Tearful end does not take away from Messi’s greatness

DUBAI: The undisputed greatest of all time stood battered, bruised and badly beaten. The defeat added poignancy as it came at the hands of someone who had grown up idolizing him, and now, had all but ended his illustrious career.

The date was Oct. 2, 1980, and the fight between Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, billed as “The Last Hurrah,” had ended in a brutal defeat for the 38-year-old boxer, for whom the moniker GOAT was invented, after his corner saved him from a more savage beating by stopping the bout in the 10th round.

An emotional Holmes, 30 at the time, and a former sparring partner and protege to Ali, cried in the ring as he was declared victor.

Thankfully, only sporting parallels exist between the closing chapter of Ali’s career and that of 39-year-old Lionel Messi after defeat in the World Cup final against Spain on Sunday.

Whether Lamine Yamal felt a tinge of sadness for his childhood hero is not clear, but there was a clear element of the torch being passed as the two shared a warm embrace at the final whistle. The tears, eventually, came from Messi as he received the adoration of the Argentinian fans in the stands at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Messi is far from the only sporting legend since Ali to seemingly close out his career in a downbeat manner.

Tennis fans will remember Roger Federer agonizingly giving up two championship points in the 2019 Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic to eventually lose in five sets. He never won another Grand Slam.

Perhaps the closest comparison to Messi’s last dance came in 2006, when Zinedine Zidane, having won the World Cup eight years earlier with France, led his country to the final in Germany before losing to Italy. Infamously, the French captain was sent