West Brom striker Daryl Dike in awe of dramatic World Cup final
Argentina’s penalty shootout victory of France in the World Cup final drew glowing review from West Brom forward Daryl Dike.
On a night where Kylian Mbappe overshadowed Lionel Messi from a personal standpoint, Emi Martinez proved to be the difference on the borderline of the rules during the penalties as the South Americans won their third title after a 3-3 draw.
There were a series of unexpected turns for a game which looked to be meandering to a pedestrian 2-0 result after the majority of the 90 minutes and saw it become a memorable showpiece, leaving Dike suitably impressed.
Posting on his personal Twitter account after it was finally over the Baggies striker said: “That was the best match I have seen in my entire life.”
Exploded to life
Reportedly battling illness in the camp, the reigning champions looked second best to virtually everything for the majority of the game, going behind to a soft Messi penalty and a well-worked move finished off by Angel Di Maria.
Didier Deschamps even made two changes before half time that still took their time to have the desired effect, but after Mbappe pulled one back from the spot late on, he almost instantly fired an excellent first-team equaliser in as well.
From there the momentum swung back and forward until Martinez saved once in the shoot-out and put Aurelien Tchouameni off sufficiently to shoot wide while the referee let his mind games slide.
The sudden revival from the French isn’t too dissimilar to the one that Albion have managed to put together under Carlos Corberan, having looked dead and buried under Steve Bruce.
Five wins on the bounce after the assured 3-0 victory over Rotherham on Saturday (17 December) has only taken the club as high as 16th in the table, showing how far off it they had been, but just six points of 5th.
If this sort of form can be kept up, and if Dike can add to his first goal for the club scored at Sunderland on 12 December, then the play offs are well within the Baggies’ reach.
It might not be quite the World Cup final, but Dike and the fans would likely enjoy it all the more if they can end up at Wembley in May.
In other West Brom news, a former Baggies player is delighted by news of a new contract at the club.