PARIS (December 18, 2022) —
The atmosphere at Saint-Denis north of Paris is exhilarating. The afternoon of the World Cup final. Hmmm … but not exactly what you were expecting. No flags on the houses and no honking in the streets. They are just playing soccer. Dozens of soccer fields full of amateur players, teams of boys, even girls. I almost rubbed my eyes in astonishment before the opening of the final, when the referee whistled to open the girls' game. "Each half is only twenty minutes. We'll get home shortly after the opening of the game," says one of the fathers.
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The French indifference was apparent everywhere. The best soccer player in the world for 2022, Karim Benzema, tweeted that he doesn't care about what is happening in Qatar. Without a spot of patriotism, the most famous sports magazine in the world, L'Equipe, split its front cover between Messi and Mbappé, even though it must be noted that they might not have any spirit of patriotism, but good journalistic senses, they most definitely do have!!
The viewing event for local fans failed. "Poor publicity," says one usher. "You can't start only with the final game," explains another. All that remains is to see whether the indifference has infected the national team, or the national team has infected the public.
It was 2-0 Argentina in the first half. But just then the plot takes an unusual emotional turn. The TV broadcast showed the French exchanges that brought about the change, but here we noticed something else. Five players who got up off the bench were Parisians – Koeman, Muani, Konaté, Disasi and Fofana – and for the spectators in Saint-Denis, who grew up within a radius of no more than a few miles from here, these are people who look and talk and feel like them. This is the second generation of France in every possible sense: Almost all the spectators here come from Africa. Northern Africa, or the areas south of the Sahara.
And they turned the game around. And the legend of Mbappé developed before our eyes. He was compared to Pele, Zidane, Vavá and Breitner as scoring the goals in two finals. He was compared to Pele and English Hearst, as the scorer of a triple goal. And then he surpassed all soccer players in scoring the number of goals at a World Cup Final. I never saw Raimundo Orsi's wonderful goal for Italy in 1934, but from what was broadcast on television, Mbappé's 2-2 goal was the most beautiful ever scored in a final. And he will soon be 24.
What has passed in the meantime are the assumptions of soccer fans that a soccer player has to win either way to be a winner or a loser. Every player – whether Argentinean or French – who was on the field, can forever walk down the street and say that he played in the World Cup Final of 2022. Messi shows us why he is one of the greatest in history. Mbappé shows us time and time again why he will also be one.
The second half, ending in 3-3, is the most important and this teaches us a lesson. Vive la France. Viva la Argentina. Long live soccer!
After the extra time, France loses on penalty kicks. The crowds fold up their flags. France is no more the world cup soccer champions, but they won something that is much greater than the cup. The love of their people. The French will no longer show indifference to their wonderful team.
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