Just when Jürgen Klopp thought that things could not get any worse for his Liverpool team and, especially, here on the south coast.
It was a consecration, the spiritual overtones entirely appropriate. Lionel Messi not only emulated the deity of Argentinian football,
You drop Cristiano Ronaldo and the man you pick instead of him best not miss. Gonçalo Ramos is 21. He made his international debut last month.
Nothing this precious ever came easy. Two parts ecstasy to one part agony, Argentina qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
In the end, it was a triumph of France’s savoir-faire, their ability to manage this type of occasion, to get the job done – even when below their best.
From first to last, the drum beats were relentless from the small section of Senegal supporters. They pounded in the temples of everybody present, creating an oppressive backdrop to this high-stakes occasion.
As Lionel Messi zigzagged this way and that it sometimes seemed that Argentina’s No 10 must be electrically powered and perhaps operated by remote control.
For Lionel Messi, the crowning glory beckons. As Argentina’s gaze zeroed in on a third World Cup triumph, it was impossible to ignore their iconic leader and the compelling narrative around him.
This had been billed as the night a rested Kylian Mbappé would run riot. He ended up doing exactly that but, first of all, France’s old stagers laid the platform.
Marcus Rashford kneeled down, closed his eyes and pointed his fingers to the sky. At one of the finest moments of his career, the England forward wanted to pay his respects to a friend he has just lost to cancer. The emotions raged.
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