From the special reporter "Vijesti"
The final of the 23rd World Cup between Spain and Argentina, the final act of the first championship in the history of sports whose revenue will exceed the dizzying figure of 10 billion dollars.
A mega event on the biggest stage, New York's MetLife Stadium, and a match that "threatens" to become the most expensive sporting event in history.
The average ticket price for just over 80 seats in the stadium the day before the final was an unreal $12.751, which is about two thousand more than the average ticket price sold for the 2024 Super Bowl when the San Francisco and Kansas Chiefs played in Las Vegas, in front of about 60 NFL fans.
Over a billion people around the world are expected to watch tonight's clash between the "Red Furies" and the "Albiceleste", the current European and current world champions.
A combination of the most popular sport on the planet and top entertainment - a real show and spectacle in the American way, with an extended halftime show and performances by pop stars Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, Cold therapy…
Football has long since broken through borders, and now we have measurable numbers.
But behind the glamour, business and classic commercialization, behind billions and behind "celebrities", behind blockbusters and bestsellers, lies the pure emotion and enchanting power of football.
This is not the biggest planetary sporting event, not because of Madonna and Shakira, not because of Donald Trump i Gianni Infantino - but because of Leo the Messiah i Lamina Jamal, due to Enco Fernandes i Rodria, because of two top teams, because of charismatic coaches Scalonia i De la Fuentea, for the most beautiful game and the magic of the greatest competition that will celebrate its 100th anniversary at the next World Cup. For the magical ball that, when touched by a master, takes on trajectories and angles that leave you breathless...
It's been about three decades since the famous Uruguayan journalist and writer Eduardo galeano He described in detail the "glory and darkness of football" through the history of world championships, and in an extremely romantic way he dealt with the game that he himself called "the opium of the people".
The World Cup on the North American continent, which - just like Galeano's work - has offered both the brilliance and darkness of a game that becomes pure (or a little purer) as soon as the ball leaves the center, will offer a climax when it crosses the Hudson River from Manhattan and reaches New Jersey. At exactly 15 p.m. local time, under the New York sun, and 21 p.m. Central European time, the greatest spectacle that sport has to offer will begin. One of those matches by which time is measured.
Lionel Messi, the greatest footballer of all time, is playing his last World Cup match. It was written that way less than four years ago in Qatar, when he won the biggest and only trophy that was missing from his career. He resisted withdrawal, to the delight of Argentina and all football fans - and that is why tickets for today's final cost $13.
Messi has long since become timeless - a football icon among icons, and by possibly defending his world crown at the age of 40, he would write the greatest story in the history of sports.
Messi will be placed at the head of a competitive, characterful, sophisticated team, "painted" with all the colors - at the head of a team made up of players who are like a pack ready to bite each other, for Messi and Argentina.
It remains to be seen how emotionally drained the "gauchos" were after the match against England, which for them was more than just football and which carried with it the tails of the past and various historical connotations. This is exactly what their fans witnessed on the eve of the match against England in Atlanta - the semi-final was "more than football", and the final with Spain is, after all, just football.
How much "fuel" do they have left? Because passion is what pulls Argentines to the heights; it makes them both attack and defend.
On the other side stands the "red fury", the current European and 2010 world champions, a seemingly cool-headed, but also emotional team that has not yet shown that emotion - it has concentrated more on perfect precision in the game with a calmness and composure that was simply enchanting.
De la Fuente has instilled such a level of self-confidence in the team that one would think that a Spanish team like this - whose players "draw" on the pitch like the great master Goya with his brush strokes - could shake things up a bit. They believe they are the best in the world and they behave like the best in the world, and everything they do on the pitch gives them every right to think so, both they and their coach.
And the great master Jamal, Messi's legitimate successor, who has scored only one goal so far in the championship. That's how many "furies" he has in reserve.
It was the same at the 2024 European Championship, when on the eve of the semi-final with the French Adrien Rabiot stated that Jamal “will have to offer a lot more”.
- Speak only when it's time for checkmate - the then 17-year-old replied.
Jamal currently has no such challenger in the Argentine ranks, but he has a wonderful picture with Messi from the time he was just born - 19 years ago.
Messi seemed to have passed on magic to him - magic that will radiate from tonight's grand finale of the 23rd World Cup.
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