LIONEL MESSI'S LIGHTS : SNIPPET HONOURS ALL TANGOS

'' The sadness of Lionel Messi's last tango. '' The Argentine superstar was denied the perfect ending to his career.

LIONEL MESSI found himself surrounded. Tens of thousands of fans looked down on him at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. Billions were watching around the world. And yet he couldn't have looked more alone.

When Sunday's World Cup final ended, the Spain dugout emptied. Substitutes ran onto the field to celebrate with their teammates. Messi remained by himself, defeated. An Argentine Achilles.

As was the case in the game, he could get no space. No sooner did the final whistle blow than they were on Messi like a flash.

The cameraman and photographer captured a vacant stare.

Dejected, Messi began to sit down. He slipped off the boots Adidas had made specially for him, a pair called the Last Tango and although noise reverberated around MetLife the music stopped for Messi.

His World Cup career was apparently over.

The physical vocabulary of his last dance was unmistakably Argentine.

!WOW! thanks James Horncastle. [ The Athletic ].