JAKARTA - Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are the deadly tridents with Paris Sain Germain that shake anyone's opponents, both on the French competition stage and in European mandala.
Their relationship was broken and secretly competed with each other, to undermine the team's cohesiveness. That's the story first. Now they have become an important pillar of PSG in achieving the highest success in club football in Europe.
Reporting from ANTARA, the three players who both hold the title of soccer superstar are now really competing, which they cannot even cover up.
This is because they are now defending teams that are different from each other, and the three teams are both strong favorites to win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Brazil, Argentina and defending champions France are considered the strongest favorites to win the 2022 World Cup for several reasons, including their star players, especially the PSG trio.
The three players are in and lead three tough teams that anyone is trying to avoid at this Qatari World Cup.
Lionel Messi led Argentina as team captain to pass 36 unbeaten matches. Likewise, Neymar, who led the Brazilian team that was no less tough and also unbeaten in his last 35 matches.
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe will be the mainstay of France's attack line which allows them to defend the World Cup title.
The three players were united in a forum in Paris Saint-Germain by their Qatari owner.
The relationship between the three players has almost always been a big news in France so far this season. But their performances have also been amazing so far.
Qatar took the world by surprise when in December 2010 it won the right to host the 2022 World Cup. About six months later, Qatar Sports Investments bought PSG.
They immediately transformed the club, which was originally involved in financial problems, into one of the great powers both in France and Europe.
They brought in a lot of star players and dared to spend big funds that other top European club owners could not do.
At its peak they recruited Mbappe and Neymar in 2017, for a fee that made the two players the two most expensive players in the world at the time.
Four years later in 2021 they pulled Messi who decided to leave Barcelona which he had defended since a young age.
Last year they were not very smooth in delivering PSG to the highest level of European competition but still managed to present the French Ligue 1 title.
This season they have a great opportunity to lead PSG to win the Champions League. This is partly because of their productiveness in front of the opponent's goal. In 22 PSG matches so far, Messi, Mbappe and Neymar have scored a total of 46 goals.
Many say their factor is so bright this season because this season coincides with the 2022 World Cup finals.
This tournament seems to have spurred them to perform outstandingly this season. Not only to emphasize which of them is the best, but also to give an impression and message to the world that they are ready to take their respective countries to the top of the World Cup.
Mbappe proved it four years ago in Russia at a very young age, but he wants to do it again this year. On the other hand, Neymar and moreover Messi are still in search of the highest trophy in world football.
Already 35 years old, Messi knows it will be very difficult to get another chance to win the World Cup apart from this 2022 edition. "This is my last World Cup," Messi told Argentine ESPN recently as quoted by AFP.
Qatar 2022 is Messi's fifth World Cup which is the same as his eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo who is both captain of their respective national teams.
Inevitably Messi is one of the greatest footballers in the world. His reputation as the greatest will only be greater if he breaks a number of important notes in the World Cup, particularly in the framework of defending Argentina.
The Copa America champion himself is in good form and has the opportunity to lead Messi to the trophy he has really wanted, which is also a trophy he has never lifted.
Among the records he hunted was to bring Argentina to break Italy's unbeaten world record of 37 matches and set aside the late Diego Maradona as Argentina's most frequent player in World Cup matches.
Messi's current record is 19 games or three games ahead of Maradona's 21 games.
Fixed Mbappe or 'break eggs'
Meanwhile, different from Messi, the 30-year-old Neymar, has at least one more World Cup after the one in Qatar. But just like Messi, has already declared the last Qatar World Cup for him.
He was in the spotlight at the 2014 World Cup held in his own country in Brazil, but at that time he was mostly in the stands for injuries to ambush him.
When he was fit to fight four years later in Russia in 2018, Brazil instead surrendered to Belgium in the quarter-finals. But after being free from injury, Neymar returned as sharp as ever.
"The World Cup is my biggest dream," he told British newspaper Daily Telegraph this week.
If Mesi and Neymar may represent the past, then their colleague, Kylian Mbappe, is a representation of the future that makes PSG not hesitate to spend so much money that the young player who helped France win the World Cup in 2018 stays in Paris and fails to join Real Madrid.
According to AFP, the Le Parisien newspaper recently said the figure of 630 million euros was the amount of funds issued by PSG to ensure Mbappe was not of the heart.
It is not only PSG who are well aware of Mbappe's greatness because his colleagues in the French national team are like that.
"Kylian is an amazing player," said his team-mate Lucas Hernandez, as quoted by AFP. "It's an honor to have him in our team."
Mbappe was also one of the French players who stopped Argentina led by Messi in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup.
There is a possibility that the two PSG players will meet again in the next round of the Qatar World Cup.
Not only the possibility of Messi meeting Mbappe, if you look at the match schedule and the scenario of the next round, Messi and Neymar also have the potential to meet in the semifinals.
The possibilities are always there, including the possibility of Mbappe winning the World Cup again to become one of the first French players to win two consecutive World Cups.
Or it could be this time Messi or Neymar who 'break the egg' won the World Cup.
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