I responded to a question on LinkedIn asking,

“Why is the world focused solely on one person − Lionel Messi − who had probably the lowest ball possession and there were 10 other Argentinian team players that put their hearts and souls in it to make it happen? What am I missing?”

I wrote:

Ah, mixing it up early on a Monday morning!

Just generally, we are a species inordinately attracted to “great man theories” <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory>, so we pick heroes to the exclusion of everything else. No lesser minds than Blaise Pascal and Leo Tolstoy have come out against it (Tolstoy wrote War and Peace to refute it), but let’s not wax too philosophical on a Monday morning this late in the year.

In the world of sport, there are many dilettantes who watch an event every four years, who will happily focus on one person rather than put in the time and trouble to learn more names and actually follow the action on the field. I suppose that’s ok. The shame is when people do the same for more important world events.

At any rate, these celebrations and articles and focus on Messi are for them, those who don’t really follow the sport. Those who have grown to know the team know better.

I saw the match and think that Di Maria was the absolute hero of the first half, when they got their 2 − 0 lead. Martinez in goal was essential, especially in the final seconds with his clutch save. Mac Allister, Fernandez, and Alvarez were absolute work horses all match. Incredible effort over the 120 minutes.

In this case, though, Messi has put up statistics over the years that warrant the focus on him. He seems to inspire his teammates. It’s not how often he has the ball, but what he does with it when he has it. Even in this particular match, the final, he scored two of the three regular-time goals. He made plays, he hustled, he chased down the goalie, even late in the match. He wasn’t just on the team that won a world cup; he was very much integral to them getting there.

On the other side, it would be hard to argue that Mbappe wasn’t worth mentioning above his teammates. He scored all four of France’s goals. :-)