Argentina’s holy trinity with Kempes and Maradona
Mario Kempes celebrates scoring a goal in the 1978 final, Diego Maradona lifts the World Cup trophy after the 1986 final and Lionel Messi after Argentina’s semifinal win against Croatia at Qatar 2022. (FIFA on Twitter/AP)
Lionel Messi: The king without the crown; an apt summation of his international career. Fitting that the man who thus described Messi was Mario Kempes, Argentina’s original No. 10, the force behind their first World Cup title.
For Kempes, the king with the crown was always Diego Maradona, though he had his differences with him in later years. Kempes, perhaps, was the king who never wore the crown. He would often joke “I was more famous for my hair than the goals.” His long, lazy locks were envied and coveted, allied with his debonair good looks. He was a hero, though never a cult hero, more of an aloof hero, his fame never soaring to the reaches of outer space like Messi or Maradona. [Read more]
Didier Deschamps and France on cusp of achieving the impossible in modern football
Just three other managers have reached successive finals – Italian Vittorio Pozzo, Argentine Carlos Bilardo and West German Franz Beckenbauer. Only Pozzo has managed the ultimate feat, but in 1938, the World Cup wasn’t fully developed. [Read more]
