In October 1980, Muhammad Ali returned to the ring to try to become world champion for the fourth time. Facing him was Larry Holmes, his former sparring partner, the man who had learned to strike by accompanying the master and who now occupied his throne. The fight was dubbed ‘The Last Ovation.’ Ali sought an extension into eternity; Holmes had to deny it to begin his own legend. The disciple won. It was not simply a victory, but one of those relays that sport turns into cruelty: to kill the reference athletically.
On Sunday, football presents a more beautiful and less brutal version of that tragedy. It is not enough to choose between Spain and Argentina. You have to choose between Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal. Between the one who has ruled our time and the one who seems destined to rule our future. To be faithful to what we have loved or to give ourselves to what we have begun to cherish. To grant Messi one last eternal night or to ask Lamine to advance the clock of history. The father still does not want to leave the stage. The son can no longer continue waiting backstage.
On Sunday, football proposes a dilemma. It is not enough to choose between Spain and Argentina. You have to choose. Between the last great performance of the actor who has already played all the roles and the definitive debut of the one who seems destined to occupy the stage for the next decade. Between gratitude and desire. Between biography and promise. We could call it killing the father or sacrificing the son. Oedipus versus Saturn. Although football does not need a Greek tragedy because it already has a perfect final.
It is not enough to choose between Spain and Argentina; you have to choose between Messi and Lamine Yamal
Messi arrives at the match after another performance reserved for his best years: two assists in the last minutes for Argentina to come back against those who created football. He does not appear as a sentimental relic. He, unique, is still capable of changing the plot when the story seemed written. At 39 years old, he seeks a second World Cup and perhaps the definitive consecration before Diego.
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Lamine has just turned 19. Everything in him is conjured in the future, but that apparent abundance of time can be a trap. Long careers do not guarantee another final. Football does not grant credits for youth, nor reserve opportunities for the next edition, even if it is at home. Messi took five World Cups to conquer his. Lamine may have a life ahead and, nevertheless, already be facing the match of his life.
Which side to take? The passport says Spain. The Barcelona memory says Messi. Choosing one always contains a small disloyalty to the other. I will choose Lamine. Not because football may still owe Messi things, but precisely because he has already given us everything, including a World Cup, which I enjoyed like Barça’s first Champions League. The best way to honor the father is not to keep him forever on the throne, but to accept that the son can already sit on it. And if Messi wins, there will be defeats that we will accept better.
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