The ceaseless race to eternal greatness between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has its latest crucible.
Away from the painful soft rock, exhibition of soft power from omnipotent Russian President Vladimir Putin and Diego Maradona’s startling yellow bowtie, last night’s World Cup 2018 draw presented football’s pair of behemoths with the perfect platform to unleash a – potentially final – bid for the defining major honour which eludes them.
For the morbid who tuned in to witness a ‘Group of Death’, they leave disappointed.
Portugal and their resident superstar could not have hoped for a better way to build on Euro 2016’s unlikely victory. Argentina and Messi will aim to build momentum after a harrowing path to qualification and the residual disappointment from losing Brazil 2014’s final.
Ronaldo will relish taking on Spain in an easy to navigate group.
Ronaldo’s solipsistic personality will see him relish the challenge of facing Spain, his country of employment, in an intriguing opening Group B-fixture.
Welcoming clashes against the defensively-diligent pair of Morocco and former mentor Carlos Queiroz’s Iran then follow, prior to meeting opponents from a Group A which must rank as one of the weakest assembled in the modern history of the competition.
On the opposite side of the sport’s great schism, Messi will be feeling similarly confident. Iceland may have stunned a sorry England at the Euros but they remain substantial underdogs as the World Cup’s smallest-ever entrant by population size.
Croatia are a team full of artisans undergoing group therapy after the fractious reign of Ante Cacic and there will be no surprises against Nigeria. La Albiceleste have beaten them in all four previous finals matches.
To concentrate solely on this duo, yet again, is to be guilty of navel-gazing. A movement away from football’s interminable two-headed narrative could be upon us.
Messi will turn 31 before the opening stage winds down. Ronaldo has only two goals from nine La Liga appearances in 2017/18 and will be 33 when he steps foot in Russia.
Enter swashbuckling Brazil, a country whose wounds from the 7-1 ‘Mineirazo’ mauling by Germany have been healed by the inspirational Tite. An attack of Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Paris Saint-Germain’s €222 million (Dh970.9m) Neymar demands success after they waltzed through South American qualifying.
Messi will be feeling confident about Argentina’s chances to progress.
England will dare to believe if Harry Kane forgets the trauma of Euro 2016 and France boast gluttonous depth. Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba can place this competition in his thrall and there is no end to the excitement surrounding enfant precoce Kylian Mbappe.
Belgium do not appear the happiest of camps, yet in Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne they possess attackers gifted with the ability to wrought devastation upon any opponent.
This is all without mentioning holders Germany. Head coach Joachim Low was afforded the luxury of experimentation at last summer’s Confederations Cup and still won it.
Away from Die Mannschaft’s plethora of established names, Schalke attacking midfielder Leon Goretzka and jet-heeled RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner look poised to inherit Colombia playmaker James Rodriguez’s mantle as the World Cup’s breakout star.
The next generation are charging through. Watching whether Messi and Ronaldo can still set the pace will be this World Cup’s most intriguing storyline – on the pitch, at least.
