Over the past month, I have watched game after game of men my age or (mostly) younger playing their hearts out in pursuit of the planet’s most coveted sports trophy, the World Cup.
On Sunday, 35-yearold Lionel Messi cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time by leading his mixedage Argentina squad to a 4-3 victory in a shootout against France, led by its 24-year-old phenom Kylian Mbappe, who won his first World Cup in 2018.
By all standards, the game was fantastic. A veteran Angel Di Maria got a surprise start and had himself a day, drawing a penalty Messi scored, then scoring one of his own to put the La Albiceleste up 2-0.
It took until nearly the end of the game for France to fire back, scoring two goals in less than two minutes, a penalty and a half-volley from Mbappe.
As if that weren’t exciting enough, we go into extra time, where Messi nets another and Mbappe scores a third on yet another penalty. At 3-3 after extra time, penalties became the decider. Argentina’s shooters were on point, and its goalkeeper came up with some magic to give Messi the win.
It’s been estimated more than 1 billion people have watched each of the last two World Cups, and with this matchup and storyline, it’s not inconceivable those numbers hit 1.5 billion this year.
As I watched the game, it truly hit me for the first time in a while — Messi is less than a year older than me.
I played plenty of soccer growing up, but some people are just on another level. While I was in my late teens battling to keep a starting position on my high school team, Messi was becoming the youngest player to represent F.C. Barcelona.
We both had the same dream, but he was a bit better at it. Messi has forged a path over his 18-year career that has culminated in his dream coming true, and it took every bit of five tries at the World Cup to do it.
He earned it this time, playing all 690 minutes possible and scoring 7 goals and assisting 3. For those efforts, he was named the tournament’s best player for the second time in his career.
Where Messi’s story has ended in ultimate glory, Mbappe has tasted that once already and still has three potential cups to play in. Not bad for a player who wasn’t even born the first time France won the tournament in 1998.
His first public address of the result was a tweet, “We will return.” Sitting only four goals behind the all-time World Cup goalscoring record, and having scored 8 this time, Mbappe is on forging a path to some amazing accomplishments.
Often times, I’ve compared myself to other people, especially soccer players. We played the same game, so why have so many others had so much success?
Where Messi’s heyday is now and Mbappe’s is to come, my heyday was in 2007 in college. Since then, I have forged a new path.
After two season playing at Central Baptist College, I was forced to choose. Try out and work my way up the low-level professional leagues, or stay in school and finish my journalism degree.
If I give you three chances to guess what I chose, I bet you’d only need one.
It’s a path I never regret, bringing me to where I am professionally — soon-to-be newspaper owner at the age of 34 — and given me a beautiful family to enjoy that time with.
We are also forging our own path as a family, and this Christmas season is one we hold dear. We make a point Christmas morning to celebrate is as our family, just the four of us, aiming to create memories for our daughters and nurture the path they will choose.
There are all kinds of levels of talent and skill in the world, and one can become lost trying to be the best or pursue a path not meant to be taken. The most important thing is that we continue moving forward.
This Christmas, I urge you to forge your own path, whether it’s professional, like buying a newspaper, or personal, even as small as something like eating healthier or getting clean.
Forge a path and follow it. You never know what you might achieve.
Kyle Troutman has served as the editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014. In 2017, he was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers, and in 2022, he won a Golden Dozen Award from ISWINE. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cherryroad.com.
