STINSON: For stars like Messi and Neymar, the World Cup knockout games will define their legacies

That people wept when Messi scored is in part because they want Argentina to win its first World Cup since 1986, but also because a quick exit from the tournament would have ended the 35-year-old’s last chance at lifting the trophy that is absent from his glittering CV.Article contentgoal for Poland was his first at a World Cup. A career without one would be haunting.

He scored five times in the knockout stages, including a couple of match winners, but the final against Brazil went to a penalty shootout. Needing to convert his attempt to stay alive, Baggio instead blazed it over the crossbar, giving Brazil the win. He would later say he tried to kick the ball too hard.

It’s unlikely that any of the current talismans — talismen? — will have the tournament on their boot in quite such a dramatic fashion, but there are still several for whom the title would have deep meaning.Article content He wept. It was a moment of national catharsis at the time, but it has faded as a Neymar-led team went out in the quarterfinals at the 2018 World Cup to Belgium.Article content

Lewandowski doesn’t carry quite the same level of expectation, for the simple reason that no one expects Poland to win a World Cup. The importance of his goal against Saudi Arabia was more about finally being something more than a non-factor at the tournament, given his prolific output on the pitch in every other competition.

Messi’s similarities to the icon are inescapable, both of them undersized, creative playmakers who are absolute magicians with the ball at their feet.

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